Title: eNCouNteR BetweeN laNguageS: liaNg QiChao'S tRaNSlatioN aNd tRaNSliNgual pRaCtiCe
Abstract: In the 19th and early 20th century, China underwent a transition to modernization to cope with the serious challenges brought about by the Western powers and the humiliating defeat by Japan in the Sino-Japanese war of 1895. While this modernization was by no means equivalent to Westernization, 1 many Chinese intellectuals saw the West as a model for modernization. In this process of learning from the West, translation played a crucial role in introducing Western knowledge, ideas and concepts. Liang Qichao (1873-1929) is among the Chinese modern pioneers who considered translating Western thoughts and knowledge as an effective means to “renovate the people” and transform Chinese society and culture. Liang’s socio-political and intellectual impact on the late Qing period China is profound, as can be testified by the large volume of existing Chinese literature and an increasing volume of Western scholarship detailing his impact. Among the scholarship published in the Chinese language, Liang Qichao nianpu changbian (Chronological biography of Liang Qichao) edited by Ding Wenjiang and Zhao Fengtian is the most detailed chronological record of Liang’s entire life. The academic value of this book was well explained by Fogel: Everyone who works primarily in the late Qing period, especially those in intellectual and cultural history, has had to make use of Liang’s nianpu. There is simply no avoiding it. Liang knew so many people and had contact through the mail with so many more that he virtually lived the period itself. Easier access to Liang’s chronological biography pushes the scholarly bar one level up (2005: 19). In terms of Western literature published in the English language, Tang Xiaobing’s Global Space and the Nationalist Discourse of Modernity: The Historical Thinking of Liang Qichao, is the most cited according to Google scholar. There are many other seminal studies in Chinese, Japanese, and English that explore topics ranging from
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 2
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