晚清民初“劳动”概念的演变

The Evolution of the Concept of“Labor”in the Late Qing and Early Republic of China Period

晚清以来,自西方政治经济学知识输入中国,“labour”产生了多种译名,“劳动”通过日语的译介,获得近代意涵的转变。民国初期,尤其五四时期前后,“劳动”被作为社会呼唤变革的工具,获得了新的高度重视。“劳动”与中国国情融汇并被不同群体讨论,产生了意涵更加丰富的“劳动”观;20世纪20年代后,在早期马克思主义者的助推下,“劳动”的表述基本获得认可。“劳动”的演变和理论内涵的形成,既体现出近代以来中国知识阶层对外界的主动认知与探索,也是中国近代社会历史变迁的见证与反映。

Since the late Qing Dynasty,with the introduction of Western political and economic knowledge into China,the word“labor”has been translated into various Chinese names.With the introduction of its Japanese version of“劳动”(labor)into Chinese,the meaning of the word has undergone a transformation in its modern connotations.In the early period of the Republic of China,especially around the May Fourth Movement in 1919,the Chinese word for“labor”was used as a tool calling for social transformation,and gained high level of attention.Integrated with the China context and discussed by different groups,a more profound understanding toward the word has been generated.After the 1920s,with the assistance of early Marxists,the Chinese expression of“labor”was generally recognized.This evolution and the theoretical implication of the Chinese word reflect both the active cognition and exploration of the Chinese intellectual class towards the outside world since modern times,and a witness and reflection of the social and historical changes of modern China.