历史书写与记忆塑造(下)——古腾堡在近代中国

Historical Writing and Memory Construction——Gutenberg in Modern China

三清末民初编译、书写的西洋历史书籍及有关文类,虽然一般都称道古腾堡印刷术的贡献,将古腾堡印刷术与中国印刷术进行对比,但并没有将古腾堡印刷术导源于中国,尽管个别人曾将火药、罗盘这两大发明归于中国西传。然而,这样的历史书写模式并没有一以贯之。特别是在20世纪20年代末期以后，日本侵华步伐节节进逼，知识精英的救亡意识加强，爱国必先知史，民族主义关怀日益强烈渗透到近代中国的历史书写中，以民族国家为核心的历史叙述模式一枝独秀、所向披靡，其他历史叙述模式退避三舍、隐而不彰，甚或湮没无闻。①这种情况亦展现在关于中国印刷术与古腾堡印刷术关系的历史书写上，上述两种历史书写模式就显得有些不合时宜、不符需要，凸显中国印刷术发明的西传欧洲及其重要性的历史叙述则“得其所哉”。

This paper examines the ways in which Gutenberg was written, represented and constructed in relation to Chinese printing technology in the historical writings of modern Chinese scholars in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It argues that the complex dynamics shaped not only the writing of Chinese printing history but also the collective memory of printing technology in modern China. It reveals that the Japanese factor has been largely neglected and should be put in the historical context of knowledge dissemination in East Asia at the turn of the century. Exploring the representation, reception and adaptation of Gutenberg as a cultural signifier in the late Qing and early Republican periods, it concludes that the Chinese intellectuals endeavored to situate China in the world in the past and the present to demonstrate the contribution of China＇s role in the process of globalization and the quest of print capitalism and modernity.