56 



NATURE 



S^May 19, 1 88 1 



period, or even before tlie close of the present century, 

 t'jis atteiiipt to supply Chinese literature with the results 

 of modern discoveries in science and art must of course 

 appear to be conferring a mere transient advantage. 



But it is no difficult matter to see th,at the translation and 

 publication of books in Chinese as it is carried on at the 

 Kiangnan Arsenal and other places is the great means 

 by which the intellectual stagnation of China is to be 

 hroken up. This work must necessarily go on and 

 increase rapidly now that a current of thought has begun 

 to set in. As long as foreigners have any knowledge to 

 impart that is of real advantage to the Chinese, so long 

 will the Chinese ma'<e efforts to obtain it ; for the more 

 the celestial mind drinks at this fountain the greater will 

 become its thirst for further supplies. 



The fact that this Translation Department has been 

 established and kept up so long by the Government 

 at^ie-; well for the future prospects of China, as it shows 

 that whatever may be the national pride in her antiquated 

 literature, or whatever ma\ be her attitude towards the 

 diplomatists of foreign powers, or the missionaries of 

 foreign religions, she recognises the fact that knowledge 

 is confined to no nation or country. She is therefore 

 willing to be taught even by the "foreign barbarians" 

 such useful things as she feels she is ignorant of. But 

 she must do this of her o«"n accord and in her own way, 

 or not at all. It is a matter in which she is not to be 

 dictated to, as in the case of treaties or missionary rights. 

 She has freely availed herself of what she has considered 

 beneficial, and has not been sparing in funds to enable 

 knowledge to be disseminated throughout the Empire. 

 This willingness to be taught and to pay for being taught 

 i . one of the most hopeful fe.itures that has occurred in 

 her intercourse with foreign countries, and is deserving of 

 the highest conimendation. 



The work at the Translation Department is at present 

 only in its infancy ; but enough has been done to esta- 

 blish a foundation upon which a large and important 

 structure will eventually arise. Having been commenced 

 and caiTied on only in obedience to a natural and instinc- 

 tive desire for knowledge, it ought to go on harmoniously 

 with the course of events, and prove a powerful lever in 

 the regeneration of China, The large niunber of copies 

 of works .already sold at cost price without any attempt to 

 bring them before the public notice evinces the apprecia- 

 tion of the masses of the people : for a Chinaman is very 

 slow in p.arting with his dollars for whit he does not ^•alue 

 or admire, or derive benefit from in some way or other. 

 It would be strange if the knowledge that has only been 

 acquired by such vast expenditure of thought and labour 

 by Wenem nations did not make its v.alue felt amon^ the 

 Chinese : for by means of these books they can in some 

 things place themselves on a level with foreigners without 

 going through the difficulties attending discoverers and 

 inventors. 



It is gratifying to find that some of these translations 

 have already found tlieir way as text-books in the Peking 

 I'niversity and in higher kinds of mission schools. For 

 example, the work on Trigonometn,- has been used to 

 advantage in Mr. Mateer's scliool at Tangchow, in the 

 Shantung province. 



Another cheering feature in connection with the Trans- 

 l.ttion Department is, that it is not the only undertaking of 

 the kind in China. Kven before it had fairly commenced, 

 Dr. Manin, the learned president of the Peking Univer- 

 sity, had begun to publish \vork5 on natural science and 

 international law. Both he and his fellow-helpei-s have 

 since published \-arious \s0rk3 on scientific and diplomatic 

 subjects, which have become very popular and have 

 proved of great utility to the Government. Their trans- 

 lations are of a high standard, and are conducted in a 

 stA'le which renders them acceptable to literan,- men and 

 officials of the highest grade. It is to be regretted that 

 no detailed account of this important work that has been 



carried on in Peking for so many years appears to have yet 

 been given to the public. Variou.-s other Protestant mis- 

 sionaries have done a great service to the country b>- 

 their long list of published translations in Chinese. The 

 names of at least half a dozen of them will be handed 

 down to future generations as the foremost pioneers of 

 the spread of Western arts and sciences in the " Flower)- 

 I Land." 



j The establishment of Chinese legations at the courts 

 I of all the great treaty powers, and the creation of Chinese 

 I professorships at the Oxford, London, Paris, and Harvard 

 ' Universities, .are events which show the inweasing inipor- 

 : tance of the study of the Chinese language. It is there- 

 ' fore not in \-ain to hope that in foreign countries, as well 

 I a> in China, the work of supplying useful knowledge to 

 I the Chinese by means of their own langu.ige will eventa- 

 I ally be carried on to an extent which may bear some 

 j reasonable proportion to the size and needs of the 

 I •' Middle kingdom." 



j One of the latest and most promising of the schemes 



j which have a simil.ir object in view to the Translation 



I Department is that previously alluded to, namely, the 



\ supplying a series of text-books ch'etly for use in mission 



schools, but still of a character suitable to the wants of 



the nation at large. The practicU working of this 



scheme was placed in the hands of a committee of six 



gentlemen, all of whom have already had considerable 



t experience in this kind of labour. .A series of fifty-five 



■ works has been determined on, which embraces several 



books of an elementary kind that will, no doubt, do well 



as introductions to the more elaborate treatises on similai' 



subjects already in existence. 



1 1 is, however, to the future that we must look for the 

 chief part of the practical utility of all this translation 

 work. Such a vast nation as the Chinese is not to be 

 started into motion and made to follow in the wake of 

 I Western civilisation all at once. Generation after genera- 

 I tion will have to come and go before the complete trans- 

 formation will be eiTected, and the intellectual as well as 

 j the physical resources of the country will be turned to 

 I the best account. Hereditary tendencies in a wrong 

 j direction are not to be eradicated without a long series of 

 struggles. The system of ignoring eventhing but the 

 ; "Four Books'' and the " Five Classics" at the Govem- 

 I ment examinations, which are the passports to the highest 

 I ct^ces in the State, is not destined to last for evei-. By 

 I patiently working, on even the present generation of 

 foreigners eng-aged in tliis laborious task of spreading 

 intellectual light may hope to see much good resulting 

 from their eftorts. If they do not live to see Western 

 learning occupying the position it ought to do in Govern- 

 ment examinations they may yet see it holding a prominent 

 place. 



The work of translating and compiling scientific books 



is for the time being perhaps about as dull and unth.ank- 



ful a task as any foreigner could engage in, especially in 



! such a secluded place as the Kiangnan Arsenal, and 



under the depressing influences of the clim.ate of this 



part of China. Nothing but a strong sense of duty and a 



firm belief that this kind of labour is one of the most 



j effective means, under the Divine guidance, for bringing 



' about the intellectual and moral regeneration of this great 



; country, has sufficed to render endurable the long and 



weary years and weary hours of close and continuous 



application which it has involved. 



4. List of Bocks aihi Statistics. — The Translation De- 



I part ment, although established in the ye-ir 1S6S, did not 



' commence the publication of books till the year iS/l, 



i when a treatise on Practical (.".eometry and anotlier on 



Coal and Coal Mining made their appearance. L^p to 



the present year the number of works published amounts 



to ninety-eight. These works are contained in 236 



' volumes, a Chinese volume generally consisting of 120 to 



j 200 pages and representing perhaps on an average about 



