Zhang Taiyan And The Modern Natural Sciences

As culture and sciences from the west were introduced into China in a large scale,the traditional culture and learning were faced with unprecedented challenges. Thusthis chapter is focused on the relationship between Zhang Taiyan and the modernnatural sciences. From discussing the course of receiving the modern natural sciencesand the subsequent influence of the thought and the learning, we look forward to itcan help to comprehend the effect of the modern science in china and the interconnection with the traditional culture.This paper is divided into five chapters. The first chapter summarizes the threephases. When Zhang was young, he began to admire west sciences and culture andtried to redefine the traditional culture of China by investigation of things and theextension of knowledge. After 1894, he devoted more time to reading west books andabsorbed more new knowledge and theories into his own theoretical system. In thisperiod of time, he was not picking up fragmentary west knowledge but was makingsystematic analysis. But after 1911, he only confined his focus on natural sciences andtechnologies. He began to doubt the capitalist democracy and equality and even thetheory of evolution which was being admired by the public at the time. We cannottake this as his retrogression from the times as he kept a clear mind and did not followothers. He criticized and modified the theory of evolution, which showed hisconfusion and courage of independent thinking. But in conclusion, we can see he wastoo pessimistic from his criticism and modification on the theory of evolution and thiswas unfavorable to the capitalist democratic revolution. The second and the thirdchapters discuss the impact of the modern natural sciences on Zhang. After the theoryof evolution was introduced to China, it became a world outlook and methodology forthe Chinese people to observe and transform the world. Zhang refused to imitate, heused the theory to analyze the universe, the nature, the animals and the human societyinstead and severely attached the divine theory and superstitious ideology of thefeudal society. In addition, Zhang used west natural sciences and theories concerningethnology, genetics and eugenics to establish nationalism different from the traditionalideology. The fourth chapter analyzes the atheism of Zhang. He attached andcriticized severely the theism and put forward his proposal to establish an atheisticreligion and thus fell into the trap of idealism. The fifth chapter discusses how Zhangintroduced new knowledge and learning into the old sphere so that he brought a newface to the traditional studies when the traditional studies were faced with challengesof the west studies.To sum up, the ideology of Zhang concerning natural sciences takes on a trend toexpel the new with the old, and show a character of the mixture of the two studies butlacked theoretical creation. It seems too nervous and too hurried to choose. In spite ofthat, it is without doubt that the impact on the change of the mind and on thetransformation of the traditional studies to the modern studies is significant.