Mathematics Department
& Descartes Centre
The Appropriation of Western Science
in China during the Late Qing Dynasty
Remco de Boer
MSc Student History and Philosophy of Science
Conference on the History of Science: Islam, Europe and China
Institute for the History of Science
University of Tehran, 26 April 2016
19th Century China
Age of Humiliation
(1839–1949)
19th Century China
The Qing Dynasty
(1644–1911)
The Qing Empire
(1644–1911)
Modern
border
Former Ming
Empire (1644)
Tributary
states
Manchu
homeland
Mathematics Department
Descartes Centre
Canton System (1757–1842)
All sea trade confined to Guangzhou (Canton)
Conference on the History of Science | University of Tehran
26 April 2016
Macartney Embassy 1793
Macartney Embassy 1793
British request
“The great hope of commercial intercourse is
to improve human knowledge and to bring it
to the greatest possible perfection.”
Qing Response
“[T]here is nothing we lack, as your principal
envoys and others have themselves observed. We
have never set much store on strange or
ingenious objects, nor do we need any more of
your country’s manufacturers.”
Wright (2006), Translating Science, p. 20
1839: First Opium War
The Nemesis,
first iron warship
in history
1842: Treaty of Nanjing
Canton System abolished
1842: Treaty of Nanjing
Stages of Reform
Recognition
Interpretation
Implementation
Mathematics Department
Descartes Centre
1840s: Recognition of Western knowledge
On military superiority (Wei Yuan, 1842)
“The superior techniques of the barbarians are three: (1) warships,
(2) firearms, and (3) methods of maintaining and training soldiers.”
Acceptance of Western geography and history (Xu Jiyu, 1848)
“The population of England is dense and the food insufficient. It is
necessary for them to import from other countries. […] Their
commercial ships are in the four seas and there is no spot which
they do not reach.”
Traditional framework of conciliation: 以夷制夷
‘Using the barbarians to control the barbarians’
Teng & Fairbank (1979), China’s Response to the West, pp. 34, 42
Conference on the History of Science | University of Tehran
26 April 2016
Taiping Rebellion (1851–1864)
Hong Xiuquan
(1814–1864)
“Younger brother
of Jesus Christ”
Consequences
1. Qing decentralisation
2. Alliance with the West
3. Military modernisation
Mathematics Department
Descartes Centre
1860s: Self-Strengthening Movement
Interpretation: need for mediators
Learning Western languages (Feng Guifen, 1860)
“If today we wish to select and use Western
knowledge, we should establish official translation
offices at Guangzhou and Shanghai.”
Feng Guifen
(1809–1874)
Train interpreters (Li Hongzhang, 1863)
“Whenever we have a discussion between Chinese
and foreign high officials, we depend entirely upon
foreign interpreters to transmit the ideas.”
Teng & Fairbank (1979), China’s Response to the West, pp. 51 & 74–5
Conference on the History of Science | University of Tehran
Li Hongzhang
(1823–1901)
26 April 2016
Mathematics Department
Descartes Centre
1860s: Self-Strengthening Movement
Foundation of three institutions
Jiangnan Arsenal (1865)
for military manufacturing
and training
Zongli Yamen (1861)
for handling foreign affairs
Tongwen Guan (1862)
for teaching Western languages
Conference on the History of Science | University of Tehran
26 April 2016
Mathematics Department
Descartes Centre
1860s: Self-Strengthening Movement
Urge to understand Western science
Extend learning to science (Prince Gong, 1866)
“The machinery of the West, its steamers, its
firearms, and its military tactics, all have their
source in mathematical science. […] If we are
able to master the mysteries of mathematical
calculation, physical investigation, and
astronomical observation […] this will assure a
steady growth of the empire.”
Prince Gong
(1833–1898)
Teng & Fairbank (1979), China’s Response to the West, p. 75
Conference on the History of Science | University of Tehran
26 April 2016
Mathematics Department
Descartes Centre
John Fryer
(1839–1928)
1860s: Self-Strengthening Movement
Implementing science
Translator
1868
(1827–1916)
W.A.P. Martin
Jiangnan Arsenal (1865)
English professor
1869
Tongwen Guan (1862)
Conference on the History of Science | University of Tehran
26 April 2016
Mathematics Department
Descartes Centre
Some scientific translations
ordered by Chinese authorities
John Fryer
1874 Sound by John Tyndall
1879 Elements of Arithmetic by De Morgan
1880 Treatise on Meteorological Instruments by Negretti & Zambra
1881 Quantitative Chemical Analysis by Frensenius
1885 Vocabulary of Mineralogical Terms in J.D. Dana’s manual
1895 Botany by Balfour
etc…
W.A.P. Martin (self-compiled textbooks)
1866 Gewu rumen (natural philosophy)
1885 Mathematical physics
Bennet (1967), John Fryer, pp. 112–35
Conference on the History of Science | University of Tehran
26 April 2016
Mathematics Department
Descartes Centre
Translations of the Jiangnan Arsenal (1865–1905)
66
38
4
31
2
1
35
9
2
14
3
17
26
Reardon-Anderson (1991), The Study of Change, p. 36
Conference on the History of Science | University of Tehran
26 April 2016
Mathematics Department
Descartes Centre
Courses at the Tongwen Guan (1862–1902)
Languages (~60% registration)
English, French, Russian, German, and Japanese (from 1898)
Natural sciences (~40% registration)
Mathematics, mathematical physics, astronomy,
chemistry, physics (from 1893), and physiology
Other courses
International law
Biggerstaff (1967), The Earliest Modern Government Schools in China, p. 129
Conference on the History of Science | University of Tehran
26 April 2016
Mathematics Department
Descartes Centre
Consequences
Peculiarities of science in Late Qing China
Low status of science education
• First government schools all related to national defence
• Not considered part of the traditional education system
Lu Xun (1881–1936): “Only the truly desperate stooped to studying
Western Sciences.”
Lovell (1980), The Opium War, p. 293
‘History’ as a way to justify: 西學中源
“Western studies, Chinese origins”—Study the West to retrieve our past
Reverence of science
Chen Duxiu in New Youth, 1915:
Replace “Mr. Confucius” by “Mr. Science” and “Mr. Democracy”
Teng & Fairbank (1979), China’s Response to the West, p. 245
Conference on the History of Science | University of Tehran
26 April 2016
1980
2003
Science in China
2010s
1950s