Last November, we published "First China Skater on Thrasher Mag", followed right up by "Search For Animal Curtis" in an effort to track down this mystery skater. Those two pieces were spotted by Curtis's close friends and passed along to his brother Brian Hsiang—who recently wrote us two incredibly detailed emails!
去年11月我们报道过《第一个登上 Thrasher 的中国滑手》，之后紧接着又发布了一篇寻找这个神秘滑手的文章《寻找Curtis》，而这两篇文章被 Curtis 的生前好友看到并转给了他的新兄弟 Brian，前段时间 Brian 给我们发了两封很长的邮件！
Let's start with the takeaway: he confirmed that Curtis did indeed come from the prestigious 'family of eleven PhDs' alongside Wu-Chung Hsiang and Wu-Yi Hsiang. But he also corrected one of our earlier assumptions—Curtis was not the son of Wu-Yi Hsiang, but the son of Wu-Chung Hsiang, making him Wu-Yi's nephew.
As Brian put it, while Curtis didn't follow the family tradition of earning a doctorate, in skateboarding, he became someone truly legendary.
While others etched their names through mathematics and academic degrees, he chose an entirely different language—skateboarding and art—revealing to the world countless other ways to engage with life.
先说结果吧：他向我们确认，Curtis 确实出身于项武忠、项武义所在的著名“11 位博士之家”。但他也纠正了我们此前的一处推测——Curtis 并不是项武义的儿子，而是项武忠的儿子、项武义的侄子。
正如 Brian 所说，虽然 Curtis 没有成为这个家族传统意义上的“博士”——但在滑板上，他成为了一个真正的人物。
当其他人用数学和学位书写自己名字的时候，他选择了另一种语言——滑板和艺术，向众人展示与世界互动的更多可能性。
Today, through the letters from his brother, let's take a closer look at who Curtis Hsiang really was.
今天，我们就从这位亲弟弟的来信中，好好认识下 Curtis Hsiang。
Here are the original letters from Brian Hsiang:
Hey Man,
You did some amazing investigative reporting! I was linked to your post by one of Curtis' old buddies from East Bay California.
We were born and raised in Princeton NJ. We lived there because our Father 1st son Wu-Chung-Hsiang was a professor in Math there for the majority of his career. He's a hard man and a maverick in his own way. He has always been a man that loves aggressive conflict, it is one of the reasons that he was so successful as an Academic. Here in the United States the highest level of Academia is sometimes like a Battle Field. When Curtis was 18 he left the East Coast for the Bay area. He went to CAl Berkeley, and started as a math Major(many members of my family including me and one of my children have an affinity for Math) major. He was living at first in My Uncle's(second son) garage. My Uncle Hsiang- Wu-Yi was a professor of Mathematics at Berkeley, He also was something of a unique thinker, he is philosophical about math and life, the combination of his thoughtful, Soft Power approach to life and my father's aggression and forcefulness made them a very influential combination in the world of mathematics. My uncle was one of the leading thinkers on the problem of sphere packing. a very simple question, ' what is the most efficient way to stack a bunch of spheres?" fruit sellers know the system they do it every day with melons and oranges. The mathematical theorem figuring out what the space between the fruit is very hard to figure out. Ultimately they lost the race to another group of mathematicians from Russia.
Anyways Curtil journeyed as a young man to california drawn by the Skate Culture, the Street Art, the cultural richness. Where we grew up in NJ during the Eighties there were not many people of Asian or Chinese descent. He was also putting a country betwqeen hiself and our father. After one year of being a math major, Curtis changed his major to Asian Studies. Those pictures of him skating in Beijing are most likely from the year that he studied at Beijing University. I believe that he was 19 or 20. We went to visit him during that year. He had to convince the university to let him stay in a dorm with native Chinese students, not in a different dorm for visiting students.
when we visited him he was entranced with Chinese culture. He took me out to explore Beijing and out to eat at a dumpling joint, He became fluent in chinese(We both spoke some mandarin, but were far from fluent). As a child(I'm ten years younger than him), he was this giant, brave, super hero in my life. I Live in the mountains of THe North East of the United States. I snowboard a lot and have become pretty good, not a park guy but I rip through the entire mountain and into the woods. Some days when the snow is good and the Stoke and Vibe are Strong, I yell out a whoop in his memory and wish that we had had the opportunity to snowboard together.
