刘晓明大使在“严复，帝国留学生与皇家海军学院”展览开幕式上的讲话：弘扬严复精神，加强中西互鉴

Speech at the Opening Ceremony of "Yan Fu and Chinese Imperial Students at the Royal Naval College" H E Ambassador Liu Xiaoming

尊敬的英国皇家海军学院旧址基金会主席托尼•海尔斯先生，

尊敬的严复文化教育基金会主席刘凯博士，

女士们、先生们：

Chairman Tony Hales,

Dr. Liu Kai,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

我非常高兴出席“严复，帝国留学生与皇家海军学院”展览开幕式。

It is my great pleasure to attend this opening ceremony.

137年前的1877年，正值中国晚清内忧外患、国难深重之际，中国历史上的两位著名人物先后来到了伦敦。他们中的一位是我最早的前任，即清王朝首任驻英使节郭嵩焘先生，时年59岁；还有一位就是来英留学、时年23岁的严复先生。

137 years ago, in 1877, two Chinese came to London. Both of them are famous in modern Chinese history for different reasons.

One of them is my earliest predecessor, Minister Guo Songtao, 59 years of age. He was the beleaguered Qing Dynasty's first resident envoy overseas.

The other was the 22-year-old Mr. Yan Fu who came onto these shores as a student.

郭嵩焘先生驻节英伦期间，深入工厂学校，钻研政治制度，思想观念发生了根本变化，发出“西洋政教、制造，无不出于学”的惊呼，向清政府大力介绍西方先进的政治、经济和社会制度，提议仿效学习。郭嵩焘先生的主张为清王朝保守旧势力所不容，最后不得不黯然去职，终老乡野。

Mr. Guo's brief tenure in the UK saw him making extensive visits to factories and schools.

A keen observer of the British system, Guo found the Western strength was not limited to its manufacturing power, but more intrinsically lies in the underpinning studies, systems and ways of thinking.

Guo became an avid supporter for the Qing government to learn Western political, economic and social systems. But it made him very unpopular with the still largely conservative bureaucracy at home and led to his dismissal from public office.

年轻的严复先生来到皇家海军学院，不仅学习先进的海军知识和技能，而且系统学习西方近代自然和社会科学思想与理论，努力探求中西之间的本质差异，探索中国富强之道。

The much younger Yan Fu was sent to the UK to study naval expertise. But his studies ranged far further.

He spent most of his time studying Western modern natural and social sciences, and made hard efforts to understand the difference between China and the West, exploring ways towards national prosperity and strength for China.

这一老一少在伦敦相识，并结为忘年交。郭嵩焘认为严复谈吐不凡，才华出众，“其言多可听者”，常与严复论述中西学术政制之异同。严复感怀郭嵩焘知遇之恩，后来把郭嵩焘称作“生平第一知己”。

Despite their generational divide, Mr. Guo and Yan Fu built a friendship while they were both living in London. In their conversations they often compared notes on Chinese and Western studies and systems.

Mr. Guo was amazed at Yan Fu's talent and insights and the appreciation was returned with gratitude and respect. Yan Fu later referred to Guo Songtao as "the friend who understands me best of all".

27年后的1904年，严复因公务再次来到英国。此时，严复已经翻译出版了《天演论》、《原富》、《法意》等八部著作，将西方的社会学、政治学、政治经济学、哲学和自然科学系统地介绍到中国。他提倡科学民主，主张变法革新，当之无愧地成为中国近代启蒙思想家。次年，中国历史上又一位著名人物也再次来到伦敦，他就是中国民主革命的先驱孙中山先生。孙中山与严复在伦敦见了面并长时间深谈。严复认为“为今之计，唯急从教育上着手，庶几逐渐更新乎”，即中国的根本问题在于教育，革命非当务之急。孙中山则说：“俟河之清，人寿几何？君为思想家，鄙人乃实行家也。” 六年之后，严复先生思想启蒙、孙中山先生实践领导的辛亥革命推翻了清朝的统治。但亦如严复先生所言，辛亥革命并未从根本上改变当时中国贫穷、落后的面貌。

27 years later in 1904, Yan Fu returned to London, already an accomplished ‘enlightenment’ thinker. He had translated and introduced in China the Evolution and Ethics, The Wealth of Nations and The Spirit of the Laws among many other works.

