“西学东渐”
16世纪，西方传教士来华，揭开了“西学东渐”的序幕，西方学术、宗教等在中国本土的传播引起很大反响。西方文化的传入与中国近代思想文化自身的变迁相互交融，推动中华文明在兼收并蓄中历久弥新。
西方传教士在中国传教的同时，也将西方的自然、社会、人文知识带入中国。他们参与绘制了中国历史上第一张世界地图《坤舆万国全图》，展现了世界上不同国家和地区，开创了中国绘制世界地图的先例。他们翻译的西方学术经典，促进了中国传统文化和传统科学的发展。当时，徐光启、李之藻、方以智等中国开明的知识分子受“西学”影响，为中国文化注入西方知识，推动了中西方文化交融。1607年，利玛窦和徐光启译成古希腊数学经典著作《几何原本》前六卷，书中大量数学名词对中国数学思想和数学方法的发展产生了积极影响。到了中华民国时期，“西学东渐”进入新的时期，“西学”传播内容更加丰富。这一时期，关于西方政治、哲学、经济、法学等内容的西学书籍被大量翻译，对中国的学术、思想、政治和社会经济都产生了重要影响。
"Eastward Spread of Western Learning"
In the 16th century, Western missionaries started arriving in China, setting the stage for "Eastward Spread of Western Learning." The spread of Western knowledge and religions was sensational in China. Fusion of Western cultures and evolving Chinese philosophies and cultures in modern times kept Chinese civilization vibrant and relevant.
While preaching, the Western missionaries also disseminated knowledge about nature, society, and culture. They helped draw Map of the Ten Thousand Countries of the Earth (Kunyu Wanguo Quantu), the first world map in China to show other countries and regions in the world, which set precedent for glob- al cartography in China. Translated Western classics fueled progress of traditional culture and science and technology in China. At the time, enlightened Chinese intellectuals exposed to "Western Learning" such as Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, and Fang Yizhi adopted and applied Western knowledge and facilitated a fusion of Chinese and Western cultures. In 1607, Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi translated the first six volumes of Elements, the ancient Greek mathematical treatise, into Chinese, introducing considerable mathematics jargons to the country that went on to exert a major impact on mathematical thinking and methodologies in China. In the Republic of China, the "Eastward Spread of Western Learning" advanced to a new stage, marked by a wider range of "Western Learning" being introduced. During this stage, many Western books on politics, philosophy, economics, law, and other disciplines were translated, exerting a substantial impact on academic, ideological, political, and socio-economic fronts.
