The Spread and Transformation of the Concept of “Nihilism”

“Nihilism” is an important concept that has influenced China in modern times, but as some scholars have pointed out, concepts such as “nihilist party,” “nihilism,” “populist party,” “anarchist party,” and “anarchism” were often conflated, “their meanings and connotations changing according to the standpoint and proposition of the user,” and the process of their introduction and evolution presents an extremely complex picture.

“虚无主义”是近代以来影响中国的重要概念，但正如有学者指出的，“虚无党”“虚无主义”与“民粹派”“无政府党”“无政府主义”等概念常常混用，“其词义和词性随着使用者立场和主张的不同而变化”，其传入与演变过程呈现出极为复杂的样态。

The Ancient Meaning of “Nihility” (虚无)

“虚无”的古义

The term “nihility” (虚无) was originally a Chinese word, frequently appearing in Daoist classics. For example, the *Laozi Heshang Gong Commentary* annotates the opening line of the first chapter of the *Laozi* — “Nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth” — as follows: “The nameless refers to the Way; the Way is formless, therefore it cannot be named. ‘Beginning’ is the root of the Way, emitting qi and spreading transformation, emerging from nihility, and serving as the root and beginning of heaven and earth.” (*Laozi Heshang Gong Commentary*, “Embracing the Way, Part One”) Wang Bi’s commentary on the sixteenth chapter of the *Laozi* glosses “Heaven is then the Way” as “Uniting with heaven in virtue, embodying the Way and achieving great penetration

“虚无”一词本是中国固有的词汇，且频繁出现在道家典籍之中。比如，《老子河上公注》对《老子》开篇第一章中“无名天地之始”注解为：“无名者谓道，道无形，故不可名也。始者道本也，吐气布化，出于虚无，为天地本始也。”（《老子河上公注·体道第一》）王弼注《老子》第十六章中“天乃道”为“与天合德，体道大通，则乃至于极虚无也”；注“道乃久”为“穷极虚无，得道之常，则乃至于不穷极也”（《老子王弼注》）。《庄子》中讲到，“夫恬淡寂漠，虚无无为，此天地之平而道德之质也”（《庄子·刻意》）。被视为稷下道家代表作的《管子》中说：“夫正人无求之也，故能虚无”；“虚无无形谓之道，化育万物谓之德。”可见，作为合并了“虚”和“无”的中国思想史上的固有概念，“虚无”一词与道家学说关系密切。正如汉代司马谈所概括的，“道家无为，又曰无不为，其实易行，其辞难知。其术以虚无为本，以因循为用”（《论六家要旨》）。在熟读中国经典的传统士大夫看来，“虚无”一词与老庄哲学及其驭民之道紧密地联系在一起。

“Nihilist Party” and “Nihilism” Derived from Nihilist and Nihilism

源自Nihilist、Nihilism的“虚无党”和“虚无主义”

With the eastward transmission of Western learning in modern times, various Western concepts entered China, and the word “nothingness” (虚无) was also used to translate and introduce new Western concepts, giving rise to a series of new terms such as “nihilism” (虚无主义) and “nihilist party” (虚无党). However, the semantics of these concepts were ambiguous, and for a long time no consensus was formed on the definition of “nihilism.”

随着近代以来西学东渐，各类西方概念传入中国，“虚无”一词也被用来译介西方新概念，出现了“虚无主义”“虚无党”等一系列新名词。然而，这些概念的语义却是模糊不清的，对“虚无主义”的定义长期没有形成共识。

According to research by scholar Jiang Lu, Nihilism was originally an ancient word from Western Europe, used in 1829 by the Russian writer Nikolai Nadezhdin to criticize Alexander Pushkin and others. After the archetypal image of the nihilist Bazarov in Ivan Turgenev’s *Fathers and Sons* burst onto the scene, “nihilist” was used as a pejorative term in the Russian context by conservatives to refer to democrats who resisted the old nobility and the old order.

