The Chinese math prodigy who lives on 300 yuan a month — a 600,000-yuan mind choosing frugality in Beijing
Wei Dongyi, 33, is a Chinese math prodigy from Shandong whose brilliance is measured in numbers, not comforts. He earns about 600,000 yuan a year, a fortune by many standards, yet he has chosen a life of austere restraint. A professor in the mathematics department at Peking University, he also formulated the Wei Dongyi inequality at age 18, a framework that elegantly advances the solution of fluid mechanics problems beyond standard methods. In Beijing, he lives on less than 300 yuan per month, a radical choice that foregrounds his devotion to numbers over possessions.
In This Article:
From street rag to national curiosity: the first public glimpse of Wei Dongyi
Wei first drew national attention in 2021 when a street interview showed him in ragged clothes, holding a bottle of water and a bag containing three steamed buns. Observers were startled by the sight of his missing front teeth, a detail that made the genius seem all the more fragile to many viewers. His cousin later revealed that he suffers from gum disease and had two dental treatments last year. He has been a vegetarian since childhood, eating only milk and eggs. Wei says his family encouraged him to start sharing on social media so he could socialize more.
Douyin moment: four seconds that turned a scholar into a celebrity
On June 4, he posted a four-second self-introduction to Douyin, one of China's most popular short-video platforms. The clip went viral, racking up more than 13 million likes in a short time. Within five days, he had gained 23 million followers and earned the nickname 'God Wei' for his austere, no-frills life.
Principled frugality: why a math genius spends peanuts
Wei's annual income is more than 600,000 yuan, yet he spends less than 300 yuan a month in Beijing. He even declined a 1 million yuan prize from the Damo Academy Young Fellow Award, choosing to stay true to his minimalist ethic. Some observers compare him to Grigori Perelman, the famed mathematician who shunned worldly comforts. Wei, too, seems to live by a different script.
Genius and cultural tensions: the social cost of ascetic brilliance in China
The story taps a cultural fault line in China: the pressure and stigma that can accompany a genius who does not follow the usual script. Wei's family has borne the glare of public attention and judgment as he becomes a social-media phenomenon, while Wei himself remains devoted to numbers rather than possessions. In the end, the tale suggests that genius can exist on many paths: some are publicly viral, others quietly ascetic. Numbers, it seems, still rule a life as surely as they rule equations.
