马戛尔尼使华事件中的英吉利“表文”考

A Scrutiny into the English King's Appeal to Chinese Emperor of the Macartney Mission

在马戛尔尼使华事件中,原本"极有大体"的英王致乾隆皇帝的国书,因英国使团所聘华人翻译者有意识的改动,沦为一份属国"表文",而英国使团对此毫无察觉,坦然呈交清廷。此中出现的错误,虽非清廷君臣直接操纵所致,却也清楚地反映出乾隆盛世闭关自守体系下中外交往的重重阻厄,在某种程度上还影响了此后几十年中英关系的发展。

There are still many riddles around the so-called English Ning＇s ＂Appeal＂ to Emperor Chianlong. The original letter, which was suitably written in English with an equal motif, was deliberately distorted by some Chinese, who were entrusted by the British embassy to translate the letter into Chinese. As a result the letter became a servile appeal from a barbarous king to Chinese Emperor. Totally unaware of the errors, the British embassy submitted the letter to Emperor Chianlong. All the falsities of the matter emerged amid the ＂close door＂ policy upheld by Qing dynasty, and thus illustrated the tough situation in which the communications between China and the Western powers were so difficult. Furthermore, these falsities had also given a negative impact on development of the Sino-British relationships in the following half a century.