Interview with He Zehui (Renowned Chinese Nuclear Physicist)

Brief: He Zehui came from a prominent Jiangnan family. After graduating top of her class from the Physics Department at Tsinghua University and breaking through gender prejudices, she travelled to Europe and America with a pure passion for science. Not only did she shock the international physics community by being the first to discover the ternary and quaternary fission of uranium nuclei at the Curie Laboratory in Paris, but after returning to China, she and her Tsinghua classmate and husband, Qian Sanqiang, initiated China's nuclear science and cosmic ray research amidst material scarcity; she was rigorous in seeking the Truth and indifferent to fame and fortune. In her later years, she still carried an old cloth bag mended with shoelaces to take the bus to work. With an extremely simple life and an uncompromisingly objective attitude, she interpreted the legendary life of an outstanding Tsinghua alumna who served her country selflessly and pursued the Truth purely.

Interview | Chief Writer: Fa Ning

August 16, 2026

He Zehui:

Namo Amituofo, my name is He Zehui, and I am a person who dedicated my entire life purely to physics. This was the label everyone gave me when I was still in the human world, and it was also how I perceived my own life.

Now that I have arrived in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, my outlook on life has naturally undergone a tremendous change. This is not just true for me, but for every Chinese person who has arrived in the Western Land of Dharma Nature. Regardless of one's profession or field of expertise while alive, once one arrives here, it is as if life has undergone a profound transformation. It turns out that this is because we have come from a false world to the real world. Although everything in the past may have seemed wonderful, or filled with various ups and downs, here in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, all of this has truly been smoothed out. I no longer have any feelings, thoughts, or subjective insistence of my own.

When I was in the academic world, I was also a person with stubborn attachments. Regarding the facts and truths explained in physics, I could never tolerate even a grain of sand in my eyes. To me, if the data presented was correct, it was correct; if there were doubts, I would certainly raise them vigorously to ensure that I could obtain the Truth and the facts.

What, then, are the Truth and the facts? Back then, all of this was merely data that people could calculate. If the calculated data deviated from the actual data, it was considered a violation of the Truth and the facts.

I lived what could be considered a carefree and happy life. Because I was engaged in a career that I loved and was interested in, I did not have many burdens. Whenever I encountered problems, I would resolve them immediately and would not keep these matters in my heart.

Now that I have arrived in the Western Land of Dharma Nature and have attained true spiritual growth, looking back at all those things from the past, I no longer have any attachment to them. The truths and facts of physics, to me now, are merely a few drops of water in the vast ocean, or a few grains of sand in this vast expanse of earth. The phenomena that physics can explain—which I, while in a human body, once thought were the full picture—are actually not. They are merely a small link within the vast Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way.

Therefore, even without these things, I can still live very well in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, because my true self does not need them at all. In fact, as I see it now, no matter how much knowledge and theory one learns, no matter how subtle it may be, it is actually a burden for those who wish to find the Truth.

Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su are those who understand the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way; they are those who know all the truths of the universe. They do not need any theoretical or academic background to support them. In the state of emptiness, and with true compassion, they can realise everything.

Since the Buddha or Bodhisattva can do it, can I, He Zehui, do it as well?

Haha, this personality of mine still exists! In the past, I indeed had this temperament, believing that if others could achieve something, I must also be able to achieve it. Of course, in my life, I never truly experienced any failure, because in my temperament, I was actually an open-minded person. I believed that if something could be done, I would do it; if it could not be done, I would let it go. Therefore, what could be done would certainly be successful. My confidence stemmed from this open-minded heart and a heart that did not dwell too much on many things.

This straightforwardness of mine, the courage to express my inner thoughts without carrying too many burdens, could already be seen when I was young.

At that time, I was admitted to the Physics Department of Tsinghua University. I was full of joy and eager to enrol, but I encountered all sorts of obstacles. Someone in the department actually told me that because I was a woman, I might not be suitable for studying physics.

I felt indignant at the time, believing that since I was able to pass the entrance exam, I must be able to study it well. My straightforwardness also convinced the professors at the time to let me continue my studies in the Physics Department at Tsinghua University. Later, I also graduated with outstanding performance, ranking first in my class.

