An overview of the dissemination of western learning in late‐Qing China

Abstract

The article discusses the important role of translation in the introduction of Western learning in China. The author distinguishes between four stages which are characterised by differences in approaches, developments in translation procedures, and a widening of the text types actually translated. The first period from 1811–1842 was characterised by translation of religious works, but had little impact beyond the coastal regions and was not viewed as anything but normal cultural interchange. The second stage from 1843–1860 was brought about by the Opium War. The War had established treaty towns which became centres of translational activity. Although religious writing continued to make up the largest part of the translated texts and also introduced the system of ‘Missionary speaks ‐ Chinese writes’, there was a fair sprinkling of scientific books which led to a trend towards the wish to understand Western learning among Chinese intellectuals. The third stage (1860–1900) was heralded, once again, by an Opium War. Now foreigners were free to move to the interior of China. Thanks to numerous new centres of dissemination, newspapers and journals, as well as organisations publishing Western books, Western learning trickled down the Chinese educational system. Shanghai became the centre of the translational activities and, in China, more and more Chinese were convinced of the importance of understanding Western learning. The fourth period (1900–1911) saw new developments in so far as books were often introduced via Japan rather than directly from European languages. Translation increased prodigiously and was dominated by books in the social sciences. And the first generation of excellent Chinese translators made its debut on the scene. The survey is finishes with a summary of the features which characterised the role of translation in Chinese understanding of Western learning.