[2] His uncle Ye Qisun was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
[2] In April 1944, Ye participated in the Youth Expeditionary Force and was assigned to the First Temporary Automobile Regiment of the Chinese Army stationed in British India.
[2] Ye was an assistant researcher at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1953 and subsequently assistant researcher at the Institute of Atomic Energy, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1958.
In 1964, Ye went to the countryside to participate in the socialist education movement and was sent to the May Seventh Cadre Schools to do farm works in Qianjiang County (now Qianjiang), Hubei in 1969.
Ye was reinstated as an associate researcher of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1973 and rose to become director in 1984.