Now that I have arrived in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, my heart is naturally more vast and broader than before, and everything I see is vastly different. Of course, at this moment, I no longer have that strong, direct, and outspoken heart I once had. Everything here in the Western Land of Dharma Nature appears so peaceful and harmonious.

In the time I have spent in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, my heart has gradually become broader and broader, and it can be said that it can contain more and more things. I have also always believed that I will certainly be able to become a Buddha, just like all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

Therefore, my level of diligence here is no less than the level of effort I put into the physical world while in the human world; in fact, it is even more diligent than before.

There is another reason for this: I no longer have a human body, only this spirit. Without the burdens of a human body, I naturally have more energy and time to be more diligent. This is because when people have a body, they must eat, sleep, and go through the daily routines of life; these burdens no longer exist, and my spirit is always in a state of fullness. My eyes will not close due to fatigue as they did when I was in the human world.

All of this never happens in the Western Land of Dharma Nature. I can continue to chant Buddha's name, perform prostrations, and listen to sutras and hear the Dharma without feeling tired or bored. Everything can be accomplished in a natural state.

Everyone in the Western Land of Dharma Nature is like this. We who are born together in the Pure Land also gather together to loudly chant the name of "Namo Amituofo". Although we do not have much conversation (because everyone is also diligently practising on their own lotus seat), when we see each other, if we happen to meet someone from a past life, we will naturally smile and nod, expressing our joy that the other person has also arrived in the Western Land of Dharma Nature.

I also saw my husband from the human world here. His name is Qian Sanqiang, and he was also a world-renowned scientist in China; his fame was even greater than mine. As one of the scientists behind the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" project, he, like me, spent his whole life researching nuclear weapons. These nuclear weapons were not intended to be used to attack other countries; everything was done to protect the country from being attacked by others.

We were classmates in the Physics Department at Tsinghua University and later travelled far to Europe to study. During that long period, we cultivated a deep affection for each other. The days spent in a foreign land were also days when we worked very hard to study our respective subjects. I went to Germany for further studies, while he went to France. At that time, the country offered different scholarships at different times, allowing us to study abroad so that we could return to serve our motherland and fill the gaps in the country's scientific development. I also left China with a heart dedicated to serving my country. After achieving success abroad and gaining recognition from the international scientific community, when the new China was founded, we happily packed our bags and decided to return to our motherland to contribute our efforts to the country's scientific cause—especially the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" project that was about to be established.

I spent my whole life in the world of physics and never left it. I enjoyed the pleasure brought by every experiment and the psychological satisfaction gained whenever research results were achieved; of course, I hoped even more that everything I did could truly benefit the country and the people. This was our heartfelt wish.

In this life, our destiny was also tightly bound to the destiny of our country. When the country went through the "Cultural Revolution," many scientists suffered greatly and were forced to stop their scientific research work, being sent to various labour camps to perform work unrelated to their expertise. For example, we were forced to raise pigs in a pigsty at that time, which was a very painful thing for my husband, Qian Sanqiang. He would watch these pigs day and night, while thinking about the physics career he could not complete. In his heart, he always carried the regret and sorrow of "the hero dying before his mission was accomplished, leaving him to soak his clothes in tears."

Haha, I was not as foolish as he was! Although I was in adversity, I did not feel very painful. I believed that this was a path the country had to go through, so I would just accompany the country along the way. When the country needed me, I would naturally have the opportunity to contribute and serve the country, so why worry about having to complete it at that specific moment? Although we were both doing the same thing at the time, our moods were completely different. He always admired my indifference and ease, and I also admired his spirit of hard work and dedication. This was our "harmony without uniformity."

Later, as expected, after the Cultural Revolution, we both returned to work and continued to strive for the country's scientific research.

In this life, I lived a very long life, living until I was ninety-seven years old before leaving the human world. My husband, Mr. Qian Sanqiang, left more than twenty years before me. When he was in his seventies, he could not hold on due to a serious illness and left before me.

