Abouttheauthor
Huxley(ThomasHenryHuxley.1825-1895),afamousBritishnaturalist,themostoutstandingrepresentativeofDarwin'stheoryofevolution.Callshimself"Darwin'sBulldog"(Darwin'sBulldog).Huxleyhaspublishedmorethan150scientificpaperscoveringmanyaspectsofzoology,paleontology,geology,anthropologyandbotany.In1893,attheageof68,hewasinvitedbyafriendtogivealectureonevolutionattheUniversityofOxford.Itmainlytalkedaboutthefundamentalissuesofmutualstimulation,mutualrestraintandinterdependencebetweennaturalforcesinthecosmicprocessandman-madeforcesintheethicalprocess..Aftersortingoutthislecture,itiscalled"TianYanLun".
TranslationAchievements
"TianYanLun"isactuallyaverywonderfulpoliticalessay.Thebookbelievesthateverythingchangesaccordingtothenaturallawof"materialcompetition","materialcompetition"isthe"survivalcompetition"betweencreatures.Thesuperiorspeciesdefeattheinferiorspecies,andthestrongspeciesdefeattheweakspecies;"naturalselection"isnaturalselection.,Naturalelimination,livingbeingsevolveintheprocessof"survivalcompetition"and"naturalelimination".Incontactwiththestateofthecountry’sperilaftertheSino-JapaneseWarof1894-1895,ashoutwasmadetotheChinesepeopletocontendwiththeskyandprotecttheseed,pointingoutthatnomatterhowoldthelawremains,thecountrywillbesubjugatedaccordingtothelawofvictoryanddefeat!Theidearevealedin"TianYanLun",combinedwiththeintroductionofDarwin'sbiologicalevolutiontheoryandWesternphilosophicalthought,madetheChineseintellectualworldintheeraof"knowledgefamine"likeatreasure,andhadadeafeninginfluence.
Sincethepublicationofthisbook,wordssuchasnaturalselection,superiorityandinferiorityhavebecomepeople'smantras.WhenHuShiwasstudying,theteacheraskedthestudentstobuythebookof"TianYanLun"andaskedthestudentstomakeacompositionof"naturalselection,survivalofthefittest".Hesaid:"Thiskindoftopicisnaturallynotsomethingourteenagechildrencanplay.Yes.Butitshowsthatreading"TianYanLun"hasbecometheethosofthatera."HecommentedonYanFuas"thefirstpersontointroducemodernthought."
Theshockwavegeneratedbythepublicationof"TianYanLun"notonlyaffectedseveralgenerationsatthetime,andestablishedYanFu'spositioninthemodernChineseideologicalcircle.
YanFu'sadvocacyofreformsbasedonwesterntheoryshockedtheChineseideologicalcircleatthattimeandpromotedthedevelopmentoftheReformMovement.HeisanideologicalenlightenerinmodernChina.
Influence
ImpactonmodernChinesethought
"TianYanLun"wastranslatedinto1896,hesaid:DarwinInEuropeandtheUnitedStates,almosteveryfamilyhasonebook.Womenandchildrenarewellawareofit.Therearetwomaintheories,oneismaterialcompetition,andtheotherisnaturalselection.Inaddition,YanFualsoshowedthetranslationof"TianYanLun"toLiangQichaoandothers.Therefore,although"TianYanLun"wasofficiallypublishedin1898,thetheoryofnaturalselectionhadalreadyspreadintheideologicalworldbeforethat.
Ittook3yearsfromtranslationtoofficialpublicationof"TianYanLun".Thesethreeyears,from1895to1898,wereveryunusualthreeyearsinthemodernhistoryofChina.TheSino-JapaneseWarofJiawuwasdefeatedhorribly,thenationalcrisiswasunprecedentedlydeep,andthereformmovementcontinuedtorise.Atthistime"EvolutionofHeaven"cameout,andnaturalselectioncameout,whichnaturallycausedastrongshockintheideologicalworld.Afterseeingthetranslationof"TianYanLun",WuRulun,ascholarofTongzhiwhowasfamousforhisliteraryname,wasfullofpraise.Thisfifty-somethingoldgentleman,apartfromhisgreatappreciation,actuallywrotefinehandwritingandcopiedthefulltextof"TianYanLun"withoutmissingawordandhiditinhispillow.LiangQichaoreadthetranslationof"TianYanLun",andbeforeitwaspublished,hehadalreadypromoteditandmadeanarticlebasedonhisideas.KangYouwei,whohasalwaysbeenarrogant,hastoadmitthathehasneverseensuchabookafterreadingthetranslationof"TianYanLun".TheyoungLuXunread"TianYanLun"forthefirsttime,andhecouldn'tputitdown...AstubbornparentobjectedtoLuXun'sreadingofthisnewbook.LuXunignoredhim,"Istilldon'tfeelthatthereisanythingwrong.Servecakes,peanuts,peppers,watch"TianYanLun".Itcanbeseenfromthisthat"TianYanLun"wasverypopularinthesocietyatthattime.
