Abstract: The first Chinese translation of Newton’s Principia represents a pioneering effort in the translation of scientific and technical texts during Late Qing. In the 1850s, Li Shanlan and Alexander Wylie collaborated on translating the Principia, producing the Naiduan Shuli manuscript. The manuscript covers the “Definitions” “Laws of Motion” and the first four chapters of Book I of the Principia, encompassing the fundamental concepts and laws of Newton’s mechanics. This paper systematically examines the manuscript’s content, identifies Motte’s English translation as its source text, and analyzes its translation features through historical materials, focusing on translation motivation, textual structure, terminology, mathematical notation, and illustrations.

Key Words: Naiduan Shuli; Li Shanlan; Alexander Wylie; Newton; Principia; Chinese translation

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