I am now looking at him from the Western Land of Dharma Nature, and I am also looking at all of this. Under the guidance of Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su, and through the infusion of the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, as well as the purification of the Buddha-light, I have gradually understood: it turns out that all of this was within destiny and within the laws of karma and cause and effect. After I left the human world, I was trapped in the research space I was familiar with. Although I could not truly do anything substantial for the country, at least I did not have to suffer too much.

However, my husband, Qian Sanqiang, suffered greatly in the hells, and it was only after he was led by Practitioner Su to the Western Land of Dharma Nature that he stopped this suffering.

I was puzzled at the time: he was also a good person and did not have any major flaws, so why did he get sick, leave earlier than me, and have to suffer in the hells?

Now I finally understand. In the teachings of the Universal Principle and the Truth, the thoughts in one's mind are very important.

Take the example of everyone suffering together during the Cultural Revolution: when he was suffering, he had dissatisfaction in his heart and was never able to settle his mind, with various habits and personality traits existing within him. This unsettled heart led to his inability to attain true peace of mind.

In contrast, although I was living the same life as him and was also unable to attain freedom, my heart was always very peaceful and stable, without much pain. I always held onto hope, waiting for the time when I could serve the country again. Therefore, everyone's heart was different, and naturally, there were different results. This is also understandable.

The beauty that Buddhist education has brought me now is truly immense! In the Western Land of Dharma Nature, everyone is dumbfounded, because the truth of everything in the universe was originally like this in our hearts. As we see it now, it is so vast and so inconceivable.

All of this is also because after Practitioner Su became a Buddha in the human world, he moved Namo Amituofo to reside in the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, which is how we were able to obtain such results. Now I deeply know that all the mysteries of the universe do not lie in the calculations and theories of the physical world, nor in the profound knowledge I once learned, but in this pure, good heart without any impurities.

This discovery is simply shocking to all of us scientists. We all had no religious beliefs before, and we did not believe in anything that our physical eyes could not see. Any truth that we could not deduce was regarded by us as "unscientific" or even as feudal superstition.

Now it seems that the truth of the universe that this heart can deeply realise is far more vast than what we could see in books or in piles of manuscripts. We all admire the Buddha's skills.

Here, I am willing to let go of everything I learned in the past and no longer have any entanglements or subjective views, because those would only hinder me from finding this true self deep within my heart.

My self-nature has always existed within my heart. Regardless of whether I was once a human, or what life circumstances I have experienced throughout my many lives—having enjoyed blessings in the heavenly realms, suffered in the hells, been an animal, or even visited the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss long ago—my self-nature has always existed within my heart, without the slightest change. "Not born and not dying, not defiled and not pure, not increasing and not decreasing"—this is the truth of which I speak.

It is only under the influence of different Causal Conditions and karma that we always have different expressions in different lives, forming different affinities with different people, which leads to different results. In my previous life as He Zehui, because I formed deep affinities with the vast Chinese people, I came for the sake of repaying a kindness. I worked diligently my entire life, just so that I could dedicate everything I had learned to my motherland, allowing the people to live safer lives as a result.

However, in the process of repaying this kindness, it was inevitable that some karma would be created, or that due to various stubborn attachments, I would go to different spaces to suffer after death. This is one of the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way; everyone has such experiences.

Today, Namo Amituofo has come to reside at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. This magnificent Dharma affinity is shared by all humanity and is a common treasure for people all over the world. People of the world, regardless of their race or background, are actually equal before the Buddha’s teachings, without any discriminations. The reason we have such divisions is merely in response to the affinities of that time.

As I see it now, Practitioner Su has come to China to conduct extensive Chao Du for us, and is also striving to bring this Buddhist education into the hands of all the Chinese people. This rare and precious great heart and Ultimate Vow is actually putting in the work to turn around the karma of the people of all of China and even the entire world.

Every country and every group of people has a collective karma existing within them. As a great nation, China has experienced thousands of years of history. Although it possesses a very deep cultural foundation and traditional culture, as well as the thick virtue accumulated by ancestors through moral education and the popularisation of moral education, today, Chinese people have become like the people of most countries in the world—having lost their original, most sincere and kind initial heart, and moving towards a country and society oriented by profit. In my view, this is quite a pity.

