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严复 Yan Fu (1854-1921) Educator pushed for modernization
February 17, 2012, Friday
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YAN Fu was a great enlightenment thinker, translator and educator in China in the late 19th century. He was the first Chinese who systematically introduced modern Western ideas, science and philosophy into China in order to save and revitalize the nation. Today, he is widely remembered among Chinese people as a "great master of enlightenment."
Yan was born into a doctor's family in today's Fuzhou, capital of southeastern China's Fujian Province. As a child, he received a good traditional education with a focus on Confucian doctrines. However, after his father passed away when he was only 14, the family's financial situation declined and the teenager had to give up his preparation for the imperial civil examination and enrolled at the Fujian Arsenal Academy in his home city.
In 1876, he was sent to study naval techniques at the Navy Academy in Greenwich in England by the government of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
During his study in England, he became extremely interested in the social and political systems in that country. So, he spent considerable time reading books on political science, economics, natural sciences and philosophy. He was engrossed by Darwin's "natural selection" theory.
Three years later, Yan returned to China, but only to find himself ill-prepared for the imperial civil examination, the only channel leading to a career in officialdom in China at that time. So, instead, he became a teacher at the Fujian Arsenal Academy and then the Beiyang Navy School in Tianjin in northern China.
It was not until China was defeated in the 1894-95 Sino-Japanese War that Yan began to advocate social and political reform in China. He did so by introducing Western ideas and institutions in order to "strengthen the people's constitution, enlighten the people's wisdom and bring forth the people's new morality."
To save his country from subjugation, Yan applied his understanding of Darwinism in the reform he advocated and called for a gradual transformation in the thinking of the elite in China.
Yan not only published a series of articles in local newspapers in Tianjin to promote social and political reforms, but also concentrated on translating Western books, including Thomas Huxley's "Evolution and Ethics," Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations," Herbert Spencer's "Study of Sociology," John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty" and Baron de Montesquieu's "The Spirit of the Laws."
These works had an extensive influence on Chinese intellectuals at that time and in the future.
However, due to his obstinate belief in Darwinism, he was against drastic revolutions such as the 1911 Revolution, which ended more than 2,000 years of feudalistic rule in China.
In 1912, he became the president of Peking University for a few months before he was forced to resign due to fierce factional conflicts. In his late years, Yan became increasingly conservative. He advocated Confucianism and even called for reinstallation of the imperial throne.
Yan was also known as a great translator. He explained the three most difficult aspects in translation - faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance. He believed these are the sine qua non of a good translation.
Since then, Yan's definition of the three-word requirement has been adopted as the standards for any good translation among many Chinese translators.
Yan became ill and died in 1921 in Fuzhou, his hometown.
Yan was born into a doctor's family in today's Fuzhou, capital of southeastern China's Fujian Province. As a child, he received a good traditional education with a focus on Confucian doctrines. However, after his father passed away when he was only 14, the family's financial situation declined and the teenager had to give up his preparation for the imperial civil examination and enrolled at the Fujian Arsenal Academy in his home city.
In 1876, he was sent to study naval techniques at the Navy Academy in Greenwich in England by the government of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
During his study in England, he became extremely interested in the social and political systems in that country. So, he spent considerable time reading books on political science, economics, natural sciences and philosophy. He was engrossed by Darwin's "natural selection" theory.
Three years later, Yan returned to China, but only to find himself ill-prepared for the imperial civil examination, the only channel leading to a career in officialdom in China at that time. So, instead, he became a teacher at the Fujian Arsenal Academy and then the Beiyang Navy School in Tianjin in northern China.
It was not until China was defeated in the 1894-95 Sino-Japanese War that Yan began to advocate social and political reform in China. He did so by introducing Western ideas and institutions in order to "strengthen the people's constitution, enlighten the people's wisdom and bring forth the people's new morality."
To save his country from subjugation, Yan applied his understanding of Darwinism in the reform he advocated and called for a gradual transformation in the thinking of the elite in China.
Yan not only published a series of articles in local newspapers in Tianjin to promote social and political reforms, but also concentrated on translating Western books, including Thomas Huxley's "Evolution and Ethics," Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations," Herbert Spencer's "Study of Sociology," John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty" and Baron de Montesquieu's "The Spirit of the Laws."
These works had an extensive influence on Chinese intellectuals at that time and in the future.
However, due to his obstinate belief in Darwinism, he was against drastic revolutions such as the 1911 Revolution, which ended more than 2,000 years of feudalistic rule in China.
In 1912, he became the president of Peking University for a few months before he was forced to resign due to fierce factional conflicts. In his late years, Yan became increasingly conservative. He advocated Confucianism and even called for reinstallation of the imperial throne.
Yan was also known as a great translator. He explained the three most difficult aspects in translation - faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance. He believed these are the sine qua non of a good translation.
Since then, Yan's definition of the three-word requirement has been adopted as the standards for any good translation among many Chinese translators.
Yan became ill and died in 1921 in Fuzhou, his hometown.
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