Initiate change and patriotic prosperity

The establishment of Yan Fu Research Committee of Tianjin Historical Society has extraordinary value and significance. Although Yan Fu's life was only a short 67 spring and autumn, the most promising golden age in his life was spent in Tianjin and Hedong, Tianjin. It is in this sense that Tianjin can be said to be Yan Fu's "second hometown". Yan Fu dedicated the "years of burning passion" in his life to Tianjin; Tianjin also made Yan Fu's glorious life journey connected with the times. When we recall and lament the indissoluble bond between Yan Fu and Tianjin, we will also deeply appreciate his lofty spirit of "rigorous scholarship, advocating change, pursuing truth, patriotism and rejuvenating the country", as well as the extraordinary bearing and courage of "diligent study, hard translation, courage to forge ahead, and dare to be the first in the world. During Yan Fu's stay in Tianjin, he used advanced western ideas and classical theories as weapons to criticize feudal autocracy, publicize reform and reform, advocate new learning and oppose old learning. This period was indeed the most glorious and magnificent period in Yan Fu's life. Yan Fu was also proud of this and called himself "30-year-old Tianjin".
Yan Fu, as an outstanding thinker in modern China and a cultural giant standing on the tide of history, although he was in the changing situation of "from the old era to the new era", in such a prime time of life, he used his shining advanced thoughts to illuminate a way for the Chinese people to seek truth from the West, and added a glorious splendor to modern Tianjin, showing "the extraordinary insight and courage of the advanced chinese".

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During Yan Fu's life in Tianjin, it was at the historical juncture when the nation was in peril. The society was in turmoil everywhere, the mountains and rivers were broken, and the mourning was everywhere... It was a sad age that made people look back.
In particular, China's disastrous defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and the signing of the Treaty of shimonosem gave a great shock to Yan Fu, who loved the country and the people. Since 1895, Yan Fu, who is "strong in body, rich in learning, and knowledgeable in Hong Kong", has successively published "On the Urgency of World Change", "Original Strength", "Bihan" and "On Salvation and Resolution" in Tianjin's "Zhibao". Famous political papers. He used the evolutionary point of view to attack the decadence of the Chinese system, pointing out that in order to strive for "self-survival" in today's world, it is necessary to abolish the stereotyping, advocate new learning and carry out reform. In "Bihan", Yan Fu fiercely criticized the feudal autocracy, advocated the rule of the monarch and the people, and proposed the concept that officials should be public servants of the masses, and pointed out that if Chinese politics is to "no mutual deception", it is necessary to get rid of the "harm to the rich and the strong". The bad government realizes "co-governance with the people".
At this time, Yan Fu saw the book "Evolution and Ethics and Other Papers" by British natural philosopher Huxley. This is a book that expounds social ethics based on evolution and has just been published. In order to support his theory of reform and reform, Yan Fu specially selected and translated the speeches and introductions in the book, and renamed it "Tian Yan Lun".
Yan Fu's translation of "Tian Yan Lun" is divided into two volumes, with a total of 35 articles, including 18 "Introduction" and 17 "Theory", which are titled respectively. Among them, 28 articles are accompanied by comments that Yan Fu explained his understanding of the book according to the background of the times at that time. Some of the comments are even longer than the translation. Yan Fu's main argument is that all creatures in the world are evolved, and the reason why creatures can evolve is due to "material competition" and "natural selection". The so-called "material competition" is survival competition; "natural selection" is natural elimination. There are many examples of natural selection in plants and animals, as well as in humans. On this basis, Yan Fu pointed out that if China did not cheer up and compete strongly, it would subjugate its country and destroy its species. Yan Fu also pointed out the direction in the book: "As long as we are angry and reform and strengthen ourselves, China can still be saved, live or die, and its power is still in my hands!"
Once published, Tianyan Lun aroused great repercussions in the society. At that time, when the Chinese nation was in crisis, in the face of internal and external troubles, people of insight vigorously advocated the political change. This work played a great enlightening role in the political change movement at that time, and soon formed a consensus among the intellectuals at that time, It greatly stimulated people's patriotic potential and sense of urgency of the times to "save the nation from subjugation and revitalize China.
General Secretary Xi Jinping spoke highly of Yan Fu's translation, saying that Yan Fu "did not translate for the sake of translation, but expressed his patriotic thoughts and ideas through the preface and a large number of notes, so as to achieve the goal of saving the nation from subjugation and survival".
Since the Opium War in China, the atmosphere has gradually become more and more popular, and the promotion of Western learning is increasing, and the translation of books is the first to bear the brunt. At first, it was mostly in the category of "Gezhi" (natural science), because at that time, they only knew the ships and guns of Western countries, and believed that "China's cultural relics system is far away from Westerners in everything, and it is impossible to reach it alone". The advent and wide dissemination of Yan Fu's "Tian Yan Lun" made people begin to realize that the strength of the West is due to their deep integration with the trend of "Tian Yan". In order to survive and be strong, China must adapt to the situation and change itself. From then on, "The principle of natural selection of things should be in the hearts of the people, and the Chinese people's sentiment has changed". Using the western theory of evolution as a weapon, Yan Fu waged a sharp struggle against autocracy and stubborn ideas, which also made him a famous enlightenment thinker in modern China.

