晚清使官的西方戏剧观

The Ambassador’s Viewpoint on the Western Drama in the Late Qing Dynasty

晚清使官在西方的观剧活动，是中国人接受西方文学的起点，值得注意。历来评价认为，使官主要关注了戏剧的“附加因素”，而忽视了戏剧本身。本文从晚清使西载记文献出发，证明晚清使官对舞台上之西方戏剧本身确有关注，并从艺术和思想方面，对他们关于西方戏剧的观点，予以分析。西方戏剧精神与晚清使官的信仰之间，存在着深刻的矛盾，这使他们对西方戏剧的见解，不可能没有误差；但晚清使官观看西方戏剧的中国眼光，仍有特殊的借鉴意义。

The theatre going activities in the West by the late Qing dynasty diplomats, as the starting point of the history of the acceptation of the Western literature by the Chinese, is worth specific research. The comments have been that, while having concerns only for the ＂auxiliary factors＂, the diplomats ignored the drama itself. Based on the late Qing records of the diplomatic missions in the West, this essay proves the diplomats＇ show of interest in the dramas performed on stage, and analyses their views on some Western dramas from artistic as well as ideological point of view. The spirit of Western drama is incongruous with the faith of the diplonmats, which makes their opinions on Western drama muehbiased, however, this should not be the reason for denying the specific meaning of their watching Western drama with the Chinese eye.