A Review on Li Zhizao’s Scientific Translation and His Contribution to the Chinese Science Development

Abstract

During the period from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, some Chinese scholars began to translate western science and culture. Li Zhizao, an excellent Chinese scientist, not only introduced a lot about western religion to the Chinese people, but also translated a great deal of western scientific knowledge. He committed himself to the introduction of western science and translation of western books, greatly promoting the advance of science in China. This paper first reviews the previous studies on scientific translation during the period from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, and the previous studies on Li Zhizao, then holds that: (1) the previous studies mainly focus on the contribution of Li Zhizao as a scholar or translator in general, rather than his specific translation activities and his translation contribution to the Chinese science development; (2) the previous studies are relatively scattered and need to go deeper. Therefore, a systematic and in-depth study of Li Zhizao’s translation needs to be made.