2

Another contribution of Yan Fu in the Reform Movement was the establishment of "Guowen Pao", which was the first newspaper run by the Chinese in modern Tianjin.
After Yan Fu's political essays were published in the "Direct Newspaper", the response was great, which made Yan Fu realize the necessity of running a newspaper by himself. In 1896, Liang Qichao, the leader of the reformist movement, founded the Times in Shanghai. Yan Fu once gave him a hundred yuan. After that, after a period of preparation, Yan Fu united like-minded close friends and founded Guowen Daily, which was accepted by all social strata, on October 26, 1897. Soon, Yan Fu founded the periodical "Compilation of National News", which was specially read by scholar-officials and intellectuals. Yan Fu's translation of "The Theory of Heavenly Evolution" and the article "Spencer's" Encouraging Learning ", which introduced Spencer's" Sociological Research ", were first published in the" Compilation of National News.
With regard to the purpose of running the newspaper, Yan Fu and others made it very clear in the "origin" of the publication of the newspaper: "for those who read this newspaper, if they look at the affairs of one country, it is enough to communicate the feelings of the upper and lower people; if they look at the affairs of other countries, it is enough to communicate the feelings of China and foreign countries." Such a newspaper with the purpose of "seeking communication" and calling for "self-improvement" adapted to the new situation of the whole country demanding reform and reform at that time. It was not only the "ancestor of the Chinese independent journalism", but also made Tianjin a propaganda reform. A powerful public opinion position.
Yan Fu used the newspaper Guowen Pao to expose the imperialist invasion and the corruption of the Qing Dynasty. He criticized the imperial examination system and the eight-part writings, praised the officials who carried out the reform and reform in the local government, and reported a lot on the various new policies of the imperial court, such as discussing the establishment of the system bureau, organizing the Jingshi University Hall, rewarding craft manufacturing, and establishing the General Administration of Agriculture and Industry, the proposed opening of the Maoqin Hall to discuss the New Deal ...... as well as Japanese Prime Minister Hirobumi's visit to China and his Q & A with dignitaries of the court, and so on. Later, someone commented, "For Guowen, Mr. Hou Guan and Yan Jidao reunited with Hongda in Hainan, who was built in Tianjin. During the period of 1898, the two of them commented on the Chinese press and took it as the first."
From January 27 to February 4, 1898, the "Guo Wen Bao" published Yan Fu's "Proposed Emperor's Book" for 9 times. During the New Deal, with the recommendation of the Ministry of Personnel Affairs, Emperor Guangxu summoned Yan Fu in the Ganqing Palace in September 1898. The inquiry was published in the "Guo Wen Bao".
During this period, with great political enthusiasm, Yan Fu assisted Wang Wenshao, the governor of Zhili, to set up a new-style school "Russian language library" and cultivate Russian translation talents. Yan Fu also served as the general manager, responsible for the curriculum setting of the Russian language library, the employment of teachers and other work in the library. Yan Fu also assisted the reformists and the premier's national affairs office Zhang Jing and Zhang Yuanji to establish a general art school in Beijing. He went to the school twice to "examine the homework and explain the academic" for the students, and the lecture content was "the origin and interest of western learning" and "the great source of politics and religion in China and the west". During the Hundred Days Reform, the Capital University was established, and many people advocated that Yan Fu be the chief teacher. Although this matter could not be realized because of the opposition of the conservative faction, we can also see the status of Yan Fu and Western learning in people's minds during this period.