Afterthepublicationof"TianYanLun",newtermssuchas"TianYan","GameofThings","NaturalSelection"and"SurvivaloftheFittest"soonfloodednewspapersandpublicationsandbecamethemostactivewords.Someschoolsuse"TianYanLun"astheirtextbooks,someteachersuse"MaterialCompetition"and"NaturalSelection"astheircompositiontopics,andsometeenagerssimplyuse"competition"and"suitability"astheirfontnames.
HuShirecalled:(inChengzhongAcademy)once,he(ChineseteacherYangQianli)taughtourclasstobuyWuRulun’sabridgedversionof"TianYanLun"byYanFuasareader.ThiswasmyfirstReading"TianYanLun"forthesecondtime,Iwasveryhappy.Thetitleofhisessayis"NaturalSelection,SurvivaloftheFittest,TrytoProveitsRighteousness".Naturally,thiskindoftopicisnotsomethingthatourteenagechildrencanplay,butreading"TianYanLun"andwritingarticlesabout"naturalselection"canrepresenttheethosofthatera.
Afterthepublicationof"TianYanLun",withinafewyears,itbecamepopularalloverthecountryandbecameabookformiddleschoolstudents.FewpeoplewhoreadthisbookcanunderstandHuxley'scontributiontothehistoryofscienceandthehistoryofideas.Alltheycanunderstandisthemeaningoftheformulaof"superiorvictoryinferiordefeat"ininternationalpolitics.AfterChina'srepeatedbattlesanddefeats,andafterthehumiliationofBoxerandXinChou,thisformulaof"victoryandinferiority"isindeedakindofshock,whichhasgivencountlesspeopleagreatstimulus.Inthepastfewyears,thiskindofthinkingcontinuedtoburntheheartsandbloodofmanyyoungpeoplelikewildfire.Termssuchas"tianyan","materialcompetition","elimination","naturalselection"andsoonhavegraduallybecomeidiomsinnewspaperarticles,andgraduallybecomethemantraofagroupofpatriots.Therearemanypeoplewholiketousethisnounasthenameofthemselvesortheirchildren.Accordingtostatistics,since1898,morethan30differenteditionsofTianYanLunhavebeenpublishedinashortperiodofmorethantenyears,whichisunmatchedbyanyotherWesternbooksatthattime.Thereasonwhyitissopopularisthatitsthoughtsareenoughtowarntheworld.Oneofthereasonsisthatthetranslationisquaintandeasytoread.
Reviewingthebackward,impoverished,andclosed-mindedmotherland,YanFuwasdeeplyshaken.Therefore,hepaidmoreattentiontothesocietyandpoliticsofWesterncapitalism,tirelesslyresearching"thesimilaritiesanddifferencesofChineseandWesternlearning",andexploringthewaytoprosperityinChina.AfterreturningtoChina,hebegantoteachinFuzhouMajiangShippingSchool.InthesixthyearofGuangxu,LiHongzhangfoundedtheBeiyangNavyAcademyinTianjin,andYanFuwastransferredtotheschool'schiefinstructorandlaterasthegeneraloffice(principal).TheseacademicqualificationsandexperienceprovidedYanFuwiththenecessaryqualitiestobecomeathinkerandtheconditionstoparticipateinpolitics.TheSino-JapanesewarbrokeoutintheSino-JapaneseWarof1894-1895,andthecountrywasindanger.Thesigningofthe"ShimonosekiTreaty"arousedtheincomparableangeroftheChinesepeople.FromFebruary4toMay1,1895,YanFusuccessivelypublishedfivepoliticalarticles:"OntheUrgencyofWorldChange","YuanQiang","PaidKorea","YuanQiangContinuedChapter",and"SalvationDecision"inTianjin"DirectNews".Theessay,screamingforreform,anditsshockingarguments,madeitfamousandattractedtheattentionoftheworld.Inthearticle"YuanQiang",heintroducedDarwin's"OriginofSpecies"andhisviewsonbiologicalevolutiontotheChineseforthefirsttime,andatthesametimeintroducedtheBritishpositivistphilosopherandsociologistSpencer'stheoryofsurvivalofthefittest,combiningthetwoandexpoundingTheinsightsofsavingone'sownlives.Andthein-depthdiscussionofthisthoughtisreflectedinthetranslationprocessof"TianYanLun".