With his translations and commentaries Yan Fu presented the people of China with insights into European natural, social, and political sciences as well as theories of economics and philosophy. He became a preacher of science and democracy and a supporter of reform and modernisation.

It was here in London that Yan Fu met Sun Yat-sen, the flag-bearer of China's democratic revolution who came a year later. Yan was of the view that the solution to China's problem was education and reform, not revolution. But Sun disagreed, saying to Yan Fu: “ You are a man of thoughts, but I am one of action.”

A mere 6 years later, the 1911 Revolution that Yan helped to enlighten, and Sun set in motion, put and end to the Qing Dynasty. But as Yan Fu had predicted, the revolution alone did not change China's fortunes for the better.

时光荏苒，今天，大清帝国没有了，大英帝国也没有了，昔日的皇家海军学院也成为了格林尼治大学。但百年前的风云人物并未随时代发展而褪色，他们早已被浓墨重彩地写入汗青，彪炳史册。

Here we are in London a century later. Imperial China, and British Empire are both no more. Down here in Greenwich much of the Royal Naval College has become the University of Greenwich. But, those larger-than-life figures and their life’s work are as relevant and inspiring as ever.

今天，我们在这里纪念严复先生，就是要弘扬他开放包容的精神。严复先生是中国传统知识分子，但他走出了那个时代中国传统知识分子因循守旧、盲目排外的痼疾，而是认真学习吸收西方科学和知识，并且在思想和价值领域努力寻找西方强盛之源，这犹如在当时黑暗的中国划亮了一根火柴。毛泽东主席因此评价严复为向西方寻找真理的代表人物。今天，西方也有一个如何认识中国的问题，是以开放包容的态度把中国的发展视为机遇，还是以敌视偏见的心态把中国的崛起看作威胁？严复先生一百多年前已经为我们树立了榜样，西方不应再犹豫彷徨，让机遇失之交臂。

Yan Fu is remembered for his openness and inclusiveness.

As a classically-trained intellectual, Yan Fu stood out among his peers by studying the underlying ideas that made the European countries strong. His efforts to seek answers to China's problems from Europe gave China a glimmer of hope in those dire times.

Chairman Mao Zedong referred to Yan Fu as an icon of seeking answers from the West.

Today for Western countries, the openness and inclusiveness are also relevant when it comes to how to understand China.

Is the rise of China an opportunity or a threat? The answer depends on where one stands. On one side there is openness and inclusiveness; on the other side there is hostility and bias.

On the side of openness Yan Fu set a good example for us over a century ago.

China’s rise is an opportunity some may hesitate to embrace, but will definitely hate to miss.

我们在这里纪念严复先生，就是要弘扬他首倡变革的精神。在国家民族危亡之际，严复先生敢为天下先，译著西方名著，发表政论文章，抨击封建专制，鼓吹维新自强，提出“物竞天择、适者生存”，为近代中国思想界提供了急需的智慧资源，为中国社会的变革提供了必要的思想基础。习近平主席指出，严复“表现了作为一个先进的中国人的非凡的见识和勇气”。今天，中国正在继续以大无畏的勇气全面深化改革，激发市场活力，拓宽创新道路，推进依法治国，改革成为推动中国经济社会发展的最大动力。同样，西方面对增长乏力和累积难题，也需要大胆进行改革，不改革难有经济增长，不改革难有社会公平。

Yan Fu is also remembered for his courage to herald reform. When the Chinese nation's fortune was in its darkest hours, Yan Fu took the initiative to introduce European thinking into China.

