An Etymological Research on Chinese Terms“Engineering” and “Engineer”

Historically, both Chinese words of “engineering” and “engineer” have rich connotations. Based on a textual research on traditional literatures, this article tries to explain how the modern Chinese term “engineering” directly originated from ancient Chinese terms and inherited the basic connotation from tradition. Moreover, several traditional titles like “Gongshi” and later title “gongchengsi” were used contemporarily with the title “engineer” during the Self-improvement Movement. Nevertheless, the term “gongchegnshi” (Engineer), gradually replaced the traditional titles along with the institutionalization of modern engineering in China.