Manshi Chensilu: The Tsinghua AI Researcher Who Uses Stick Figures to Teach the World to Love Mathematics

Manshi Chensilu, whose real name is Lu Rui, is a Chinese mathematics and science communicator and one of the most intellectually distinctive creators in Bilibili's knowledge section. Born around 1998, he is a doctoral researcher in the Department of Automation at Tsinghua University and a graduate of the prestigious Tsinghua Computer Science Experimental Class, known colloquially as the Yao Class, an elite program founded by Turing Award winner Andrew Yao to cultivate the country's most promising computer scientists. His research focuses on artificial intelligence theory, and he has published multiple papers at top-tier academic conferences. Despite the conventional expectations that accompany such credentials, Lu Rui chose a path that his own parents initially regarded as a diversion from his academic responsibilities: he became a science communicator, applying his considerable intellectual abilities to the task of explaining mathematics and physics to a general audience. His Bilibili channel, Manshi Chensilu, which translates roughly as "Rambling Scholar's Reflections," has accumulated over 1.28 million followers as of December 2025 and published more than 113 videos. His content has been adopted as supplementary material in university linear algebra courses, and he has participated in public debates organized by the Chinese Academy of Sciences on the relationship between the sciences and humanities in the age of artificial intelligence.

Lu Rui's entry into content creation was triggered by a specific and somewhat accidental event. On June 26, 2023, he encountered a viral animated video that used stick figures to depict a mathematical duel between a stick figure and the discipline of mathematics itself. The video was visually engaging but conceptually opaque; many viewers, including Lu Rui, found themselves captivated by its imagery without fully understanding the mathematical ideas it referenced. A commenter on the video asked for someone to provide a frame-by-frame analysis, and Lu Rui, who had been tutoring students in mathematics for nearly a decade through platforms like the Tsinghua答疑坊 (Answering Workshop), decided to answer the call. He spent two days producing a detailed explanatory video, and within twenty-four hours of its release, it had accumulated over two million views. That video, "The Most Complete! A Tsinghua Doctoral Student Takes You Deep into the Duel Between Stick Figures and Mathematics (Part 1)," launched his career as a science communicator and established the template that would define his channel: the use of popular animated content as a springboard for rigorous mathematical explanation.

What distinguishes Manshi Chensilu from the many science communicators on Bilibili is his pedagogical method, which he describes as "drilling deep" (钻洞刨根). Rather than presenting mathematical concepts as abstract definitions to be memorized, he begins with a concrete, often everyday question and then follows the logic of that question wherever it leads, however deep the rabbit hole goes. In one of his most celebrated videos, he asks why water freezes at exactly zero degrees Celsius and not at some other temperature, using the question as a gateway into phase transitions, thermodynamic equilibrium, and the mathematical laws that govern them. In another, he uses knot theory, a branch of topology, to explain why earphone cables inevitably become tangled in one's pocket, a question that millions of people have asked themselves without realizing that it connects to some of the most sophisticated mathematics of the twentieth century. His video on Romanesco broccoli and the Fibonacci sequence explores the mathematics of fractals and self-similarity in nature, while his analysis of the nautilus shell's spiral leads into a discussion of the golden ratio and the recurring question of why certain mathematical patterns appear so frequently in the biological world. These videos are characterized by their density of information, their logical clarity, and their refusal to simplify to the point of inaccuracy. Lu Rui treats his viewers as capable of following complex reasoning, and his success demonstrates that a substantial audience exists for content that respects their intelligence.

The most significant works in Manshi Chensilu's catalog are his frame-by-frame analyses of animated physics and mathematics videos. His series on the stick figure animation "Duel Between Stick Figures and Physics" dissects the mathematical concepts embedded in the animation, explaining the Euler formula, Taylor expansions, and other advanced topics in a way that is accessible without being condescending. His forty-minute analysis of a stick figure animation depicting black holes and relativistic spacetime is widely regarded as one of the clearest explanations of general relativity available in Chinese on any platform. His video "Is the Sum of All Natural Numbers Equal to -1/12? The Truth Is Far More Complicated!" addresses a famous mathematical claim that circulates widely on the internet, explaining the subtle distinctions between different notions of summation and why the statement, while not exactly false, requires careful qualification. These videos have accumulated millions of views, and his content is frequently cited in educational contexts. A linear algebra course at a Chinese university incorporated one of his videos into its curriculum, and his participation in the Chinese Academy of Sciences' "Boiling Wine and Discussing the Way" program placed him in conversation with established academics on the future of liberal arts and sciences education.

Manshi Chensilu's platform achievements reflect both the quality of his content and the growing appetite for serious science communication on Bilibili. His follower count surpassed one million in 2025, and his first video alone reached over two million views within a day of its release. His channel is officially certified by Bilibili as a "Knowledge UP Creator," and his videos have been recognized by the platform's recommendation algorithms, frequently appearing on the knowledge section's trending lists. His background as a Yao Class graduate and AI researcher at Tsinghua University gives him a level of technical authority that few science communicators possess, but he wears his credentials lightly. He does not rely on his institutional affiliation to establish credibility; his explanations speak for themselves. His ten years of tutoring experience, which began during his undergraduate years and continued throughout his doctoral studies, inform his pedagogical approach and his understanding of where students typically encounter difficulty.

The broader social value of Lu Rui's work lies in his explicit mission to "avenge" the way mathematics is taught in Chinese schools. In a widely shared essay published when his follower count surpassed one million, he described his project as "a revenge that no one knows about." The object of this revenge is not mathematics itself but the system of standardized testing and rote instruction that, in his view, has alienated generations of students from the subject. He has spoken about his own experiences in school, including an occasion when a misprinted exam question required the use of calculus, and he solved it using a method he had derived himself, only to receive a red X from a teacher who explained that the question was not meant to be solved. This experience, and others like it, convinced him that the way mathematics is typically taught suppresses the curiosity and creativity that are essential to genuine mathematical thinking. His videos are designed to offer an alternative: mathematics as a living, exploratory discipline that rewards curiosity and independent thought. For students who have been taught to fear mathematics, his channel offers a second chance. For those who have never encountered the subject beyond what is required for examinations, it offers a glimpse of what mathematics actually is.

In summary, Manshi Chensilu represents a model of the creator as a public educator in the truest sense. He has taken the most advanced training available in the Chinese educational system and used it not to advance his own career but to help others understand the subjects that he loves. His 1.28 million followers, his adoption into university curricula, and his participation in national science forums are all evidence that his approach has resonated. For Bilibili, he is a cornerstone of the knowledge section and a demonstration that the platform can support creators who prioritize intellectual depth over algorithmic appeal. For viewers, he offers a reminder that the most rewarding learning experiences are often those that begin with a simple question and follow it wherever it leads, no matter how deep the rabbit hole.