Abstract

The text of the Novum Organum was introduced into China via Gezhi Xinli, Gezhi Xinfa and Gezhi Xinji by William Muirhead and Shen Yugui. The same translators' choices on those different terms, Li, Fa and Ji, reflected their attempts to reconcile the Novum Organum and the local intellectual context. Li was chosen because of its intellectual status in Neo-Confucianism. Fa demonstrated the utilization of Bacon's Induction as a method of science. Ji was not only the exact translation of Organum but also representing translators' strategy to meet the intellectual context of the idea of zhongti xiyong. From the perspective of the Chinese intellectuals, it is worthwhile noting disadvantages of translating western thoughts by Chinese words and contemporary literates' ignorance of the issue of methodology.

Key Words

Novum Organum; Li; Fa; Ji

Citation: Wang, H., Shang, Z. 'Li, Fa and Ji: Three Earliest Images of the Novum Organum in China' [J]. Journal of Dialectics of Nature, 2018, 40(12): 13-19.

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