1894, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894 broke out, the Beiyang Navy was completely annihilated, and Qiang Bing, a rich country painstakingly managed by the Westernization School, went bankrupt. The sacrifice of former classmates and friends and the further oppression of the nation by the great powers deeply hurt Yan Fu's heart. Yan Fu, who had no strong political power, tried to realize his idea of saving the country in another way.
First of all, he published articles such as On the Urgency of World Change, Yuan Qiang, Bi Han and On Saving the Country in Tianjin Direct, expressing his thoughts of reform and self-improvement. Then, he painstakingly translated the English biologist Huxley's Theory of Evolution. The viewpoint of "natural selection, survival of the fittest" in the book shocked the whole intellectual circle in China.
People are beginning to realize that if they don't cheer up and strive for self-improvement, they will die. Only by improving our own strength and changing the position of the weak can we survive in the international game where the strong are like forests.
The publication of Yan Fu's translation of "The Theory of Evolution" not only had a strong response at that time, influenced several generations, but also established his lofty position in China's ideological circle!
Extended data:
Due to the great influence of "evolution theory", Emperor Guangxu ordered Yan Fu to come to Beijing in 1898 to explain his proposition of political reform. He wrote a long political treatise "Guangxu Wan Yan Shu", hoping that Emperor Guangxu would follow the example of the West and carry out comprehensive reforms.
However, the reality is cruel. Yan Fu was disheartened by the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, and then the Boxer Rebellion broke out and he left Beiyang Naval Academy. Until the Revolution of 1911, Yan Fu repeatedly hoped to achieve national prosperity through education, administration and industry.
He also translated Adam? Smith's Primitive Wealth (the famous The Wealth of Nations), Spencer's Group Learning, John? Mill's Group Rights and Xue Ming's Boundary Theory, Jencks's General Interpretation of Society, Montesquieu's Spirit of Law and Ye Fangsi's A Brief Introduction to Xue Ming. These books, together with the previous evolutionism, are the eight most important translations in Yan Fu's life.
"These eight translations systematically introduced the political, economic, philosophical and other academic thoughts of the western bourgeoisie to China, and set up a solid bridge for China to connect with the West."
At the same time, Yan Fu clearly put forward the translation principles and standards of "faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance" in the translation of evolution, drawing on the experience of the ancients and combining his own examples, and became the pioneer of the first complete translation standard in China. This set of standards is still highly praised by the translation circle and even affects other fields.