摘要：

Although Darwinian evolutionary theory has been widely spread in China, several misconceptions about evolution have been persistent among the general public and even the researchers. Some are simple misunderstandings, including evolution results in progress with organisms are always replaced by better forms through evolution, and humans or primates represent the most advanced organisms. Some are misconceptions about natural selection and imply organisms evolved based on what they need or all the current morphologies or biological phenotypes are the results of adaptation. The spread of these misconceptions in China stem partially from the historical misleading translation of “evolution” to “进化” in Chinese, which includes the meaning of progress with direction into more advance form. Here, we summarize major progresses of the evolutionary theory after the Modern Synthesis and discuss how this misleading translation introduces a barrier in understanding of these new theoretical developments, such as neutral or near-neutral theory, genetic drift hypothesis, trade-off theory, and many new concepts in evo-devo field. Looking back at the development of evolutionary theory over the past few hundred years, we emphasize that a series of revolutionary achievements in the last 30 years have brought about fundamental changes in our basic understanding of the evolution of life. Therefore, we strongly advocate a formal re-introducing of “演化”, a more correct translation of evolution, in textbook and in daily communication among Chinese biological researchers. We anticipate that this change will help to correct some of these deep-rooted misconceptions among general public and will ultimately stimulate the interest of younger generation in conceptually thinking of evolutionary theory.