近代中国科学观发展轨迹探析————以清末民初science概念内涵的演化为中心

中国古代的“科学”一词意味着“科举之学”及“分科之学”，明治维新前后日本学者率先用“科学”翻译science并赋予其近代意蕴。清末民初伴随着“西学东渐”的潮流，国人或取道日本，或留学欧美，在传播西方文化和科学知识的过程中借鉴日本的翻译方式以“科学”指称近代science，并使其内涵不断演化和发展，其基本轨迹可归结为由侧重阐述“学术分科”观念发展到重视揭示“公理公例”之学，而科学方法论的导入及探索成为贯穿其中的一条主线，从而推动了近代中国科学观渐趋丰富、全面，使之具备“学术分科”的形态、探求“公理公例”的主旨以及注重观察、实验和归纳的方法这三个主要方面。

A Study on the Development of the View of Science in Modern China : Evolution of the Concept of″Science″from the Late Qing Dynasty to the Early Republic of China

The term kexue came into use as far back as the Tang Dynasty .It meant the″study of the Imperial Examination .″In the Late Ming Dynasty and Early Qing Dynasty,with the wave of ″Introducing Western Learning to the East,″Western university discipline system and knowledge category system were introduced into China,adding the meaning of the″study of different disciplines″to the term kexue However,kexue didn't mean modern science at that time .Modern science was often called the study of gewu qiongli,or the study of gezhi for short .Around the Meiji Restoration,Japanese scholars began to introduce natural sciences like Western modern medical science,and then introduced the modern Western discipline system including natural sciences,humanistic and social sciences .In this process,they translated the term″science″as kexue and endowed it with the modern meaning .Along with the opening to the world after the Opium Wars,especially with the Westernization Movement and the rise of the Westernization of Education,the concept of Western modern sciences together with its essential feature of ″Discipline Classification in Learning″was introduced into China .In the Late Qing Dynasty,many Chinese intellectuals and foreign missionaries in China followed the tradition of Late Ming Dynasty and Early Qing Dynasty .They used the term gezhi to refer to science and introduced the essential feature of″Discipline Classification in Learning″of modern science by spreading″Western Learning″and establishing new-type schools .The defeat in the Sino-Japanese War prompted the Chinese to review and rethink the merits and demerits of the former Westernization Movement and the Westernization of Education . On this basis,Chinese people's understanding of the property and feature of″Discipline Classification in Learning″of Western modern science was improved to a higher level,indicating that in Chinese people's mind at that time,″Western Learning″was not only the study of gezhi which mainly included craft and the branch disciplines of natural sciences,but also consisted of modern humanistic and social sciences .The progress from″Western Technology″focusing on Western craft and natural sciences to″Western Politics″ including Western humanistic and social sciences marked the breakthrough of the Chinese people's understanding of the Western knowledge category system and the concept of discipline classification in learning in the Late Qing Dynasty .They began to realize that natural science and technology together with humanistic and social sciences are two related and inseparable parts in the Western modern knowledge and discipline category system .This progress helped the Chinese to grasp the essence of the concept of modern science as well as its feature of″Discipline Classification in Learning″more comprehensively and deeply .In this context,Kang Youwei,Liang Qichao,Wang Guowei et al .firstly borrowed the Japanese term kexue for modern science during the process of spreading Western culture and knowledge of science,and expounded that modern science attached importance to revealing″General Axiom,″namely the general laws and rules .On the other hand,scholars like Yan Fu,Cai Yuanpei and students like Ren Hongjun who returned from Europe and America emphasized that modern science was characterized by the scientific methodology of stressing observation,experiment and induction and thus enhanced the view of science in modern China in richness and comprehensiveness,enabling it to involve three main aspects,namely the form of″Discipline Classification in Learning,″the gist of seeking ″General Axiom″and the methodology of stressing observation,experiment and induction .