The early diffusion of Darwin's ideas into China resulted in multiple interpretations, imperfect translations and unsatisfactory terminology, as James Pusey notes in his Opinion article (Nature 462, 162–163; 2009). However, he inadvertently implies that it was the Chinese scholar Yan Fu who translated 'evolution' as jinhualun, which means 'theory of progressive change'.

In fact, the word jinhualun originated in Japan in the 1870s, gaining popularity in China only after appearing in Ma Junwu's later translation of Darwin's The Origin of Species.

Instead, Yan Fu coined the term tianyanlun. The Chinese words tian and yan are layered in meaning, with tian translatable as 'heaven' and yan as 'development' or 'performance', among other concepts. But most would agree that tian corresponds nicely to the English word 'nature', whereas yan in this context denotes 'evolution'.

So, 'the theory of natural evolution' was Yan's preferred translation — a much more agreeable term, whether or not its alternative meanings are included.