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In addition to the Theory of Heavenly Evolution, Yan Fu also translated a variety of Western social science masterpieces during his stay in Tianjin and after his departure from Tianjin, including Adam Smith's The Original Wealth, John Muller's Theory of the World of the Rights of the Group (On Freedom), Muller's Famous Studies (Logic System), and Spencer's Essay on Group Studies (Sociological Studies), zhenkes's "Social General Interpretation" ("Political History"), Montesquieu's "Dharma Meaning" ("On the Spirit of Dharma"), Yefonsi's "A Brief Talk on Famous Studies", etc. These translations had a great influence on modern Chinese society, thought and scholarship, so they were respected as the "Eight Classics of Strict Translation". In 1931, the Commercial Press compiled and printed these translations as "Yan Translation of Famous Works Series" and included them in "Wanyou Library". In 1981, the Commercial Press published a new version of the "series.
Yan Fu, who has been engaged in translation for a long time, was the first to put forward the principles of faithfulness, expression and elegance in the Chinese translation arena. He said in the "translation example" of "Tian Yan Lun": "There are three difficulties in translating things: faith, exposition and elegance." "Faithfulness" is to be faithful to the original work and make the reader feel credible. "Da" means that the translation is smooth and accurate, expressing the original author's thoughts or feelings. "Ya" means to make the translation have literary grace and literary value. Wu Rulun, a famous ancient writer in modern times, spoke highly of Yan Fu's translation level: "There is no one who can translate Western Books in my country that can match Yan Zi." "The text is like a few words, but it can be translated with words."
Yan Fu was the first person in China to introduce the theory of Western social sciences as a complete set of theories to the Chinese people. Since the advent of Yan Fu, Western philosophy and social sciences have flooded into China like a tide, which means that the main content of Western learning has passed the stage of applied science and natural science, and entered the stage of philosophy and social science. Yan Fu has made pioneering contributions to many fields in modern China, such as literature, history, philosophy, economics, political science, sociology, law, pedagogy, translation and so on. China's social sciences can be developed to this day. Yan Fu's "enlightenment" and "foundation laying" contributions cannot be obliterated.
General Secretary Xi Jinping once comprehensively summarized and evaluated Yan Fu. He said: "Yan Fu's life is first of all the life of a patriot. All his seeking, all enterprising, and all success are inseparable from his patriotism and ambition to serve the country." "Yan Fu is the representative of the first generation of intellectuals who sought the truth of national salvation from the West in modern Chinese history. His patriotism and the pursuit of truth, his rigorous academic spirit, his emphasis on education and his serious attitude towards teaching represent The path taken by thousands of Chinese intellectuals during the old democratic revolution." "These translations and comments of Yan Fu had a very profound impact on the old Chinese ideological circle under the old-fashioned and self-proclaimed Qing Dynasty at that time, like a huge stone thrown into a deep pool of stagnant water. To this day, Yan Fu's scientific and patriotic thoughts are still outdated."
More than a hundred years ago, for Chinese and Western civilizations how to coexist on the same earth, the national is still in the stage of confusion, confusion. As the forerunner of the times, Yan Fu initiated change in the spirit of openness and inclusiveness and became a bridge of communication and understanding between China and the world. Only by not forgetting history can we open up the future, and only by being good at inheritance can we be good at innovation. Every attempt of Yan Fu brings us one step closer to future success. This is also the reason why we still have to commemorate Yan Fu and cannot forget Yan Fu until today. (Luo Shuwei)

Source: Tianjin Daily