<p>“经济”一词在古汉语中是“治理国家”的意思。后来被日本人作为西方经济学概念的翻译。当时中国学者的翻译是“生计学”、“计学”，到 1903 年以后在中国逐渐开始采用“经济学”。至于日本人为何翻译成“经济”，可能是联系了“经济”这个词原来的意义，具体的原因，我觉得应该去日语区问。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-13T18:59:29.730Z
Please read the post and existing answers... The question is _not_ about the characters. It is about the _word_.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-13T23:22:44.380Z
@StumpyJoePete，“经济”一词在古汉语中是“治理国家”的意思。后来被日本人作为西方经济学概念的翻译。当时中国学者的翻译是“生计学”、“计学”，到 1903 年以后在中国逐渐开始采用“经济学”。至于日本人为何翻译成“经济”，可能是联系了“经济”这个词原来的意义，具体的原因，我觉得应该去日语区问。
shuangwhywhy
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-14T09:14:40.200Z
Your comment is better than your answer! You should edit this information into your answer--you'll get my upvote at least.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-12T09:56:51.327Z
2013-01-14T14:14:17.107Z
2013-01-14T14:14:17.107Z
shuangwhywhy
<p>The Japanese Wikipedia article to 経済 tells us this:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>日本語である経済という語は、はじめpolitical economyの訳語として導入された。この訳語の作者は福澤諭吉であり、世の中を治め、人民を救うことを意味する経世済民（若しくは経国済民）を略した和製漢語といわれる。訳語として同時期に資生も提唱されたが、こちらはあまり普及しなかった。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Translation:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The term "経済" in Japanese was first derived as a translation from "political economy". The author of this translation was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukuzawa_Yukichi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Fukuzawa Yukichi</a>, who understood it as "<a href="http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B5%8C%E4%B8%96%E6%B8%88%E6%B0%91" rel="nofollow noreferrer">経世済民</a>" or "経国済民", which he intended to mean "Govern of the world, save the people",
  and thusly coined the term. He also suggested the term "資生" with the same meaning, which never became popular.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-13T17:41:09.863Z
Come on guys. "経済" couldn't be first derived from Japanese. Because they will not use Chinese characters. I think what the passage is saying the Japanese Character "経済"(slight different from Chinese) was first used in his book in Japan. Fukuzawa probably studied Chinese characters, read it some where else and used that term.
tipsywacky
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-11T06:19:22.273Z
@tipsywacky it's called [wasei-kango 和製漢語](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasei-kango) (Japanese-made Chinese)
Lưu Vĩnh Phúc 劉永福
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-04T19:50:54.463Z
@tipsywacky Both in the past and nowadays, Japanese use Chinese characters to coin new words for new concepts, just like Euporeans use Latin or Greek roots to coin new words for new concepts. So it's not strange that the two Chinese characters “經濟” was used as a translation of economy by Fukuzawa Yukichi. [continues]
ltux
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-04T19:50:54.463Z
[continued] Later this translation was introduced to China. But only the translator himself, Fukuzawa Yukichi, is deemed foreign, while the word itself is not. The word is not even deemed as loanword from Japanese because it is just a well-formed word made up of Chinese characters, and conforms to word-formation rules of Chinese language. So the word was quickly adopted and assimiliated, and its Japan-origin was largely ignored and hided.
ltux
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-05T01:33:40.307Z
@tipsywacky The characters do come from Chinese a long time ago, but the word 経済 was made up in Japan, and later borrowed from Japan to Chinese. There are quite a lot words in Japanese that are  made up form Chinese characters(Kanji) by Japanese people, and among them a lot are borrowed back into Chinese.
fefe
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-05T10:31:55.190Z
I see. so the concept comes from japan. aha!
tipsywacky
CC BY-SA 4.0
2013-02-17T21:31:01.910Z
2020-06-08T13:07:48.023Z
2020-06-08T13:07:48.023Z
Jens Jensen
<p>I know that 經濟 is a translation from Japanese, but I do not know why it became this. Could someone explain it in detail?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-01T10:06:21.600Z
Do you mean why "economy" is translated into "经"+"济" in Japanese?
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-01T13:28:39.953Z
Actually in Japanese it'd be 経済 :-) I think the OP means that the word 経済 is originally Japanese.
dda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-02T02:44:20.190Z
Japanese `経済` is adapted from Chinese usage. Such adaptation is called [Kanji](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji) in Japan.
John Siu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-02T03:57:53.403Z
@JohnSiu The _characters_ `经` and `济` were adapted from Chinese. The _word_ `经济` was created in Japan, and it was borrowed into Chinese. Lots of words are like this (e.g., `科学`, `社会`, `電話`)
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-01-02T04:29:30.223Z
@StumpyJoePete True. It seems it is going both ways. It is Chinese characters, but the current everyday meaning/usage is adapted from Japan. The terms `经济` do exist in Chinese history, but the meaning is different.
John Siu
<translation><etymology>
Why is “economics” translated to "經濟"?
# Why is “economics” translated to "經濟"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-01-01)

I know that 經濟 is a translation from Japanese, but I do not know why it became this. Could someone explain it in detail?

