Civilization vs. Essence-Function (Tiyong): Tianyan lun (On Heavenly Evolution) and the Post-1895 Debate on the Primacy of Technology over Science in China

Date(s)： 2024/10/24

Time： 10:00~12:00

Venue： Archives 2nd Conference Hall

Speaker：Prof. Sean Hsiang-lin LEI ( Research fellow and Director, IMH, AS )

Disscussant： Prof. Peter Zarrow ( Department of History, NCONN )

Organizer： IMH

Abstract,
The current article begins by presenting a revisionist account of one of the most influential books in modern Chinese intellectual history, Yan Fu’s 嚴復 (1854–1921) Tianyan lun 天演論 (On Heavenly Evolution), published in 1898 as the Chinese translation of Thomas Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics (1893). Scholars have yet to recognize that Yan Fu intended Tianyan lun to serve as a “science-based discourse of civilization.” To that end, Yan created twin concepts—zhihua 治化and zhigong治功—to translate the notion of civilization into Chinese, thereby constructing a coherent discourse of civilization that laid the foundation for Liang Qichao’s well-known advocacy. What Yan sought to achieve with Tianyan lun was to create dual breakthroughs: advancing a conception of science endowed with cultural authority and facilitating the acceptance of civilization discourse in late Qing China.

Photos：