Introduction To Roman History By Chinese Science And Engineering Scholars In Europe In The Early 20th Century

During the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China,Western learning spread eastward,and Western history enshrouded in Western learning was introduced into China,including ancient Roman historiography.As an aspect of the study of the dissemination of Western historiography in China,this paper,from the perspective of international students in science and engineering,analyzes the history of Rome translated or compiled by Wu Guangjian,Hua Nangui and Zhang Naiyan,and explores the dissemination and introduction of Roman history by Chinese science and engineering scholars studying in Europe in the early 20 th century,in order to reflect the Chinese intellectuals’ sense of social responsibility to take the world as their own responsibility and the sense of family and country that the country is responsible for the rise and fall of the country.The thesis is divided into three chapters.The first chapter lays the foundation for understanding Wu Guangjian,Hua Nangui and Zhang Naiyan’s study abroad background and activities by sorting out the activities of studying in Europe in modern times and the introduction of Western classical culture by scholars studying in Europe.The second and third chapters are the main part of the thesis.The second chapter is divided into three sections to discuss the life of Wu Guangjian,Hua Nangui and Zhang Naiyan and their Roman history in detail in terms of genre,structure and content.In the part of Wu Guangjian,mainly referring to the articles published by his son Wu Lifu and the part about Roman history in the "Outlines of General History"(Part 1)compiled by Wu Guangjian for analysis.In the section of Hua Nangui,the life of Hua Nangui is mainly introduced based on the Chronology of Hua Nangui and the List of Works of Hua Nangui provided by Hua Xinmin,the granddaughter of Hua Nangui.Since Hua Nangui’s "History of Rome" is a retranslation of the book History of Rome,and not written by him alone,a comparative analysis is carried out combining the original English book and its previous translation.In the part of Zhang Naiyan,the author introduces his life and the History of Rome based on his unpublished manuscripts.The third chapter analyzes the reasons why Wu,Hua,and Zhang introduced Roman history from five aspects: understanding Europe,hobbies,education,mission and the cultural atmosphere of European ancient history research at that time.The conclusion part briefly analyzes the influence and limitation of the Roman history made by the three people,indicating that the science and engineering scholars studying in Europe played an important role in promoting the cultural exchange between China and the West,but because they are not professional historians and their works were published earlier,there will inevitably be some shortcomings.