"The Gadfly" was published in the UK in 1897 and was translated into Chinese half a century later, around 1947. "Gadfly" translated by Li Liangmin, published by China Youth Publishing House in 1953, and reprinted in 1957.
Based on the outstanding contributions made by Liang Qichao, Yan Fu and Lin Shu, the author proposed for the first time that they should be called the "Three Heroes" of the translation circle of that period. Liang Qichao is listed at the top of the list; although he is the youngest and has translated the fewest works, he founded Datong Translation Book Company, cultivated translation talents, and influenced the translation industry through politics, so he played the greatest role. The "Three Heroes" actively introduced Western learning to help Chinese people understand Western life and the advanced political and social systems of Western society, thereby stimulating Chinese people's ideas for change. This part also uses a large space to introduce scientific translation, novel translation, poetry translation and drama translation in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, and describes the spread of Chinese culture abroad. During the Republic of China, my country's translation industry flourished. The activities of great translators such as Lu Xun, Guo Moruo, Mao Dun, Qu Qiubai, Liu Bannong, Zheng Zhenduo, Cao Jinghua, Dong Qiusi, Zhu Shenghao, Liang Shiqiu, Fu Donghua and Mei Yi pushed the translation industry to a glorious stage. peak. At this time, the spread of Western learning to the East was becoming more and more popular. Many students were studying in Europe and the United States, and translated a lot of works, including poetry, novels, plays, etc. The translated works were divided by country into Soviet Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, etc. . This period is the focus of the book's narrative. The listed translators have the most translations and occupy the largest space. The third part shows the translation activities after the founding of the People's Republic of China, introducing Shi Zhe, Ba Jin, Li Liangmin, Liu Bocheng, Lou Shiyi, Gao Zhi, Liu Miqing, Jiao Juyin, Feng Zikai, Wen Jieruo, Cheng Fangwu, Guo Dali, Fei Bai, Rong Rude, Yang Wuneng, Huang Long, Luo Xinzhang and other outstanding translators and translation theorists have described in detail the changes in Soviet Russian culture, Japanese culture, French culture, German culture, North American culture, British culture and other cultures that took place during this period. The translation and introduction of the culture of small and weak countries such as India. A distinctive feature of this history is that it elaborates on the construction of Chinese translation theory in great detail, and interweaves the "pearls" scattered everywhere such as "faithful and elegant", "hard translation", "learning, thinking and gaining" to form a A system that shines brightly.
The publication of "History of Chinese Translation in the 20th Century" has caused a sensation in both the domestic and international translation circles. In 2005, the internationally renowned academic journal "Perspective: Studies in Translatology" (Cao, 2005: 155) mentioned: ""History of Translation in China in the 20th Century" expounds the translation activities in China in the 20th century. It traces This book covers the century-old history of translation activities and theoretical research in China, and demonstrates the contribution of translators to this great cause. This book extensively introduces a group of outstanding translators, their works, thoughts, and their impact on China. The impact on society thus summarizes the development direction of Chinese translation studies." Babel (He Aijun, Yu Yingji, 2006: 1), an authoritative magazine of the International Federation of Translators, also published thousands of articles on "The History of Chinese Translation in the 20th Century." and its author Fang Huawen’s translation thoughts were introduced, praising the book for “filling a gap in the history of Chinese translation since the May 4th Movement.” Domestically, newspapers and magazines such as "China Science and Technology Translation" (2006, 2), "Expo" (2005, 10), "Literary News" (2006, 8, 17) and other newspapers and magazines have written highly of it.