Yan Fu (8 January 1854 — 27 October 1921) was one of the first Chinese scholars to study abroad, attending Greenwich Naval College in 1879. He brought back to China a conviction that “his country’s only salvation lay in learning how to compete in the new global scramble for power.” His outspoken reformist ideas became especially influential in the wake of China’s defeat to Japan in 1895. In this period, he and Liang were both searching for pragmatic solutions to China’s problems. Yan believed he had found a solution in the doctrines of Social Darwinism. Yan’s translations of Herbert Spencer, who coined the term “survival of the fittest,” and John Stuart Mill were important influences on Liang’s intellectual development.

Yan Fu