If people could hold fast to the Goodness within their hearts, then regardless of the field or industry they operate in, everyone could have the best and most virtuous performance. It does not mean that everyone must follow the crowd to be able to integrate into the great dyeing vat of this society and this country. This is not to criticise the country, but rather the result created by the different Causal Conditions of each era.

We who are in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, after having been purified for this period of time, no longer have such deep-seated feelings of discrimination and opposition. Everyone is doing their own work and their own practice in peace and harmony, whether it is making prostrations, listening to sutras, or diligent practice in chanting Buddha's name—all is well.

If we speak of the development of my motherland, China, today, I must also honestly tell all the Chinese people that everyone is now moving towards a society oriented by the "self" and "profit." Although Goodness still exists, compared to the past, it is vastly different.

If compared to China several hundred years ago, it is not the same situation as today. The Goodness in the depths of people's hearts at that time was far deeper than it is at this very moment. Everyone would naturally think of others; whether they were high-ranking officials or civilians, their awareness and determination in this regard were relatively higher.

Of course, people at that time were also warlike; they liked war and liked to fight for a country or a piece of land. This was not a good phenomenon. Within this, over thousands of years, because of one war after another and many natural and man-made disasters, the endless accumulation has created a relatively complex magnetic field in the spiritual realms of China today. There is too much karma intertwined within it.

Today, because of the appearance of Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su, the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia is vigorously carrying out the work of Chao Du for this spiritual realm. This great undertaking has also saved immeasurable and boundless spirit realm beings. At the same time, many demon crowds have also received the opportunity for Chao Du.

Because of this comprehensive, large-scale Chao Du conducted by Practitioner Su throughout China, with the skills of countless manifestations and the Chao Du performed under the twelve Buddha-lights of Namo Amituofo, we can see with our physical eyes that this land is indeed much cleaner than before. This is the skill and realm that a Buddha or Bodhisattva can truly attain after awakening.

So why have I always been advocating for the Buddha’s teachings? It is because the Buddha’s teachings can truly solve the problems of people's Body-Mind-Spirit.

I have only now truly grasped the three different concepts of people's "Body," "Mind," and "Spirit." When I was in the human world before, we managed this human body. To make people feel safe and to ensure people had enough to eat—all of this remained merely within the "Body."

We did not understand the fact that the spirit never dies, so we did not intervene much. Having come to the Western Land of Dharma Nature, and having walked through this human life and experienced the world after death, I now know that the spirit never dies.

After losing the physical body, people communicate in the form of spirits; it is such a unique experience. As I just mentioned regarding the high-tech skills of the Buddha or Bodhisattvas, this is a skill that can truly allow everyone to attain a state where the spirit never dies.

I once could not understand the concept of the spirit never dies, but I know it now. My spirit has now reached the realm of no birth and no death. As long as I continue to diligent practice in chanting Buddha's name and making prostrations in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, after purification, one day I will be led by Practitioner Su to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. This all requires me to accumulate merits and virtues in this life and at this moment to be able to attain it.

I am now very clear about everything that everyone sees, and I have nothing to hide, just as I was in my life as He Zehui—straightforward with everyone. Now I have simply told everyone what I have seen, but I believe there are still many, many mysteries of the universe, mysteries of the human body, and the benefits that truly pure and good education can bring to everyone, which I hope you will continue to discover one by one. I do not need to say too much; I believe that brevity is the best art of speech.

If those who read this interview wish to have a deeper understanding of the salvation work carried out by the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, Namo Amituofo, and Practitioner Su, please be sure to search for "Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia" online to gain a more comprehensive understanding. If you can read more of the Words of Namo Amituofo and the teachings of Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju here, it will certainly be of greater help to your life.

I, He Zehui, bless everyone here so that your future lives may go more smoothly. Buddhist education will certainly be able to take root in China and provide greater guidance for your life's path. Not grow old, not get sick, and the spirit does not die is everyone's future.

Gratitude to the compassion of Namo Amituofo, gratitude to the compassion of Practitioner Su.

Namo Amituofo

He Zehui