A Research Of Japanese Translation Of Concept-Words Adopted By Chinese

A lot of Chinese concept words are loan-words, they are from Japanese, for example, guannian (idea), jingyan (experience) , ziyou (freedom), jingshen (mind), fangfa (method), etc.. At the end of the 19th century and the early of the 20th century, those concept words came to China in the boom of translating Japanese books, most of them are the translation of western concepts by Japanese scholars.Concept is an image of comprehending and understanding, the concept word is the clearest form of the concept. This essay focuses on concept words, because they are connected with our comprehending. And the group of Japanese translation of concept words Adopted by Chinese is a research question of great value for discussion. They are from western concepts, and the Japanese translators put their own notion in them. They translated them with kanji. Kanji is from China, so the Chinese culture is in the words, too. When those concept words came in, China was in the era of change that old cultural system were collapsing, Chinese people put something special meaning into the words. . The concept words are complicated, they have western, Japanese, new Chinese and old Chinese ideas in them.Science is a significant modern western concept. The word "kexue" (science) is used frequently, we use it when we talk and write. And "kexue" is a keyword in the concept words from Japanese. The understanding of science is connected with the understanding of many concept. So, this essay focuses on the word "kexue" .This essay gives three routes about "kexue" .1. The spread of western knowledge in China. It' s from Matteo Ricci coming to China, translating western books with Xu Guangqi, to the westernization developing industry, translating a lot of western books, to the boom of studying in Japan and Japanese books coming to China at the beginning of 20th century. There is something at the back of this route that is the changing of the world view of Chinese scholars, from "Zhong Ti Xi Yong" to "Ji Jin Yu Dao" . This route gives a cultural background, and shows us the inner reason why Chinese people took "kexue" .2. "Kagaku" in Japan→"kexue" in China. This route is short, we should pay attention to the beginning and the end. At the beginning, there' s the birth of "kagaku" in Japan, and the course how it becoming the translation of "science" . At the end is the course how the word "kexue" was absorbed by Chinese.The naissance of the Japanese word "kagaku" was at the period of Rangaku, it meant the branches of knowledge. Nishi Amane, the famous thinker in Mei ji, used it with its modern meaning first. At late 20th century, "kagaku" became the translation of "science" . When "kexue" (the Chinese version of "kagaku" ) came to China, there were already a translation of "science" in Chinese. It was "gezhi" . Gezhi is a conception of Confucianism, this word is from Daxue. At the late Ming dynasty, "gezhi" was used to indicate knowledge from west. At the late Qing dynasty, it became an official name. Because of the connection with Confucianism, it was thrown over by new clerisies at the early of 20th century.3. acient Greek word "epistem"→Latin word "scientia"→English word "science"→Japanese word "kagaku"→Chinese word "kexue" . The origin of "science" is "scientia" which means all kinds of knowledge, and has a relation with "episteme" which means theoretical knowledge. The meaning of "science" was changing, at 19th century it arrived its modern meaning. Basing on experiment and depending on mathematics are the particularity of modern science. In Japan, people translated "science" to "kagaku", and the word came to China, becaming the Chinese version of "kagaku"——"kexue" .We can find the special meaning of "kexue" by analyzing the ways we use it.As an adjective, "kexue" means: A) of science, B) characterized by science. Meaning B) can be analyzed to B1) using technology, based upon science, B2) acting with the manner of science, B3)reasonable, objective, accurate. And we also usually used "kexue" with the meaning good or correct. For example, "His method is scientific, Your method is not scientific. " "a' scientific judgement" . In modern Chinese language context, "Kexue" is a commendatory word and it usually means absolutely correct. Those meanings are special. English word "scientific" and Japanese word "kagakuteki" haven't such means.The special meanings of "kexue" are from the historical situation and the cultural background, connected with the thought of Chinese people.' At the early of the 20th century, when "kexue" was being absorbed into Chinese, scientism was the main current in Chinese academia. People who believe science gave the word "kexue" a very important status. The meaning of authority was immitted into "kexue" .