Yang Jingnian and the contemporary translation of <i>The Wealth of Nations</i> into Chinese language
Chinese scholar Yang Jingnian (1908-2016) represents the second generation of western-trained economists before the establishing the PRC. The paper analyses the influence exerted on his views in the Republican period by the founders of the Nankai school of economics He Lian and Fang Xianting along with Yang Jingnian’s contribution to development of economic studies in the second half of the 20th century. Key attention is given to motivation of his decision to undertake the new Chinese translation of The Wealth of Nations in the 1990s’ reform period with consideration of the perspectives of China’s development and the introduction of contemporary Western interpretations of Adam Smith’s theoretical legacy.