据学者蒋路考证，Nihilism本是来自西欧的古老词汇，1829年被俄国作家尼·纳杰日津用来批评普希金等人。在屠格涅夫《父与子》中巴扎罗夫这一虚无主义者的典型形象横空出世后，作为一种蔑称，“虚无主义者”在俄国语境下被保守派用以指代反抗旧贵族、旧秩序者的民主主义者。

From the 1870s to the 1880s, the Russian populists were very active, among whom the Narodnaya Volya members, who used assassination as an important revolutionary means, attracted considerable attention. Related reports were common in Chinese newspapers focusing on Western news, such as *Xiguo Jinshi Huibian* (A Compilation of Recent Events in Western Countries) and *Wanguo Gongbao* (The Globe Magazine), as well as in the diaries and reports of Qing envoys sent abroad on inspection tours. According to scholarly research, as early as 1878 in *Xiguo Jinshi Huibian* (volumes 1 and 3), “那阿离斯党” (Na’alisi dang) and “纳赫垺” (Nahefu) appeared as transliterations of Nihilist in reports on the activities of the Russian Narodnaya Volya. People at the time believed that Nihilist meant “the destruction of everything.” On July 27, 1878, *Wanguo Gongbao* vaguely referred to the Russian Narodnaya Volya as “the Russian association” (俄国赛会) when reporting on them, but on March 19, 1880, in “The Nihilist’s Treasonous Letter” (尼党逆书), it translated them as “the Nihilist Party” (尼赫力斯特党). In articles over the following years, it was sometimes also translated as “the Nihilist Party” (尼希利党) or “the Nihilist Party” (尼希里党). In his 1879 diary, Li Fengbao transliterated it as “尼赫力士” (Nihelishi). In his *Xiyang Zazhi* (Miscellaneous Notes on the West), Li Shuchang transliterated the Russian Narodnaya Volya members who assassinated the tsar as “索息阿利司脱尼喜利司木” (Suoxi’alisi tuonixilisimu) and translated it semantically as “the Equality Society” (平会), where “索息阿利司脱” (Suoxi’alisi tuo) refers to Socialist and “尼喜利司木” (Nixilisimu) refers to Nihilism. Additionally, although Guo Songtao, Zhang Deyi, and others did not directly translate the terms Nihilist and Nihilism, they also recorded some incidents of Russian Narodnaya Volya members assassinating tsarist officials.

19世纪70年代至80年代，俄国民粹派非常活跃，其中以暗杀作为重要革命手段的民意党人甚为夺人眼球，相关报道在当时中国的《西国近事汇编》《万国公报》等关注西方新闻的报刊和清廷出洋考察使节的日记、报告中屡见不鲜。据学者考证，早在1878年的《西国近事汇编》（卷一、卷三）中，“那阿离斯党”和“纳赫垺”作为Nihilist的音译词，就已经出现在关于俄国民意党事迹的报道中。时人认为Nihilist“即毁废一切之谓”。《万国公报》1878年7月27日在报道俄国民意党时，模糊地将其称为“俄国赛会”，但在1880年3月19日《尼党逆书》中则将之翻译为“尼赫力斯特党”，在此后几年的文章中有时也翻译成“尼希利党”“尼希里党”。李凤苞在1979年的日记中则将之音译为“尼赫力士”。黎庶昌则在《西洋杂志》中将刺杀沙皇的俄国民意党人音译为“索息阿利司脱尼喜利司木”，意译为“平会”，其中“索息阿利司脱”是指Socialist，而“尼喜利司木”即为Nihilism。此外，郭松涛、张德懿等人虽然未直接翻译Nihilist、Nihilism等词，但也记录了俄国民意党人刺杀沙俄官员的一些事迹。

Thus, although the concepts of Nihilist and Nihilism entered the Chinese world relatively early, they appeared mainly in the form of transliteration rather than semantic translation. Their translation as “nihilist party” (虚无党) and “nihilism” (虚无主义) should be examined through the Japanese channel. According to research by scholar Yang Zhe, around the same period when the Chinese were using various transliterations for Nihilist and Nihilism—that is, the 1880s—some Japanese began to translate Nihilist as “nihilist party” (虚无党). For example, in 1886, Futabatei Shimei translated *Fathers and Sons* under the title *The Common Nihilist Temperament* (通俗虚无党气质). Around 1882, Nishikawa Tōtetsu translated and introduced the situation of the Narodnaya Volya under the title *Matters of the Russian Nihilist Party* (露国虚无党事情). The Japanese use of “nihilist party” to translate Nihilist profoundly influenced the related understanding of modern Chinese people.

