天演 (tiānyǎn): natural evolution (archaic)

Meanings

1 natural evolution (archaic)
2 evolution by nature

Characters

天

to develop, unfold, evolve

Examples

严复翻译的《天演论》对中国近代思想影响深远。

Yán Fù fānyì de 《Tiānyǎn Lùn》 duì Zhōngguó jìndài sīxiǎng yǐngxiǎng shēnyuǎn.

Yan Fu's translation 'On Evolution' had a profound influence on modern Chinese thought.

天演之说,弱肉强食。

Tiānyǎn zhī shuō, ruòròuqiángshí.

By the doctrine of natural evolution, the weak are prey to the strong.

Tips

history

天演 was Yan Fu's (严复, 1854-1921) translation of 'evolution' in his 1898 《天演论》, a partial rendering of T.H. Huxley's 'Evolution and Ethics'. The book introduced 'survival of the fittest' (物竞天择,适者生存) to China and shook a generation of reformers. The modern term 进化 (jìnhuà) eventually replaced 天演.