The Second Opium War dealt a heavy blow to the Manchu regime. As Woren said: "In the tenth year of Xianfeng, he sent troops to invade Shun, took me to the capital, shocked the people, burned the garden and killed the minister. I was humiliated for 300 years, and all the bachelor doctors were heartbroken, and I cried from then on. " This shame has deeply stimulated some China literati, such as central officials such as Prince Gong and local officials such as Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo. This made them realize that foreign powers are different from foreigners who invaded the Central Plains in history, and Chinese-foreign exchanges are inevitable. China must keep the relationship between China and the West on the right track and learn advanced military technology from the West. "If you want to stand on your own feet, you must learn from foreign weapons. If you want to learn foreign sharp weapons, you must find tools and make tools. " All these require the introduction and translation of western books and the study of western learning.

Prince gong yi

Advocating western learning, talent comes first. The cultivation of translation talents provides talent guarantee for book translation activities, and the establishment of translation institutions provides a good environment for book translation activities. However, pidgin English speakers were too poor to meet the needs of communication between China and the West, and most of them were controlled by foreigners, so the Qing government was not at ease with them. 1862 opened a school in Beijing at Yi's suggestion, 1863 opened a Cantonese school in Shanghai, and 1864 opened a similar school in Guangzhou. These foreign language schools have trained some translators under the guidance of foreign teachers, many of whom are engaged in translation activities with the help of their China students.

Tongwenguan

At the same time, missionaries in China made great contributions to book translation in the Westernization Movement. For example, Ding Weiliang 1850 came to China as an American special envoy, and 1863 came to China as an English and public law teacher of Wentong Museum. From 65438 to 0867, Ding Weiliang returned to the United States and entered Indiana University, where he studied international law and political economy for two years and obtained a doctorate. Then he returned to China and was promoted to be the chief teacher of Wentong Museum. Timothy richard, an Englishman, presided over the translation of books such as The New Learning of Seven Countries, Major Countries on Five Continents, and A New History of Taixi. It has a great influence on China society.

Timothy Richard

During the Westernization Movement, book translation was mainly led by the government. At that time, the main institutions engaged in translation work in the imperial court were Wentong Museum and Translation Hall of Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration. Since the central government set up a library to translate books, coastal areas have followed suit. There are mainly Guangzhou dialect halls in Shanghai and Guangzhou, Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, Tianjin Naval Academy, Fuzhou Ship Administration School, etc. All these institutions recruit students and print western books. Although their achievements are far less than those of Wentong Museum and Translation Hall of Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration, China has formed an official book translation system from central to local and from top to bottom.

During the Western Learning Movement, the translation of books was mainly applied science, mainly natural science such as mathematics, physics and chemistry. In the field of social sciences, there are only books on foreign history, geography and international relations. Take Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration as an example, most of the translated books are natural sciences. According to the summary of translated books by Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, in the 40 years since 1908, * * has translated 158 books, including 8 books on history, public law and education, 32 books on military, 8 books on business and 90 books on science and technology. This feature was inseparable from the domestic demand at that time and the policy of the imperial court, and it was necessary to translate useful books, that is, books for making utensils. Just as Liang Qichao commented on Li Hongzhang: "Knowing military affairs but not civil affairs, knowing diplomacy but not internal affairs, knowing imperial court but not nationals, knowing westernization but not state affairs". This understanding of western learning has affected the breadth and depth of book translation activities.

To some extent, the translation of books has promoted modernization.