进化的转义

达尔文的影响力并没有很快抵达中国。近代关于他的记录出现于19世纪70年代之后的译作、报刊、私人笔记或考卷等之中。传教士、留洋人士在早期的传播中扮演了重要角色——尽管他们对于达尔文的介绍常是模糊且不得要领的。严复的杰出工作开启了一个进化的时代,但充斥在报刊和人们思想之中的是一种非达尔文式的进化观念。《物种起源》(下文称《起源》)的翻译大抵可分为两个阶段——本文关注的是第一阶段。《起源》的翻译本可以为纠正进化的误解带来希望,然而译者马君武并没有去颠覆新近形成的进化范式。通过对达尔文文本的修正,马氏尽可能地弥合:达尔文的学说与先前已被灌输给那个时代的进化观念之间的差异。本文的第二部分通过对《起源》第三章和第四章译文的解析,来探究那个年代进化的转义。

The Transmutation of Evolution

Charles Darwin's influence was not soon felt in China.Modern records of Darwin in China,contained in newspapers,translated works,personal notes and exam papers,began to emerge after the 1870s.Missionaries from abroad and overseas students from China played an important role in the early dissemination of the theory of evolution,although their description of Darwin was generally unclear and not to the point.Yan Fu initiated an era of evolution through his outstanding work,but what filled the newspapers and pe...