"Gezhi" to "Science": Yen-Fuh's Transformation and Breakthrough of the Concept of "Gezhi"

Abstract

At the end of the 19th century, under the impact of Western industrial civilization, China's traditional cognitive system of "Ge wu
zhi zhi" (study the phenomena of nature to acquire knowledge) faced the problem of how to respond to the challenges of Western empirical science. As a pioneer in modern Sino-Western cultural exchanges, Yen-Fuh carried out a creative transformation and breakthrough of
the traditional concept of "Gezhi". He criticized the ethical tendency and methodological defects of traditional "Gezhi", introduced Francis
Bacon's inductive method and positivist ideas, and reconstructed "Gezhi" into a modern scientific concept centered on "practical observation, synthesis, and experiment". This promoted the paradigmatic transformation of "Ge wu zhi zhi" from a theory of moral cultivation to
empirical science. This process was not only realized through the systematic translation and introduction of Western scientific classics, the
design of a modern disciplinary system, and the innovation of educational methods, but also introduced scientific methodology and cognitive paradigms to China, reshaped the way of thinking of the intellectual class. In the history of thought, it has the important significance
of shifting from conceptual connection to paradigmatic transformation, laying the foundation for the rooting of modern science in China
and cultural transformation.