**Tags:** translation, etymology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Do you mean why "economy" is translated into "经"+"济" in Japanese?  
> **username_2**: Actually in Japanese it'd be 経済 :-) I think the OP means that the word 経済 is originally Japanese.  
> **username_3**: Japanese `経済` is adapted from Chinese usage. Such adaptation is called [Kanji](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji) in Japan.  
> **username_4**: @username_3 The _characters_ `经` and `济` were adapted from Chinese. The _word_ `经济` was created in Japan, and it was borrowed into Chinese. Lots of words are like this (e.g., `科学`, `社会`, `電話`)  
> **username_3**: @username_4 True. It seems it is going both ways. It is Chinese characters, but the current everyday meaning/usage is adapted from Japan. The terms `经济` do exist in Chinese history, but the meaning is different.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2013-02-17. Score: 10 | Accepted answer

The Japanese Wikipedia article to 経済 tells us this:

> 日本語である経済という語は、はじめpolitical economyの訳語として導入された。この訳語の作者は福澤諭吉であり、世の中を治め、人民を救うことを意味する経世済民（若しくは経国済民）を略した和製漢語といわれる。訳語として同時期に資生も提唱されたが、こちらはあまり普及しなかった。

Translation:

> The term "経済" in Japanese was first derived as a translation from "political economy". The author of this translation was [Fukuzawa Yukichi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukuzawa_Yukichi), who understood it as "[経世済民](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B5%8C%E4%B8%96%E6%B8%88%E6%B0%91)" or "経国済民", which he intended to mean "Govern of the world, save the people",
> and thusly coined the term. He also suggested the term "資生" with the same meaning, which never became popular.

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: Come on guys. "経済" couldn't be first derived from Japanese. Because they will not use Chinese characters. I think what the passage is saying the Japanese Character "経済"(slight different from Chinese) was first used in his book in Japan. Fukuzawa probably studied Chinese characters, read it some where else and used that term.  
> **username_9**: @username_7 Both in the past and nowadays, Japanese use Chinese characters to coin new words for new concepts, just like Euporeans use Latin or Greek roots to coin new words for new concepts. So it's not strange that the two Chinese characters “經濟” was used as a translation of economy by Fukuzawa Yukichi. [continues]  
> **username_9**: [continued] Later this translation was introduced to China. But only the translator himself, Fukuzawa Yukichi, is deemed foreign, while the word itself is not. The word is not even deemed as loanword from Japanese because it is just a well-formed word made up of Chinese characters, and conforms to word-formation rules of Chinese language. So the word was quickly adopted and assimiliated, and its Japan-origin was largely ignored and hided.  
> **username_10**: @username_7 The characters do come from Chinese a long time ago, but the word 経済 was made up in Japan, and later borrowed from Japan to Chinese. There are quite a lot words in Japanese that are  made up form Chinese characters(Kanji) by Japanese people, and among them a lot are borrowed back into Chinese.  
> **username_7**: I see. so the concept comes from japan. aha!  
> **username_8**: @username_7 it's called [wasei-kango 和製漢語](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasei-kango) (Japanese-made Chinese)  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2013-01-12. Score: 3

“经济”一词在古汉语中是“治理国家”的意思。后来被日本人作为西方经济学概念的翻译。当时中国学者的翻译是“生计学”、“计学”，到 1903 年以后在中国逐渐开始采用“经济学”。至于日本人为何翻译成“经济”，可能是联系了“经济”这个词原来的意义，具体的原因，我觉得应该去日语区问。

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Please read the post and existing answers... The question is _not_ about the characters. It is about the _word_.  
> **username_5**: @username_4，“经济”一词在古汉语中是“治理国家”的意思。后来被日本人作为西方经济学概念的翻译。当时中国学者的翻译是“生计学”、“计学”，到 1903 年以后在中国逐渐开始采用“经济学”。至于日本人为何翻译成“经济”，可能是联系了“经济”这个词原来的意义，具体的原因，我觉得应该去日语区问。  
> **username_4**: Your comment is better than your answer! You should edit this information into your answer--you'll get my upvote at least.  

---

