中國第一位留美學人容閎取得學位返國的一八五四年，嚴復出生在福州。而日本第一位留美學人新島襄在波士頓受洗的一八六六年，德川幕府頒佈英、法、荷、葡、美五國留學許可，中村敬宇以昌平黌儒官的身份率領十二名學生前往英國。這一年，左宗棠向清廷建議設立福州船政局，嚴復成了第一批學生。由於中村年齡超過倫敦大學的錄取限制，遂聘請英人進行一對一英國文學的學習，兩年後(1868)由巴黎搭乘郵輪返回東京。一八七七年，東京大學創立時，中村受聘為文學科教授，這一年嚴復與十二名留學生一同前往英國，進入格林里治海軍大學(Greenwich Naval College)學習行船理法，原本預定的年限是三年，卻由於翌年福州船政學堂師資出缺而被召回任教。 作為中日首批留英學人，中村敬宇與嚴復都致力於透過譯注來介紹英美的種種啟蒙思想－自由論、政體論、進化史觀、文明論等等。前者譯有《西國立志篇》(Self Help, 1870)、《自由之理》(On Liberty, 1871)、《共和政治》（The Federal Government, 1872年、《西洋品行論》(Character, 1888)、《西洋節用論》(Thrift, 1897)等書。後者譯有《天演論》(Evolution and Ethics, 1896)、《原富》(Inquiry into the Nature and Cause ofthe Wealth of Nations, 1901)、《群學肄言》(Study of Sociology, 1903)、《群己權界論》(On Liberty, 1903)、《社會通詮》(History of Politics,1903)、《法意》(De L'esprit des lois, 1904)、《穆勒名學》(A System of Logic, 1905)、《名學淺說》(Primer of Logic, 1909)等書。此外，兩人皆有多種與東西文化相關的學術論著。 因此本文以「譯著」和「譯語」為核心，進行嚴復和中村敬宇的思想比較。先透過其啟蒙性格與過渡性格的闡釋，勾勒出他們所處時代背景；接著比較兩人儒學根底、西學觀、和會通東西的主張；最後藉由兩者的文化翻譯，尤其是對約翰‧穆勒(John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873)所著On Liberty一書的譯語之比較，來討論中、日近代翻譯文化的特徵及相互影響。

In the year of 1854, Yan Fu 嚴復 (1854-1921) was born in Fuzhou 福州 while China's first overseas scholar in America, Yung Wing 容閎 (1828-1912), returned China after obtaining Degree. In the year of 1866, Joseph Hardy Neesima (1843-1890), the first Japanese overseas scholar in America, was baptized in Boston. In the same year, Tokugawa Bakufu issued the admission to Japanese for studying in England, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and America; later, Nakamura Keiu (1832-1892), as an official of the Shoheiko, led twelve students to England. In this year, Zuo Zongtang 左宗棠 (1812-1885) brought up the suggestion of establishing Fuzhou Shipment Bureau to Qing government. Yan Fu was one of the students in the first year when Fuzhou Shipment Bureau started to run school affairs. Since Nakamura was an overage student to the University of London, he studied English literature one-on-one with the English tutors.. After two years (1868), he took a liner from Paris back to Tokyo. When the University of Tokyo was founded in 1877, Nakamura was hired as a literature professor. The same year, Yan Fu and twelve students left for England and learned navigation at Greenwich Naval College. The study originally was planned to finish in three years, but, due to lacking of teachers, Zuo was called back to teach at Fuzhou Shipment Bureau in the next year. Being the pioneers of Chinese and Japanese overseas scholars, Nakamura Keiu and Yan Fu both were devoted to introducing thought of enlightenment from England and America to their home countries, like theory of liberty, theory of polity, evolution, and theory of civilization, through translation and annotation. Nakamura's translated works include Self Help (1870), On Liberty (1871), The Federal Government (1872), Character (1888) and Thrift (1897). Yan has his own translated ones such as Evolution and Ethics (1896), Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of the Wealth of Nations (1901), Study of Sociology (1903), On Liberty (1903), History of Politics (1903), De L'esprit des lois (1904), A System of Logic (1905)、and Primer of Logic (1909). In addition to translated works, Nakamura and Yan wrote multiple academic papers and books related to the Eastern and Western culture. Therefore, this paper will focus on ”translated works” and ”translation language,” comparing the differences between Nakamura's and Yan's thought. Firstly, the paper will portray the background where they located in terms of analyzing their personalities on enlightenment and transition. Later, the focus is transferred to the comparisons on their bases on Confucianism, viewpoints of Western learning, and the argument of interpenetrating the Eastern and the Western culture. Finally, in contrast with their culturally translation language in On Liberty (written by John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873), the paper discusses the mutual influences and characteristics between modern Chinese and Japanese translation culture.