The term ‘wenxue’ meaning literature in Chinese, can be seen in Lunyu. In modern times, as cultures of the West spread among Eastern Asian countries, Chinese ‘weaxua’ or Japanese ‘bungaku’ received a new meaning like many other Chinese words. And it established itself as one of the technical terms of the modem times. It also played an important role in China and Japan.

　In this paper, from the perspective of comparative literature with reference to previous studies, how the Chino-Japanese word ‘wenxue’ or ‘bungaku’ came to be used for ‘literature’ will be considered. For this purpose, Greece is the foundation of western literature （“希臘為西国文学之祖”）written in Chinese by Joseph Edkins，an English missionary who stayed in Shanghai during the late Ching era, the beginning of Modern China, is examined. During the process in which the Chino-Japanese word ‘wenxue’ or ‘bungaku’ came to be used in order for Western academic cultures to be imported, the term retained some of its classical Chinese ideas. This situation is explained through the examination of friendly relations between the missionary and his Chinese intellectual friends. Lastly, the historical fact that the magazine Shanghai Serial (『六合叢談』）was imported from China to Japan will be examined. Finally, based on this fact, how Western cultures, including the translation of the term ‘literature’，were accepted by modern Chino-Japanese intelletcts will be considered.