Abstract
II. IT is a generally received opinion that the Chinese language presents extraordinary difficulties, both in its acquisition by Europeans and in its use for the expression of the more exalted ideas of Western learning. The attempt to translate modern scientific or technical books into a language so ancient, so crude, and so unchanging is regarded by many who have not given careful attention to the matter as almost absurd. It is readily granted by them that such subjects as the doctrines of Christianity or affairs of a political nature might be expressed easily in the language of a people among whom religion and diplomacy have for ages been carried to a considerable state of advancement. Eut from the almost total absence of native scientific literature and pursuits there is necessarily a paucity of scientific terms, and this appears at first sight to form an almost impassable barrier to the use of Chinese for scientific purposes. A little investigation however will show that this opinion is without foundation; and that from the time the early Jesuit missionaries commenced their compilations up to the present day no serious difficulties have been experienced by foreign translators.
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Science in China 1 . Nature 24, 54–57 (1881). https://doi.org/10.1038/024054a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/024054a0