Translating Anarchism in Early Twentieth-Century China: A Franco-Chinese Exchange Via Canton

The early twentieth-century China experienced dynamic exchanges with the European intellectuals and the rising interest in working and studying in France. A group of Chinese intellectuals and founding fathers of the modern Chinese higher education system such as Cai Yuanpei, Li Shizeng, and Wu Zhihui endeavoured to collaborate with the French government to establish the Institut Franco-Chinois de Lyon (1921-1946) as the first and only Chinese overseas education institute. This study will investigate the roles of the founders and students of IFCL in terms of their roles in translating and introducing radical European thoughts such as anarchism, with a special focus on the Cantonese students’ contribution to the Franco-Chinese itinerary. Beginning with a brief overview of the Franco-Chinese exchange of revolutionary thoughts at the beginning of the 20th century, this paper will illustrate how Yuan Zhenying, a Cantonese intellectual who received his secondary education in Hong Kong and tertiary education at Peking University before going to IFCL, translated anarchist works into Chinese. This paper will juxtapose Yuan’s Chinese translation and Liang Qichao’s Chinese translation of “anarchism”, and discuss the political, cultural, and historical implications of these linguistic expressions.