"TianYanLun"istranslatedfromthebook"EvolutionandEthics"byBritishbiologistHuxley.ThisisapopularbooklettopromoteDarwin'stheoryofbiologicalevolution.Thefirsthalfofthebooktalksaboutevolution,thesecondhalfisaboutethics,andYanFuxuantranslatedpartoftheintroductionandthefirsthalfofthelecture.YanFu'stranslationofthisbookdoesnotrelysolelyontheoriginaltext,butinsteadselectivelytranslatesit,orevendrawsonthetopic.Therefore,Mr.LuXunsaidthatYanFu"hasdone"TianYanLun"afterall."Theword"do",inathree-pointmanner,marksYanFu'sgoodintentionsintranslatingthisbook.
Backgroundoftheoriginalwork
EvolutionandEthicsandotherEssaysTheEnglishbooktitleshouldbeliterallytranslatedas"EvolutionandEthics".Atthattime,BritainwasintheVictorianera,economicallystable,sociallyprosperous,liberalismwasfurtherdeveloped,greatnavigationdeveloped,religiouscontrolintheMiddleAgesweakened,differentideasandculturesgraduallyprospered,andnaturalsciencesdevelopedunprecedentedly.Darwin,Huxley,Spencer,etc.'sthoughtsanddoctrinesbecamepopularinBritain.
Thebasicideaoftheoriginalwork
ThebasicideaofEvolutionandEthicsis:thelivingthingsinnaturearenotimmutable,butconstantlyevolving;thereasonforevolutionis"Naturalselectionofthings","competitionofthings"issurvivalcompetition,and"naturalselection"isnaturalselection;thisprinciplealsoappliestohumanbeings,butthemorehumancivilizationdevelops,themorepeoplewhoaresuitableforsurvivalwillbethosewhoareethicallythebest.People.ThefoundationofthetheoryofevolutionwaslaidbyDarwininthebook"TheOriginofSpecies",andHuxleyinsistedandexertedthisidea.
Introductiontothetranslator
YanFu(1854-1921),thefirstnamewaspasseddown,thecharactersaremausoleum,thelaternameiscomplex,thecharactersareseveral,FujianHouguan(nowinFuzhou)people.InthethirdyearofGuangxu(1877),YanFu,asthefirstbatchofstudentssentbytheQinggovernmenttostudyinBritainandFrance,wenttotheUKtolearnhowtodrive.DuringthetwoandahalfyearsofstudyingattheGreenwichNavalAcademy(laterrenamedtheRoyalNavalAcademy)intheUnitedKingdom,he"hasrepeatedlyrankedfirstintheexam"andbecameatopstudentoftheschool."TianYanLun"isYanFu'smostfamoustranslation.
Translationbackground
DuringtheOpiumWar,thepowerfulshipsoftheWesternpowersexposedtheweaknessoftheoldEasternempire.Therefore,thespreadofWesternlearningandlearningfromthebarbarianshavebecometheconsensusoftherulingandtheopposition.AgroupofChineseintellectualswhowerethefirsttoacceptWesternthoughts,suchasWeiYuan,WangTao,LiShanlan,XuShou,HuaHengfang,ZhengGuanying,etc.,playedagreatroleintranslatingWesternbooksanddisseminatingWesternpoliticalsystemandscientificknowledge..TheTranslationHallofJiangnanMachineryManufacturingGeneralAdministration,foundedbytheWesternizationGroup,translatedandpublishedalargenumberofWesternscientificandtechnologicalworks,whichhasleftanimportantroleinChina'smodernpublishinghistory.
YanFu'stranslationof"TianYanLun"isnotapurelyliteraltranslation,butacommentaryandaplay.Hedividedtheintroductionof"TianYanLun"into18chaptersandthemainbodyinto17chapters,whichweretitledrespectively,and28ofthemwereaddedwithnotes.Whileexpoundingthetheoryofevolution,heconnectedwithChina'srealityandwarnedpeoplethatiftheyfailtostrengthenthemselves,theywillperishthecountryandthespecies.YanFupointedoutinthenotethatplantsandanimalsareallexamplesofcompetitionforsurvival,survivalofthefittest,andeliminationoftheuncomfortable,asarehumanbeings.Thevictoryordefeatofhumancompetitionisnotinthenumberofpeople,butinthestrengthofitsstrength.FacedwiththenationalcrisisinChinaatthattime,YanFupointedlypointedoutthatChinacannolongerarrogantlyrespecttherealityandblindlyplay"YiXiaXuan轾"(轩轾xuānzhì).Theoriginalmeaning:anancientChinesecarwithatallfrontroofandacurtain.,Fordoctorsandabove)theoldtune,ifitisnotdonewell,thecountrywillbesubjugatedandthespecieswillbesubjugated."EvolutionofHeaven"tellspeoplethethreatofsubjugationandextinction,butitisnotapessimismofdoingnothing.ItinspirespeoplethatalthoughChina(beforeandaftertheOpiumWar)isweak,thereisstillawaytosaveit.Thisisstrongcompetition.Throughhardwork,wecanchangetheweak.Thestatusofbecomingastrongone.