None of my Family are currently in China. You noticed the different way that our name is spelled in english. its a unique name and ancestry as well. We are descendants of Xiang-Yu, the famous warlord. Our ancestral home is in DaTai Men. My Uncle (3rd son) WU-Teh has been visiting often and has taken my cousin and her children to visit. He has also been working with the Chinese Government to restore the Ancestral home into a museum, they also are amazed at how many PHD's have come from my family my generation has several as well(i'm the rebel in this sense, i have a bachelors in philosophy, and Curtis degree an MFA is the highest degree you can get as an Artist).
Our Family led by my Grand Parents left Main Land During the Civil War. My Grand Father was very connected to the KMT and served as Mayor of Taiwan for a while under the request of Chian Kai Shek.
Curtis was one of those people who could see beyond the Veil of accepted reality and, sometimes through Art, Writing, Skating, could show the rest of us that there were other possibilities of how to engage with the world. Lots of his art deals with patterns and numbers. helike my father and uncle, could see math in the world just in a different way than our elders. I'll send you some pictures of his art that demonstrate this better than I can write about them.
I was just starting to get to know my brother as an adult when he died at 36, i was living in a cabin deep in the woods of Vermont when he died, we always lived close to death and the question of what happens, when the heart stops pumping and the lungs stop expanding and the brain finally gets a chance to rest. Our sister died when Curtis was 15 and I was 5, Cathlin was 10.
I have no possible way of knowing what comes next, and I've always been excited to find out, I always wonder if we could maybe ride the clouds together just like song-wu-kong.
I send you so much gratitude for continuing my journey to feel connections to MY DA-GUH.
please feel free to stay in contact.
With Best Wishes
Brian Hsiang
Hsiang-Jong-Lin(quilin)
以下是 Brian 邮件原稿翻译：
嘿，兄弟，
你的调查报道太棒了！我是通过 Curtis 在加州东湾的一位老朋友给我的链接，才看到了你的帖子。
我们出生并成长于新泽西州的普林斯顿。我们住在那里是因为我们的父亲，家里的长子 Wu-Chung-Hsiang（*项武忠，项昌权长子，目前健在）在那里担任数学教授，他的职业生涯大部分时间都在那里度过。他性格坚韧，特立独行，也一直喜欢激烈的竞争，这也是他学术成就如此辉煌的原因之一。在美国，最高级别的学术界有时就像战场。
Curtis 18 岁时就离开东海岸，前往湾区。接着他进入加州大学伯克利分校，最初主修数学（我的许多家人，包括我和我的一个孩子，都对数学情有独钟）。Curtis 最初住在我的叔叔 Hsiang-Wu-Yi（*项武义，次子，目前健在）的车库里。
我的叔叔项武义是伯克利大学的数学教授，他也是一位独具特色的思想家。他对数学和人生都抱有哲学思考。他深思熟虑、温和务实的处事方式，与我父亲的进取和魄力相结合，使他们在数学界产生了深远的影响。
