The Translation Of "Daiweiji Shiji" And Chinese Mathematicians' Understanding Of Calculus In Late Qing Dynasty

Calculus was invented independently by Newton and Leibniz in the seventeenth century respectively.However,Chinese mathematicians did not come into contact with calculus until the late 19 th century.In 1859,Calculus was translated into China Daiweijishiji by British missionary Alexander Wylie and Chinese mathematician Li Shanlan,and Western calculus thus began to spread into China.The introduction of calculus has greatly changed traditional Chinese mathematics,and gradually changed from constant to variable,from discrete to continuous,from finite to infinite.However,variables,continuous,unlimited,etc.is not inherent in traditional Chinese mathematics,resulting in the spread of calculus in China is not smooth.In the early period,Chinese mathematicians' understanding of calculus has mainly from the Daiweijishiji and Weijisuyuan.The second book is translated from Western mathematical works.The translator's understanding of the original book directly affects the translation quality.As the first Chinese translation of calculus,Daiweijishiji is greatly concerned by the calculus,and its content is the basis of calculus in calculus learning,so Daiweijishiji's translation directly affects the process of calculus propagation in our country.The translation method of Daiweijishiji is literal translation of western languages,while the calculus is considered by critics as obscure and hard to read.It is a long process for Chinese mathematician to digest,absorb,understand and apply calculus.This article mainly divided into two modules discussed.The firstpart is to compare Daiweijishiji with the English original,discuss the translation characteristics and the translation quality of the book.Combined with the subsequent publication of calculus,to clarify its use.The second part is about the Chinese mathematicians' early understanding of calculus after the introduction of Daiweijishiji,discussing the development of calculus in China.This article consists of four chapters,each chapter is as follows:The first chapter: Expounds the significance of this topic,introduces the predecessors' existing achievements in this subject,and explains the main research contents and thoughts.The second chapter: Compares the terminology of Daiweijishiji with the English original,enumerate the translation and usage of several terms,and explain the terms translation rules;Contrast the problem of translation and solution,point out the wrong answer and the amendment to the basic exercises in Daiweijishiji.Discuss the translation situation of the translation by case,find out the problems in translation,as well as its supplement and deletion of the original book,through which analysis the translator's understanding of calculus.Check out the early calculus works in China,analyze the usage of these contents,and provide evidence for the Chinese mathematicians' understanding of calculus.The third chapter: Analyzes the contents of calculus in Daiweijishiji,Xisuanxinfazhijie,Xusuanbitan,Weijitongquan,Weijichanxiang explore Li Shanlan,Feng Guifen,Hua Hengfang,Huang Qiming,Chen Zhijian and otherChinese mathematicians on the understanding of calculus,to discusses the calculus' s understanding of calculus in the past 50 years in China,and then discusses the calculus spread in China and development process.The fourth chapter: Concludes that the translation of terms in A follows the principle of "localization" and there is no lack of innovation.Many calculus terms are used up to now.Summarize the terminology of translation and translation principles.The problem of analytic geometry has an influence on the content of traditional mathematics.The translator's understanding of the important concepts of calculus is not thorough enough and the translation is not accurate enough.In the later works,it has not been corrected and perfected.In the early period,Chinese mathematicians still use the views of Calculus Daiweijishiji and Weijisuyuan in the point of view,many important ideas of calculus has not fully understood and absorbed by Chinese mathematicians,so that theoretical research has not been well developed.