律劳卑与无比:人名翻译与近代中英外交纷争

Lao Bei(劳卑/"Laboriously Vile") v.Wu Bi(无比/"Peerless"):Translation of Names as a Cause of 19th-Century Sino-British Diplomatic Disputes

本文透过梳理原始史料,分析1834年英国第一任驻华商务监督John Napier名字的翻译问题。当时的行商把他的名字翻成"律劳卑",引来Napier的不满,甚至向英国政府报告,几乎惹起一场外交风波。实际上,英方译者马礼逊及马儒翰早已提供了正式的译名,但因当时两国官员没法直接沟通,以致产生严重矛盾和误会。本文虽以人名翻译为讨论主体,但并不是要讨论人名翻译的方法或技巧,而是希望能藉一历史个案来说明在特定历史时空下,翻译所扮演的举足轻重的角色,同时亦展示翻译如何受历史语境所影响。

In this paper,we examine how Chinese rendition of the name of Lord John Napier,the first British Superintendent of Trade to China,threatened to provoke a diplomatic incident following his assumption of office in 1834.The British considered it 'a gratuitous insult' for the Chinese side to turn the Superintendent's last name into Chinese characters that could mean 'laboriously vile'.They were particularly offended because their own translators had already provided a Chinese translation of the official's name.Taking this as an illuminating case,the paper calls attention to the way translation is simultaneously affected by historical environment and contributive to shaping the course of history.