“西学中源说”与“中学西源说”先后关系辨正——“西学中源说”是中华学者对于“中学西源说”的高级应对

The Claim“Western Learning of a Chinese Origin”and the Claim“Chinese Learning of a Western Origin”,Which One was Raised First?:The Claim“Western Learning of a Chinese Origin”as an Advanced Response of Chinese Intellectuals to Claim“Chinese Learning of a Western Origin”

“中学西源说”晚明就已出现,明清间中华学者提出过初级应对方案“中西并置说”,也提出过高级应对方案“西学中源说”。“西学中源说”的核心思想是“以中化西”,尽最大努力把“耶教文化”与“欧西学术”纳入“华夏文化”体系与“中华学术”框架之中。围绕此点,以王韬“中国为西土文教之先声”、陈炽“西法之本出乎中”、王仁俊“西学源于中书”三大典型高级应对方案为例,可提出“西学中源说”是中华学者对于“中学西源说”的高级应对这一观点。

The claim“Chinese learning of a Western origin”had already appeared in late Ming.During Ming and Qing,Chinese intellectuals raised an elementary solution“Chinese and Western learning having their own origins”and an advanced response solution“Western learning of a Chinese origin”.The core idea of the claim“Western learning of a Chinese origin”is to sinicize Western learning,i.e.to try to incorporate“Christian cul⁃ture”and“Western scholarship”into the framework of“Chinese culture”and“Chinese scholarship”.Around this point,taking Wang Tao’s view that“China is the forerunner of Western culture and education”,Chen Chi’s view that“Western methodology is originally from China”,and Wang Renjun’s view that“Chinese classics are the origin of Western learning”as examples,it can be pointed out in this article that the claim“Western learning of a Chinese origin”is an advanced response of Chinese intellectuals to the claim“Chinese learning of a Western origin”.