可见，Nihilist、Nihilism的概念虽然较早就进入了中文世界，但却主要以音译而非意译的面目出现的。以“虚无党”“虚无主义”等词汇作为其对译，应从日本渠道加以考察。据学者杨哲研究，差不多在中国人以种种音译翻译Nihilist、Nihilism的同一时期，即19世纪80年代，一些日本人开始以“虚无党”翻译Nihilist。如1886年二叶亭四迷以《通俗虚无党气质》为题翻译了《父与子》。1882年前后，西川通彻以《露国虚无党事情》为题译介民意党人情况。日本人以“虚无党”对译Nihilist，深刻影响了近代中国人的相关认知。

“Nihilism” as “Anarchism”

作为“无政府主义”的“虚无主义”

More complexly, when the discourse of “nihilist party” (虚无党) and “nihilism” (虚无主义) entered China through the Japanese channel, it became entangled with anarchism. In 1903, Liang Qichao published “On the Russian Nihilist Party” (论俄罗斯虚无党), stating that “the ultimate aim of that party is to have no government.” After 1903, Entama Sen’tarō’s book *Modern Anarchism* (近世无政府主义) was introduced to China multiple times through abridged translation, excerpted translation, compiled translation, and free translation, often under the name “nihilist party” (虚无党), such as in translations titled *Biographies of Three Heroes of the Nihilist Party* (虚无党三杰传), *A Study of the Origins of the Russian Nihilist Party* (俄国虚无党源流考), and *A Brief History of the Nihilist Party* (虚无党小史). This led to a chaotic situation after the term “nihilist party” entered China, where nihilism, populism, and anarchism all “shared the same hat.” For example, when the novel *Niehai Hua* (A Flower in a Sea of Retribution) mentioned anarchism, it said, “Its factions are also divided into many; the most radical is called the nihilist party, also called the anarchist party.” This directly equated the nihilist party with the anarchist party, effectively equating nihilism with anarchism. In fact, with the spread of the discourse of the nihilist party, it once became a synonym for the revolutionary party.

更为复杂的是，“虚无党”“虚无主义”话语经由日本渠道进入中国时，又与无政府主义发生了纠葛。1903年，梁启超发表《论俄罗斯虚无党》，称“彼党之宗旨，以无政府为究竟”。1903年之后，烟山专太郎的《近世无政府主义》一书被以节译、摘译、编译、意译的方式多次介绍到中国，又多以“虚无党”为名，如翻译为《虚无党三杰传》《俄国虚无党源流考》《虚无党小史》等。这就使得“虚无党”一词进入中国以后，呈现虚无主义、民粹主义、无政府主义等“共戴一顶帽子”的混乱场景。例如，《孽海花》在提到无政府主义时便说，“它的会派，也分着许多，最激烈的叫做虚无党，又叫做无政府党”。这就直接将虚无党等同于无政府党，实际上也就是将虚无主义等同于无政府主义。事实上，随着虚无党话语的传播，虚无党一度成为革命党的代言词。

This understanding also entered dictionaries of the late Qing and early Republican periods. The *English and Chinese Standard Dictionary* (英华大辞典), edited by Yan Huiqing and published in 1908, was the first English-Chinese dictionary in modern China independently compiled by Chinese students studying abroad. It included the term Nihilism and used “nihilism” (虚无主义), “the theory of nothingness” (虚无论), and “nihilist party member” (虚无党人) as its translations. The entry pointed out that Nihilism as a general noun meant “Nothingness, 虚无; nihility, 全无, 空无, 皆无.” As an -ism, Nihilism meant “the theory of nothingness (虚无论) (the doctrine of extreme skepticism, holding that all things are nothing, and even existence is nonexistent); nihilism (虚无主义), those who hold nihilism, nihilist party members (虚无党人).” Notably, in the *English and Chinese Standard Dictionary*, the Chinese explanation highlighted the revolutionary implications of Nihilism, while the English explanation placed greater emphasis on its communist character. The *English and Chinese New Dictionary* (英华新字典), published by the Commercial Press in 1913, simply translated Nihilism as “nothingness” (虚无) and Nihilist as “a person of nothingness” (虚无之人).

