This book is a biography of Yan Fu, arguably the most important thinker and translator in the modern Chinese enlightenment, based on more than thirty years of research. The title of this book, “The Man Who Enlightened China with His Pen,” highlights the importance of Yan Fu’s role in China’s enlightenment. The book is organized around two major threads. First looks into Yan Fu’s trajectory of life in contexts of his personality, marriage and family, and relationships with teachers and friends, and reflecting the turbulent times of the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican era. Second reconstructs Yan Fu’s intellectual world, with particular attention to his translations, to show the characteristics of his political and economic thinking. The author attempts to provide a concise account of the challenges, setbacks, and achievements of Yan Fu as he “journeyed into the world” from a broad historical perspective.
In spite of his prominence, Yan’s Fu lived a life full of difficulties, ranging from family changes, setbacks in official career, addiction to opium-smoking, and the conflicts between his theory and the reality. The author offers a rich and refined narrative of the unknown dimensions of this man of Chinese enlightenment. For the author, Yan Fu not only pioneered changes, but also consciously reflected on the Chinese cultural tradition. By an overviews Yan Fu’s life and his intellectual achievements in context of modern Chinese intellectual history, this book sought for a in-depth understanding of the dilemmas of his era.