It actually went back and forth sometimes. There are a bunch of loan words from Japanese in modern Chinese too, especially if they relate to science or economics. Like the Mandarin term for “capitalism” is 资本主义 (zīběnzhǔyì) and I’m pretty sure it’s a loan word from Japanese, 資本主義 (shihonshugi). Languages are cool.
The worst part was the word for “science”, Chen Duxiu wanted to call it 赛因斯学 (sai-yin-si xue), but overseas Chinese students from Japan brought back 科学 (ke xue) which makes more sense lol.
It actually went back and forth sometimes. There are a bunch of loan words from Japanese in modern Chinese too, especially if they relate to science or economics. Like the Mandarin term for “capitalism” is 资本主义 (zīběnzhǔyì) and I’m pretty sure it’s a loan word from Japanese, 資本主義 (shihonshugi). Languages are cool.
Same for “communism” (共产主义) .
The worst part was the word for “science”, Chen Duxiu wanted to call it 赛因斯学 (sai-yin-si xue), but overseas Chinese students from Japan brought back 科学 (ke xue) which makes more sense lol.