这一认识也进入清末民初时期的字典。1908年出版的颜惠庆所编的《英华大辞典》是近代中国第一部由中国留学生独立编纂完成的英汉辞典，它就收录了Nihilism一词，同时用“虚无主义”“虚无论”“虚无党人”等词作为其对译。该词条指出，Nihilism作为一般意义上的名词指“Nothingness，虚无；nihility，全无，空无，皆无”。而作为一种主义的Nihilism，意思为虚无论（怀疑至极点之派之说，谓万物皆属虚无，即生存亦属无有）；虚无主义，持虚无主义者，虚无党人。值得注意的是，在《英华大辞典》中，中文解释指出了Nihilism中的革命意蕴，而英文解释中更强调了其共产主义色彩。1913年商务印书馆出版的《英华新字典》则简单地将Nihilism翻译为“虚无”，而将Nihilist翻译为“虚无之人”。

In 1916, the English-Chinese dictionary *Guanhua* [Mandarin], compiled by Karl Hemeling, also included the relevant terms. *Guanhua* translated Nihilism “as a philosophy” as *xuwu zhuyi* (虚无主义) and marked it as “new”; it translated Nihilism “as a political consciousness” as *wuzhengfu zhuyi* (无政府主义, anarchism), also marked as “new.” Similarly, Nihilist was given separate Chinese translations from the philosophical and political senses — as a “new” term, the philosophical “one who holds to nihilism” (持虚无主义的) and the political “nihilist party member” (虚无党人), and this explanation was marked as “ministry-approved” (部定). [1]1 “Ministry-approved” (部定) refers to terms officially sanctioned by the Qing government’s Ministry of Education, based on Yan Fu’s work as a translator and lexicographer. Thus, the political sense of Nihilist translated as “nihilist party member” was recognized by Yan Fu, representing the official Qing government, while Nihilism being translated as *xuwu zhuyi* or *wuzhengfu zhuyi* was also a new term widely accepted in society.

1916年赫美玲所编的英汉辞典《官话》也收录了相关词汇。《官话》中将“作为一种哲学”的Nihilism翻译为虚无主义，并标注为“新”；而将“作为一种政治意识”的Nihilism翻译为无政府主义，同样标注为“新”。同样的，Nihilist也被从哲学意义上和政治意义上分别给出了中文翻译——作为“新”名词的、哲学意义上的“持虚无主义的”和政治上的“虚无党人”，而这一解释被标注为“部定”。可见，作为政治意义上的Nihilist被译为“虚无党人”，得到了代表清政府官方的严复的认可，而Nihilism被翻译为虚无主义或无政府主义也是社会上广泛认可的新名词。

Efforts to Clarify the Concept of “Nihilism”

廓清“虚无主义”概念的努力

Faced with this confusion, some attempted to clarify the concept of “nihilism.” As early as 1906, Liao Zhongkai compiled and translated the article “Anarchism and Socialism” in *Minbao* [The People’s Journal], pointing out that “there are three major isms among the revolutionaries of the present world: socialism, anarchism, and nihilism,” placing these three isms side by side. [2]2 *Minbao* (《民报》) was the organ of the Tongmenghui, the revolutionary organization led by Sun Yat-sen, published in Tokyo from 1905 to 1910. However, in 1917, *Minbao* published Liao Zhongkai’s translation of *A Short History of the Nihilist Party* (i.e., Sen’yama Sentarō’s *Modern Anarchism*) in two installments, stating that the original book title did not match its content, hence the change of name. In other words, Liao Zhongkai himself used the Chinese “nihilist party” (虚无党) to translate the Japanese scholar’s concept of “anarchism.”

