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The spread of Fichte's philosophy in China is closely linked to the liberation of the Chinese nation and the progress of Chinese society, and it has undergone a tortuous process from shallow to deep, which we can divide into three stages.
1
Fichte's philosophy was introduced to China in 1915. At that time, Chinese society was in a state of chaos. Yuan Shikai signed a secret traitorous treaty with the Japanese government to gain support for his plan to become emperor. The great Enlightenmentist Liang Qichao promptly criticized this conspiracy to restore the imperial system, and at the same time published an article entitled "A Review of Fichte's Life Duty" to awaken the Chinese people against Yuan Shikai's traitorous acts and the aggression of Japanese imperialism. This article is the first time that Chinese readers are introduced to "The Mission of Man.".
During the period when the Chinese people resisted The Japanese imperialist aggression, Fichte's philosophy was further disseminated. For example, the philosopher Zhang Junjie published an excerpt of "Speech to the German Nation", and briefly introduced Fichte's life and intellectual principles in the translator's preface.
Shortly thereafter, the German classical philosophical researcher He Lin published his "Attitude of the Three Great German Philosophers in Dealing with National Difficulties", written in plain language and inspiring strokes, and the third part of the book gives readers a detailed introduction to Fichte's academic career and original philosophical ideas, especially his patriotism. He Lin's book is impressive and has had a huge impact on readers.
The spread of Fichte's philosophy then reached a climax. In 1935, a Chinese translation of The Foundations of All Knowledge was published in Shanghai, and although the translation by Cheng Shiren was problematic, it sparked an interest in the in-depth study of a priori philosophy. In 1940, Jiang Tianji published his translation of the Book of Fichte – His Life and Philosophy by the British philosopher Robert Adamson, which provided readers with useful references for further understanding of Fichte. In 1942, two full translations of The Speech to the German Nation were published, and although they were translated from English, the reader could already see the full picture of the collection. In 1943, He Lin published the "Exposition of Fichte's Philosophy", which more accurately expounded the highest principles, theoretical parts and practical parts of early epistemology. In 1945, Gu Shouguan and others published their translation of "The Mission of Man". All these treatises inspired the young people of the time and gave them the idea of dedicating themselves to the cause of national liberation.
2
The second phase was basically 1949-1986.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the publication and dissemination of Fichte's philosophy entered a new stage. If there was no fixed direction for Fichte's research before, then the study at this time was limited to the relationship between the classical philosopher and Marxist philosophy. If the previous acceptance of Fichte's thought was mainly aimed at the independence of the Chinese nation, then it was mainly aimed at the absorption of his dialectics and the criticism of his subjective idealism. Therefore, whether it is in translation and research, or in the teaching of the history of philosophy in universities, the German classical philosophers in china have chosen this direction and adopted this perspective. The translation results achieved during this period include: Part I of "The Foundations of All Knowledge", "The First Introduction to Knowledge", "Several Lectures on the Mission of Scholars", "The Mission of Man", and "All Foundations of Knowledge". Unlike the first stage of translation, these original works were translated directly from German, so they had greater accuracy and gained a high degree of trust from readers, thus gaining wider dissemination. In addition, during this period, he also translated and published a number of foreign philosophers' treatises on Fichte, such as Lauter's "The Position of Fichte's Historical Concept in His System", etc., which provided an important reference for readers to study Fichte.
At this stage, the domestic scholars' research on Fichte has gradually increased, and many treatises on Fichte have come out, and according to the content of the treatises, they can be divided into three categories: First, some German classical philosophical researchers have begun to study epistemology. They showed the wide reader that Fichte's intellectualism was of great interest because the speculative principles it contained were of great significance for the further development of dialectics. Second, other German classical philosophical researchers began to study Fichte's social thought. They showed the wide reader that Fichte was not only a ardent patriot who put his personal safety at risk in defence of national independence, but also a sincere democrat who persevered throughout his life the ideals of the French Revolution and waged a resolute struggle to overcome the feudal absolutism that existed in Germany. His social ideas were one of the sources of Marxism. Third, a few German classical philosophical researchers began to study Fichte's life. However, in general, the research and translation work at this stage are sporadic and lack overall planning.
3
In 1986, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences established the Fichte Research Group chaired by Liang Zhixue, which marked a new stage in the dissemination of Fichte's philosophy in China. It was a period of comprehensive systematic compilation and study of Fichte's published works. The research group of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences spent 15 years compiling the five-volume anthology of Fichte's works based on the first series of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences edition of Fichte's Complete Works (a total of 10 volumes). The anthology, which contains 38 works, accounts for four-fifths of Fichte's total publications, and is about 2.6 million words, and is published by the Commercial Press. The selected articles are arranged in chronological order of publication of the first edition of the original work. The first volume is the writings of 1792 to 1794; the second volume is the writings of 1794 to 1798; the third volume is the writings of 1798 to 1800; the fourth volume is the writings of 1800 to 1806; and the fifth volume is the works of 1806 to 1813.
Driven by the "Selected Works of Fichte", a single edition of Fichte's works was also published successively, such as: "Ethical System", "Fundamental Characteristics of the Present Era", "Speech to the German Nation", "Basis of Natural Law", "Correction of Public Criticism of the French Revolution", etc., all published by the Commercial Press, most of which were included in the "Series of World Academic Masterpieces in Chinese Translation" of the Commercial Press.
At the same time, research works on Fichte also emerged. For example, "Fichte's Creation in His Youth" (Liang Zhixue), "Fichte's Philosophy of Religion" (Xie Dikun), "The Ideological System of the Fichte jena Period" (Liang Zhixue), "Fichte's Ethical Thought" (Guo Dawei), "The Evolution of the System in the Fichte Berlin Period" (Liang Zhixue), and so on.
In 2014, the Fichte Research Group of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences revised and added the Selected Works of Fichte and published the Fichte Anthology (five volumes), which is still published by the Commercial Press.
The advent of the Selected Works of Fichte, the Collected Works of Fichte, and the works of Fichte's special studies gradually opened up a new situation in which Fichte, a classical philosopher, was taught, studied, and translated. Despite the fruitful results of Fichte's research, there are still some topics that need to be further deepened, such as the evolution of Fichte's late epistemology and his influence on Husserl's phenomenology, which have yet to be further deepened by later scholars.
[This article is excerpted from Shen Zhen's book "Fichte and Marx"]