森有礼的“Education in Japan”在中国的翻译及其影响

The Translation of Education in Japan by Arinori Mori (森有礼) and Its Influence in China

叙述森有礼的外交家、教育家经历及其在美国编纂出版EducationinJapan(《日本的教育》)一书的经纬 ,藉以窥见日本明治维新初期教育发展概貌 ;该书由美国传教士林乐知 (Mllen .YoungJohn)在上海译成中文《文学兴国策》出版 ,意在用美国教育经验来推动中国重视教育 ,这确在当时的中国知识阶层中引起了反响 ;该书由英文译成日文时其选译内容和出版时间都有悬殊 ,因此若对本书的英、中、日诸种版本加以对照和比较 ,既可为我们如何认识和处理在异质文化的传播和吸收过程中所发生的关系和问题抑或在研究方法论上均可提供若干有益的启示。

From the experience of Arinori Mori as a diplomat and educator and from the historical background of the publication of the book, Education in Japan, in America, we can form a general picture of the educational development at the early stage of Meiji reform in Japan. The book was translated into Chinese by Mllen, Young John, an American missionary, and published in Shanghai with the title An Strategy to Develop the Country through Education (《文学兴国策》). His purpose was to emphasize the significance of education in China based on American educational experience. This, indeed, won an echo from the Chinese intellectuals at that time. However, when the book was translated into Japanese from English, there existed clear variation in the selected contents and the time for publication, once a contrast and comparison is taken among the three versions: English, Chinese and Japanese. This provides us a way of how to understand the features and deal with the problem occurred in the process of spreading and receiving a different culture. That apart, it also enlightens us, to a certain extent, of how the research was implemented.