面对这种混乱状况，有人试图对“虚无主义”的概念加以廓清。早在1906年，廖仲恺就在《民报》上编译《无政府主义与社会主义》一文，指出“现世界之革命者有三大主义：社会主义Socialism、无政府主义Anarchist、虚无主义Nihilism”，将这三种主义并列。然而1917年《民报》又分两期刊登了廖仲恺翻译的《虚无党小史》（即烟山专太郎的《近世无政府主义》）一书，并称原书名实不符，故易其名。换言之，廖仲恺本人又以中文的“虚无党”对译日本学者的“无政府主义”概念。

In 1907, Zhou Zuoren published an article in the anarchist journal *Tianyi* [Natural Justice] titled “On the Difference Between the Russian Revolution and Nihilism,” stating: “The term ‘Nihilist’ should be correctly translated as ‘nihilist theorist’ (虚无论者); it first appeared in Turgenev’s famous work *Fathers and Sons* and later became widespread.” The article pointed out that the proliferation of the concept of Nihilist began when the Tsarist Russian government used this name to “refer generally to troublemakers,” and therefore “scholars of Europe and Asia, hearing false rumors, also came to believe that the Russian disturbances were all the work of the nihilist party, thus confusing nihilism with terrorism — this is a great error.” Zhou Zuoren stated that this confused usage was like conflating Stoicism with Republicanism, “which is no different from mixing a philosophical issue into politics.” In other words, he pointed out that the assassination activities of the nihilist party were merely a means, a temporary phenomenon reacting to political reality, while nihilism was “purely a study of seeking truth, rooted in materialism, a branch of philosophy,” which not only had a solid theoretical foundation but would also have a long-term influence, “the trend reaching far into the coming century.”

1907年，周作人在无政府主义刊物《天义》上刊文《论俄国革命与虚无主义之别》指出：“虚无党人Nihilist一语，正译当作‘虚无论者’，始见于都介涅夫（即屠格涅夫）名著《父与子》中，后遂通行。”文章指出，Nihilist概念的泛滥始于沙俄政府以此名“统指衅人”，因此“欧亚之士，习闻讹言，亦遂信俄国扰乱，悉虚无党所为，致混虚无主义于恐怖手段Terrorism，此大误也”。周作人表示，这种混乱用法正如将斯多噶学派（Stoicism）和共和主义（Republicanism）混同一样，“是无异以哲学问题混入政治”。换言之，他指出虚无党的暗杀行为只是手段，是迫于政治现实而作出反应的一时现象，而虚无主义则是“纯为求诚之学，根于唯物论宗，为哲学之一支”，不仅有着坚实的学理基础，更将影响长远，“趋势所及，远被来纪也”。

Although Liao Zhongkai, Zhou Zuoren, and others attempted to clarify the differences between “nihilism” and concepts such as “socialism” and “anarchism,” the results were minimal. This can be seen from the translations in the several influential English-Chinese dictionaries mentioned earlier. In the early 20th century, when various new trends of thought were pouring into the Chinese-speaking world, many intellectuals, though lacking systematic understanding of these fresh concepts, already used all kinds of “new terms” extensively in their writing and debates — this was the fashion of the era.

尽管廖仲恺、周作人等人试图厘清“虚无主义”与“社会主义”“无政府主义”等概念的差异，但收效甚微。这从前述当时影响力较大的几部英汉字典的翻译可见一斑。在20世纪初各种新思潮纷纷涌入中文世界的情况下，很多知识分子虽然对这些新鲜概念未做系统了解，却已在行文论战中大量使用各类“新名词”，这是那个时代的风气。

In summary, in the Chinese-language context of the early 20th century, “nihilism” (虚无主义) referred both to Nihilism and to Anarchism (无政府主义), and was also closely related to the Daoist concepts of “nothingness and non-action” (虚无、无为), presenting a complex picture of semantic ambiguity.

总而言之，在20世纪初的中文语境中，“虚无主义”既指Nihilism，又指Anarchist（无政府主义），还与道家的“虚无、无为”密切相关，呈现出语义不明的复杂图景。

(The author is an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Contemporary China Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.)

（作者系中国社会科学院当代中国研究所副研究员）

Online Editor: Tongxin

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