Introduction
Regarding the research on the source of Chinese periodicals, it is generally believed that the germ of The earliest scientific and technological journals in China should be the "Wu Yihui Lectures" edited by Tang Dalii, a physician in Suzhou, in 1792, one volume a year, published for ten years until 1801. Because China has long been closed to itself, imprisoned in ideology, and backward in the development of scientific and technological culture and productive forces, after a short period of germination, everything has fallen silent. In 1815, after the British missionary William Mitchell was prevented from proselytizing in China, he retired to Malacca to open the first Chinese periodical with Chinese as its main audience, "The Monthly Chronicle of the Secular World". Subsequently, in 1876, the first natural science journal Chinese, "Gezhi Compilation", was born, founded by the British missionary Fu Lanya and presided over by Xu Shou, a famous chemist in China. The first scientific and technological journal that Chinese in the real sense is the "Yaquan Magazine" founded by Du Yaquan in 1900.
The life of a DuaQuan
Du Yaquan (1873 ~ 1933), formerly known as WeiSun, The Character Qiufan, The Number Yaquan, pen name Father, Gao Lao, etc., is a famous popular science publisher and translator in modern China. Du Yaquan's family is well-off, less learned to raise a career, and is a talent at the age of sixteen. In 1895, after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, he deeply felt that the old learning could not save China, "changed his mind", emphasized practical learning to save the world and the people, so he abandoned his career and changed to the study of arithmetic, from Chinese law to Western law. In 1898, he was hired by Cai Yuanpei to serve as a teacher of arithmetic at the Shaoxing Chinese and Western School. After that, he "studied both physics and chemistry and eastern chinese", "although there is no teacher, he can find his own way and get the essentials of physics and chemistry"; he taught himself Japanese, "soon he will be able to translate himself into Eastern Chinese without hindrance", so he also taught chemistry, physics, animals and plants and other natural disciplines, and "Xiucai taught Western studies" in Shaoxing for a while.
▲Portrait of Du Yaquan and the journal he edited (picture source network) ▲ Portrait of Du Yaquan and the journal he edited (picture source network)
In the autumn of 1900, Du Yaquan founded the Yaquan Academy in Shanghai, which was renamed "Ordinary Study Library" the following year, which was also the first private university in modern China. The nickname "Yaquan" also comes from this, and he once said: "The argon (line) province is written, argon is the most cold element in the air, and the line (line) is geometrically the form of the faceless and the bodyless; I take this name to indicate that I am only a cold and undignified person." In 1904, at the invitation of Zhang Yuanji, Du Yaquan served as the director of the Physical and Chemical Department of the Compilation Institute of the Shanghai Commercial Press for 28 years, and from 1911 to 1920, he served as the editor-in-chief of the Oriental Magazine. In 1918, Du Yaquan's editor-in-chief and 13 experts co-edited the "Botanical Dictionary" that lasted for 12 years and contained more than 3 million words, which was the first professional dictionary in modern China. In 1932, during the "1.28" incident in Shanghai, the Commercial Press and Du Yaquan's apartment were destroyed in the war, and they were forced to flee back to their hometown with their families. In the midst of poverty and illness, he continued to compile scientific books and served as a volunteer teacher at Jishan Middle School, and finally died of illness in 1933.
In view of Du Yaquan's contribution to the popularization of science, some people call him a scientist, and Du modestly replied: "Non-also, the introducer of special science ear." ”
Introduction to yaquan magazine
At the end of the 19th century, China's academic circles, especially the practical industry, have attached great importance to chemistry, believing that chemistry "crowns above acoustics, heat, optics, and electricity", "is actually the root of all sciences", "manufacturing kung fu, with arithmetic as the body, with chemistry as the use". However, at that time, the content of the chemistry books translated and published in China was relatively old, lagging behind the development of chemistry in the world at that time. Du Yaquan creatively believes that journals can make up for the shortcomings of books with their advantages of continuity and timeliness, introduce the latest academic achievements in a timely manner, and the journal layout is flexible, which can give full play to its cluster effect and increase the depth and intensity of discussion of a certain key content. Therefore, in November 1900, he founded the "Yaquan Magazine" in Shanghai, which was edited and published by the Yaquan Academy and printed by the Commercial Press. Each month on the upper and lower chords (the eighth and twenty-third day of the first month), there is a lead print, a vertical line binding, 25 open, monochrome lace cover. The body of each volume is 16 pages. Since the 5th issue, it has been published monthly. It ceased publication on April 23, 1901 (June 9, 1901). Insufficient funding for publication may be the main reason for the suspension.
