近代西方视野下儒家经典中的“格物致知”思想——以德国传教士花之安为例

“Gewuzhizhi” Thought of the Confucian Classics from the Modern Western Perspective: A Case Study of the German Missionary Faber

晚清以来,近代中国社会的关注点就是如何实现中国的富强以及保证中国传统文化的延续。19世纪中叶后来华的德国传教士花之安,从学者的视角对儒学经典中所包含的天文地理、农政、工艺、商贾、武备、文艺等各个方面进行了探析,涉及了格致之学的研究意义在古代中国的特别地位,以及近代以来格致之学落后的原因,对儒学思想既指出其历史作用,也指明其错、漏之处,并提出改良的建议。

Since the late Qing Dynasty, the social concern of modem China was how to make China pros-perous quickly and how to be always on guard against the western powers＇ erosion of cultural thoughts. Faber, a German missionary who came to China in the late mid-nineteenth century, examined the Confucian classics from a scholars perspective and analyzed their economic thought, including Gezhi＇ research significance, spe-cial position in the ancient China and the reason for its backwardness in the modern times. He also explored the astronomy, geography, agriculture, technology, merchants, military, art and so on contained in the Con-fucian thought from the right and wrong angles, pointing out not only the historical role but also the mistakes and omissions, and putting forward the beneficial, effective and forceful suggestions for improvement.