从中村正直和严复的翻译看日中两国对西方思想的摄取

A Comparison of two translations of John S. Mill's On Liberty:one by Nakamura Masanao and one by Yan Fu

19世纪中叶,英国的社会学家J.S.Mill写的著名论文《论自由》(On Liberty,1859),先后为日本和中国的两位启蒙思想家所翻译。中村正直的《自由之理》出版于1872年,严复的《群己权界论》刊行于1903年。两位学者同在觉醒的东方,同是向西方摄取新的哲学思想,又同译一本书,这就保证了两位学者的可比性;但是由于两位学者的文化心态不同,对自由一词的认识不同,在翻译过程中所加的按语不同,虽是翻译同一论著,却产生了两部颇为不同的译品;又由于中村的学术活动,是在日本的明治维新时期,而严复则在甲午、庚子的战乱时期,译本既出,在不同的接受环境下产生的影响当然也不同。本文既见其不同又述其相同之处,饶具历史兴趣和理论兴趣。论文作者对于英文、日文、晚清文言文均有阅读能力,参阅资科和分析论点也有独到之处。论文全长6万字,本刊选登2万余字,呈献于读者。论文作者王克非原是许国璋教授指导的硕士研究生。

Joln Stuart Mill's On Liberty was not a particularly important text among his numerous works on political theory, but it met the attention of two of his near contemporaries: Nakamura in Japan and Yan Fu in China. Both had been to England for the express purpose of acquiring the ideas and technology vital to their countries' modernization, and both had translated On Liberty with that aim in view. Yet an investigation of the two translations shows there were important differences in approach, as evidenced by each work's prefaces, notes and comments. The differences made an interesting study because they reflected a different political and cultural quest obtaining in Japan and in China. It would appear that Nakamura had his emphasis on individual liberty, aining to lead his People to a new set of values which he regarded indispensable to a modern nation. Yah Fu, on the other hand, took a more guarded, less idealistie view. He deliberately coined a phrase for the rendering of liberty, which appeared on the title-page as 'On the delimitation of the right of society and the individual' (《群已权界论》). This was far from a derlant translation, since Mill himself saw the necessity of setting limits to the extent of freedom of the individual in a society. The paper also takes a look at the different ways each translation was received in Japan and China. In Japan, which was free from foreign invasion and fully bent on building itself into a modern power, the book found an enthusiastic reception—much less so in China, which, after suffering one defeat after another in the hands of foreign powers, was busy seeking a way to survive.