我的叔叔是球体堆积问题的领军人物之一（*尝试用纯粹的几何方法证明开普勒猜想）。这是一个非常简单的问题：“如何以最有效的方式堆叠一堆球体？” 水果摊贩们深谙此道，他们每天都在用这种方法摆放瓜果。然而，计算水果之间的空间却是一个极其复杂的数学难题。最终，他们败给了另一组来自俄罗斯的数学家。
总之，Curtis 年轻时被加州的滑板文化、街头艺术和丰富的文化底蕴所吸引，远赴加州。我们在新泽西州长大，那里亚裔或华裔人口并不多。此外，他也想借此机会拉开自己与父亲之间的距离——毕竟隔着一个国家的距离呢。
在大学读了一年数学专业后，Curtis 转专业，开始学习亚洲研究。那些他在北京滑板的照片很可能是他北京大学就读那年拍的。我记得他当时大概 19、20 岁。那一年我们去看望过他。他费了好大劲才说服学校，让他和中国本土学生住同一所宿舍，而不是安排在留学生宿舍。
我们去看望他的时候，他完全被中国文化迷住了。他带我游览北京，还带我去一家饺子馆吃饭。他的中文变得非常流利（我们俩都会说一些普通话，但远谈不上流利）。
小时候（我比他小十岁），在我心目中，他是一个高大勇敢的超级英雄。我住在美国东北部的山区。我经常滑雪，而且滑得相当不错，虽然我不擅长在公园雪道滑，但能在整座山上飞驰，甚至穿梭于林间野雪之中。
每当遇到好雪况，那种兴奋与畅快感油然而生时，我会大声欢呼以纪念他，并感叹我们没能有机会一起滑雪。
我的家人目前没有人住在中国。你可能注意到了我们姓氏的英文拼写有些特别。这确实是一个独特的姓氏，背后也有着独特的家族渊源。我们是著名军事家项羽的后裔（*广义上他们都来自“项氏大氏族”；但 Brian 对家族渊源的自述，目前尚未找到能核实的连续族谱证据)。我们的祖宅位于大台门。
我的叔叔 WU-Teh（*项武德，三儿子，目前健在）经常回国探亲，也带我的表妹和她的孩子们来过。他还一直在与中国政府合作，希望将家里祖宅改建成博物馆。他们对我们家族出过这么多博士感到非常惊讶，我们这一代其实也有好几个博士（从某种意义上说，我算是“叛逆者”，我只有哲学学士学位，而 Curtis 是 MFA 艺术硕士，对于一名艺术家来说，这已经是最高层级的专业学位）。
我们家在祖父母的带领下，于内战期间离开了大陆。我的祖父项昌权与国民党关系密切，曾应蒋介石邀担任过一段时间的台北市市长。
Curtis 是那种能够参透人们习以为常的现实表象的人，他能通过艺术、写作、滑板等方式，向我们展示与世界互动的其他可能性。他的许多作品都与图案和数字有关。他和我父亲、叔叔一样，能够以不同于长辈的方式看待世界中的数学。我会给你发一些他的作品照片，这些照片比我的文字描述更能说明问题。
我哥哥去世时年仅 36 岁，那时我刚开始以成年人的视角去了解他。他去世时，我住在佛蒙特州森林深处的一间小木屋里。我们一直生活在死亡的边缘，总是会思考，当心脏停止跳动、肺部停止扩张、大脑终于有机会休息时，会发生什么。我们的姐姐去世时，Curtis 15 岁，我 5 岁，Cathlin 10 岁。
我不可能知道接下来会发生什么，但我一直很兴奋地想要知道，我总是想我们能不能像孙悟空一样，一起驾云遨游。
我衷心感谢你让我继续踏上与我大哥建立联系的旅程。
欢迎随时保持联系。
致以最美好的祝愿
Brian Hsiang
Hsiang-Jong-Lin(quilin)
"Here’s a piece Curtis art. He has blocked almost all the numbers that are prime. If I blur my eyes I I can start to see patterns emerge. I went through all the numbers and found a couple numbers that were left unscratched that are not prime. It make me like it even more. Thinking about him grinding out the numbers. I’m not sure but I don’t think he used a computer algorithm. Maybe he did, I like to wonder"
"Curtis 的一件艺术作品。他几乎把所有质数都涂黑了。如果我眯起眼睛，就能开始看到一些图案浮现出来。我仔细查看了所有的数字，发现有几个没有被涂黑的数字其实不是质数。这让我更喜欢这幅作品了。想象他费力地涂掉那些数字的样子。我不确定，但我觉得他应该没用计算机算法。也许他用了，我喜欢这样想象。 "
12/04/1963 – 01/08/2000.
A pioneering figure in Bay Area skateboarding who tragically passed away in 2000 due to a brain tumor—doing what he loved, on his board. In 2018, former Thrasher editor Jake Phelps filmed a special remembrance video honoring Curtis, remarking: 'He died on his skateboard, how many people can say that?
美国湾区滑板先驱，2000 年因为脑瘤不幸突然离世，事发当时他正在滑板。2018年 Thrasher 前主编老杰克专门录制了一段追忆 Curtis 的视频，并说：“他死在自己的滑板上，有多少人敢说自己能做到。”
Special thanks to Will Louviere for putting us in touch with Brian and sharing these priceless 1980s photographs of Curtis skating in Beijing!
特别感谢 Will Louviere，帮我们联系到了 Brian 并且提供了非常珍贵的 Curtis 80年代在北京的滑板照片！
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