显微镜、望远镜与康有为的悟道

Microscope, Telescope and Kang Youwei's Enlightenment of the Way

康有为转向大攻西学后,曾购买显微镜和望远镜进行实践观察,这给他带来了冲击,其中尤以显微镜对他的影响最大。但他并没有藉此走上自然科学研究之路,而是悟道:通过显微镜实测的证验,他悟出了齐同大小之理;通过望远镜的观察,他证验了近代天文学的宇宙图景,从而摆脱了地球和人类中心的限制,在晚年提出"天游"之学。他的悟道从境界上说并不新鲜,但特别之处在于"自谓从致知格物悟得",反映出他对近代科学实测特点的把握和由器入道的新思想动向。但是,他并没有将实测限制在自然科学领域,而是予以泛化应用。这对后来的思想界产生了一定的影响。

When Kang Youwei turned to the attentive study of the Western learning, he bought a microscope and a telescope for practical observation. These shocked him greatly, and especially the former affected him deeply.However, instead of embarking on the natural science research, he got enlightened. Through observation with the microscope, he came to realize the principle of equal size. Through observation with the telescope, he verified the cosmic image in modern astronomy, transcending the geocentric and anthropocentric thoughts while proposing the view of "journey in heaven" at his old age. Although his enlightenments aren’t brand new, what make them so particular lies in "his self-proclaimed enlightenments from extending knowledge out of the investigation into things",which shows his grasp of the empirical character of modern science and his tendency of new idea that the material things can turn into the Dao. However, he did not limit the empirical research within the field of natural science, but applied it to the wider fields, which influenced the subsequent intellectuals to some extent.