To be more objective.
When it comes to achievements, Yang is above Hawking, though Hawking shines more in pure theory.
As of now.
Yang's overall contributions to existing scientific research are greater than Hawking's.
Yang's results have become foundational theories in many branches of physics and even math, like the Yang-Mills gauge field theory, and the Yang-Baxter equation.
All of these are way ahead of Hawking's most representative achievements.
Hawking's advantage lies in theoretical citations—his papers are referenced more than twice as much as Yang's, for example.
Their contributions can actually be visualized with another analogy.
Long, long ago.
Archimedes carved out a cave that people could live in.
Galileo thought the cave was too basic, so he dug a pit, wanting to build a house.
He brought in a contractor named Newton, who along with Kepler, Hook, Descartes, and a bunch of underlings laid the foundation.
For the next few centuries.
