1 Introduction

Chemical Jianyuan "is a groundbreaking translation of modern Chinese chemical theory, co authored by Fu Lanya and Xu Shou. It first proposed the principle of translating chemical element terms into Chinese and had a profound impact on later generations. Fu Lanya refuted the viewpoint that Western chemical terms are difficult to translate into Chinese, emphasizing the unique advantage of Chinese in receiving Western science. This translation adopts a national strategy and its translated name is widely accepted, contributing to the construction of the modern chemical terminology system. Existing research mostly focuses on terminology standardization, translation comparison, terminology evaluation, and academic contributions, but lacks systematicity. This article will explore from the perspective of terminology nationalization how "Chemical Identification" translated Western chemical element terminology into Chinese and its historical contribution to the sinicization of Western chemistry in the late Qing Dynasty.

Doubts on the Chinese Translation and Nationalization of Terminology in "Chemical Proofreading"

The translation of "Chemical Proofreading" occurred in the early stages of the introduction of Western chemical knowledge into China, when there was controversy in the academic community over the Chinese translation of chemical terms. On the one hand, some Western scholars believe that Chinese is difficult to accurately express Western scientific concepts and advocate for the use of Latinization of terminology, also known as transliteration. On the other hand, Chinese scholars such as Fu Lanya insist on the nationalization of terminology, that is, the method of free translation, believing that Chinese can accurately translate Western concepts and maintain scientific accuracy and linguistic characteristics. Fu Lanya refuted the viewpoint that Chinese cannot accurately translate Western concepts and believed that Chinese has a special adaptability to express Western scientific concepts. The translation practice of "Chemical Proofreading" has proven the success of the strategy of nationalizing terminology, and the translated names of its elemental terms have been widely accepted, becoming popular chemistry textbooks at that time and of great significance for the dissemination of Western chemistry in China.

3. Nationalization of Terminology and Translation Methods in "Chemical Identification"

Explored the national translation methods of elemental terms in "Chemical Identification" and emphasized the importance of free translation. Fu Lanya advocates prioritizing the use of free translation to leverage the semantic advantages of Chinese language, facilitating understanding and dissemination. He opposes multi character transliteration, believing that it has nothing to do with meaning and is difficult to read, write, and remember. The book "Chemical Identification" adopts three main translation methods: free translation of single character names, such as "bromine"; Free translation of two character names, such as "light qi", "nourishing qi", etc; Phonetic and semantic translation of single character names, such as "barium", "magnesium", etc. These methods not only conform to the characteristics of Chinese word formation, but also utilize ancient Chinese characters, reflecting the flexibility of Chinese language and the feasibility of expressing scientific concepts. They are a model for the nationalization of Western scientific and technological terminology.

4. Nationalization of Terminology and Word Formation of Element Translations in "Chemical Identification"

Chinese characters, as pictographic characters, have three elements of form, sound, and meaning, which are important means of nationalizing Western terminology. Fu Lanya achieved the nationalization of terminology through three methods of word formation: single character, compound character, and disyllabic compound character in "Chemical Identification". Solitary characters such as "gold" are combined with the Western element symbol Au by depicting and assembling objects, reflecting the combination of Yin Yang and Five Elements theory with modern Western chemistry. Compound characters such as "vanadium" and "aluminum" represent the physical and chemical properties of the elements with their radical, while their consonant determines their pronunciation, making them easy to distinguish and remember. Double syllable compound characters such as "light qi" and "nourishing qi" use "qi" as the suffix to express the gaseous nature of the element, reflecting the ethnic characteristics and modernization of Chinese terminology. These translators combine the translation of elemental terms with the three elements of form, sound, and meaning of Chinese characters, which is an example of achieving terminology nationalization based on the Chinese character standard.

Nationalization of Terminology and Sinicization of Western Chemical Knowledge in "Chemical Identification"

The nationalization of element terminology translations in "Chemical Identification" is an important way for Western chemical knowledge to be localized in China. Firstly, this process is based on the Chinese character standard, and through the combination of sound and meaning in translated names, it not only conforms to the characteristics of Chinese, but also sounds homophonic with Western languages, such as the translated names of "magnesium" and "selenium", reflecting the ideographic function of Chinese characters and their connection with Western languages. Secondly, the nationalization of terminology adopts traditional Chinese material names such as "iron", "tin", "copper", and "lead", integrating Chinese traditional culture and academic thought into Western modern chemical knowledge, affirming the contribution of ancient Chinese philosophical thought to modern chemical knowledge. Finally, the dialectical nationalization of terminology inherits existing terminology translations, such as Hexin's "nourishing qi", "light qi", and "light qi", and optimizes previous translations, such as simplifying "Xilixian" to "silicon", making the terminology more standardized and easy to remember, and facilitating the dissemination of Western chemical knowledge in China.

Nationalization of Terminology and Cultural Confidence of Chinese Characters in "Chemical Identification"

The translation of elemental terms in "Chemical Identification" has achieved the nationalization of terms by combining the characteristics of Chinese characters. This approach has not only been widely used, but also has important significance for restoring cultural confidence in Chinese characters in the Chinese academic community. Firstly, from the perspective of terminology categories and structures, most of the element translations in "Chemical Appraisal" use monosyllabic noun terms, such as "aluminum", which is not only concise and easy to remember, but also refutes the "clumsy" viewpoint of Chinese in expressing Western concepts. Secondly, from the perspective of Chinese character formation, the element translations in "Chemical Appraisal" use phonetic and phonetic character formation methods, such as "zinc" and "iodine", to express the essential attributes of elements by adding semantic radicals, proving the scientific nature of the Chinese terminology system. Finally, from the perspective of terminology and phrase formation methods, the element translations in "Chemical Appraisal" have strong word formation ability. For example, "calcium" can derive new terms such as "calcium nourishing" and "calcium green", which refutes the views that Chinese characters are "the oldest, hardest to grow" and "difficult to develop", proving that Chinese terms have the same productivity as Western terms. These characteristics and abilities reflect that Chinese is not inferior to Western languages in terms of precision and scientificity in terminology naming.

7 Conclusion

In the late Qing Dynasty, Fu Lanya and Xu Shou adopted a nationalization strategy to translate chemical element terms in their book "Chemical Identification", which promoted the modernization of the Chinese language and facilitated the integration of Chinese chemical terminology with the development of world chemistry. The strategy of nationalizing terminology in "Chemical Identification" is of great significance in terms of language, translation methods, cultural inheritance, and translation acceptance, providing reference for subsequent chemical terminology translation while preserving ancient Chinese chemical knowledge and academic culture, which is conducive to the dissemination of Western chemistry in China.