Francis Bacon in Yan Fu’s Tianyan lun

Abstract Previous studies of the sources of thought in Yan Fu’s Tianyan lun have failed to give suffi cient attention to Francis Bacon. The source of Yan Fu’s ideal of a strong and prosperous China is, I think, none other than Bacon. This paper discusses Bacon as he appeared in Yan Fu’s Tianyan lun and political essays written at the time of Tianyan lun, and Bacon’s infl uence on Yan Fu.