▲The inaugural issue and inaugural words of Yaquan Magazine (Collection of the Documentation Center)
As the first natural science journal run by the Chinese people, Yaquan Magazine promotes chemistry, physics and mathematics with the purpose of "unveiling the sciences of agronomic agricultural and commercial technology". In the preface to the inaugural issue, Du Yaquan called for "degrading to seek, concentrating on reality, and familiarizing oneself with skills" and advocating "scientific salvation of the country". Yaquan Magazine, which has been published for only one year, has issued a total of 10 issues, the main contributor is the editor-in-chief Du Yaquan, except for 2 Wang Qinxi, 1 Zhou Meiquan, 1 Ye Zhenduo, 1 Yu and Qin, and the rest are written by Du Yaquan. All 39 articles are contained, covering mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geoscience, etc. in the natural sciences, including 23 articles on chemistry and translations, with a column on "Chemical Problems", and 86 kinds of chemical bibliographies are introduced in the article "Bibliography of Japanese Science and Mathematics". Chemistry occupies an absolute advantage in terms of total length and weight, so mr. Zhang Zigao, a chemical historian, believes that Yaquan Magazine can be regarded as China's first chemical journal in a sense.
Three "Yaquan Magazine" and the first in the history of Chinese chemistry
Academician Yuan Hanqing once listed more than 30 important papers in the history of Chinese chemistry in the "Proceedings of the History of Chinese Chemistry", including 4 from Du Yaquan's "Yaquan Magazine". As the first natural science journal run by the Chinese people, Yaquan Magazine has also created a number of firsts in the history of modern Chinese chemistry.
The first introduction of the periodic law of elements
Mr. Yu Heqin's translation of "The Law of Chemical Periodicity" in the 6th issue of Yaquan Magazine introduced the periodic law of elements to China for the first time. Previously, Guo Songtao had mentioned Mendeleev's periodicity in his diary in 1878, but it was Yaquan Magazine that systematically disseminated this important discovery to Chinese readers. The article introduces in detail the periodic law of elements, the law of the evolution of the properties of the same periodic elements and the similarity of the properties of the homogeneous elements in 5 parts, and the article also includes the newly revised periodic table by the British physical chemist Walker. In addition, the "New Table of Chemical Precursors" published in the first issue of Yaquan Magazine has unified the translation names of chemical elements Chinese in the chemical books that have been compiled and published at that time, and renamed 13 new elements, of which 6 are Chinese translation names are still used today. The chemical element "argon" was first coined by Du Yaquan and is also his proud work. The use of the word "qi" as a radical to indicate the ambient gaseous element has also become the principle of elemental translation that is still used today.
▲New Table of Chemical Precursors published in the first issue of Yaquan Magazine (Collection of the Documentation Center)
For the first time, the discovery of new elements such as radium and polonium was introduced
The report of the radioactive elements radium (Ra) and polonium (Po) in the Journal of Yaquan is the earliest introduction to radioactive elements in China. The third issue of Wang Qinxi's "Last Year's Chemical Community", published on December 19, 1900, introduced the two radioactive chemical elements polonium and radium announced by Marie Curie in 1898, and accurately reported their properties and spectral line wavelengths. This is just over two years since the discovery of these two elements. In addition, the 1st, 7th and 8th issues of Yaquan Magazine contain articles such as "The Production and Quality of Calcium" and "The Disposition of Plutonium and Copper Tile" (鉰, 釒瓦, 鈶鈤 are old translations of scandium, gallium and germanium respectively), which introduce the discovery and characteristics of new chemical elements such as calcium, scandium, gallium, germanium, argon, and helium, respectively. These elements were all major discoveries made in the second 30 years of the 19th century, and were first introduced to China through the Yaquan Magazine or more systematically.
Molecular theories were first systematically introduced
The "Theory of Particles" serialized in the 1st and 2nd issues of Yaquan Magazine systematically introduced molecular theories and introduced molecular theories to domestic readers at the earliest, thus making up for the lack of introduction to this content in the history of modern Chinese chemistry. The "Theory of Particles" also expounds on the understanding of the importance of the atomic-molecular theory: "How the constitution of all things is constructed, the Gezhi family seeks the reason deeply, and the quality point theory is also obtained", "The yuangong of the actual creation of materialization and breeding, the root of the formation of materials." In addition, the "Chemical Theory" serialized in the 3rd and 4th issues also introduces the ideal gas state equation, acid-base theory, phase transition theory, and valence theory to a certain extent. The introduction of these theories has greatly enriched the theoretical system of modern chemistry in China and promoted the systematicness and integrity of the introduction of modern chemistry in the West.
As the earliest comprehensive natural science journal run by China, Yaquan Magazine introduced the latest scientific research achievements in the West in a more systematic and comprehensive manner, which had a positive impact on China's science and technology, politics, culture and ideology at that time, and left a valuable scientific and cultural heritage in modern China.
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