He spoke out against the outdated feudal system and argued for reform and modernisation. Yan laid the intellectual foundations for the changes that were in desperate need in Chinese society a century ago.

President Xi Jinping once said Yan Fu displayed extraordinary vision and courage of a true Chinese pioneer.

That vision and courage still inspires us today, in our efforts to reform, to unleash the vigor of the market, to innovate our way forward and to promote the rule of law.

The need to reform is universal if we are to spur growth, unravel structural problems that are decades in the making and strive for a fairer society. It’s the same here in this part of the world as well.

我们在这里纪念严复先生，就是要弘扬他甘当沟通和理解桥梁的精神。严复先生不仅仅是一位启蒙思想家，也是一位教育家和翻译家。严复任教中国的海军学校，引进西方现代海军管理思想和教学理论，为中国社会培养了许多杰出人才。他提出翻译的“信、达、雅”标准，具有划时代意义，对中国后世的翻译理论和实践产生了深远影响。今天，西方的科学、文化、政治、哲学作品被大量翻译成中文并传播，但中国的作品被翻译成英文、介绍给西方的则相形见绌，中西方文化交流存在不小逆差。我衷心希望在英国、在西方能涌现出更多翻译家，将中国文化、中国思想、“中国梦”更多地以“信、达、雅”标准引进西方，让英国和西方民众更好地了解中国，特别是理解当代中国。

Finally, Yan Fu is remembered for his commitment to promoting understanding between cultures and civilisations. Aside from being a remarkable thinker, he was an outstanding educator and translator.

As a teacher and administrator at naval academy in China, Yan Fu introduced modern teaching theories and practices in his work. Many of his students later played key roles in the course of Chinese history.

As a translator, he gave us the golden rules of truthfulness, expressiveness and elegance which still guides the theory and practice of translation in China.

Today, we have vast troves of Western books translated into Chinese but there is a deficit in the other direction.

It is my hope that we can have more master translators and communicators in the UK and in the West to introduce Chinese culture, Chinese thinking and Chinese Dream to the public here in a truthful, expressive and elegant way.

That will do great service to the understanding of China, especially modern China, both in the UK and beyond.

女士们、先生们，

Ladies and Gentlemen,

处于二十一世纪的中国早已摆脱了积贫积弱，中国人民正在为实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦而努力奋斗。今天的中英关系也与百年前有天壤之别，两国建立了平等、互利的合作伙伴关系。我也深感比郭嵩焘先生幸运，因为现在中英之间有着千千万万的“严复”，他们学贯中西，正活跃在经济、教育、文化和科技等各个领域，推动着两国的沟通与合作，促进着双向交流。这正如严复先生在其译著《天演论》中的名言：“时代必进，后胜于今”。

在此，我谨感谢皇家海军学院旧址基金会和严复文化教育基金会联合举办这场关于严复生平与成就的展览。的确，我们应当为严复先生歌功与喝采，我们同样期待今天千千万万个“严复”在各自领域为中英关系发展、为中西方交流作出更大贡献，我们也应当为他们鼓掌与加油！

China in the 21st century has far better fortunes that have been hard fought and earned. We are now working for the realization of ‘Chinese Dream’ of national rejuvenation.

China-UK relations are very different from what they were in Yan Fu's time too. Today it is a relationship of partners built on equality and mutual benefit.

In such a context I consider myself a much more fortunate diplomat than my predecessor Minister Guo Songtao. Instead of one Yan Fu, we have thousands of them well versed in both cultures and working hard for the betterment of our relations in business, education, culture, science and technology and many other fields. As Yan Fu embodied in his translated version of Evolution and Ethics: "The world gets better as it moves forward".

To conclude, I wish to congratulate the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College and the Yan Fu Foundation for making this exhibition possible.

While we are commemorating the accomplishments of Yan Fu, I believe we should also salute our contemporary Yan Fu’s for their efforts in delivering a better tomorrow for East-West ties and a brighter future for China-UK relations.

谢谢！

Thank you!