西方文学还是西学?——王韬的经验及其评价

Western Literature or Western Learning? On Wang Tao's Experience and Practice

王韬与晚清新教来华传教士之间的跨文化交流,集中于西教与西学。但在西学之中,王韬亦曾提及"西方文学"这一对近代文学史无疑具有重要意义的概念或表述。尽管王韬并没有对"西方文学"进行过概念意义上的关注、追寻、界定,以及较为系统的介绍——像他对西学源流以及晚明耶稣会士来华著述所进行的追本溯源式的考察辑录那样——但他的视野及相关叙述中,确实涉及到西方诗歌、戏剧等文类,甚至还提到过希腊、罗马、英国等文学史上的一些重要诗人的名字。王韬的西方文学经验,是在晚清新教来华传教士将西方的"literature"概念引入中国,并逐渐确定为"文学"作为其中文概念体系中之对应的历史语境中发生并展开的,其中所承载的复杂而丰富的历史信息与文学史意义,并未因其孤立零散或游移不定而丧失其相应价值。

The communication between Wang Tao （ 1828 - 1897） and protestant missionaries in the Late Qing Dynasty focused on the Western religion and learning. When discussing Western learning, Wang Tao also used the term ＂literature,＂ a term that would have great influence on the developmental history of pre-modern Chinese literary thoughts. While he had a systematic exploration into the development of Western learning and the Jesuits＇ works in the Late Ming, Wang Tao didn＇t elaborate on the concept of the term ＂wenxue （ literature）,＂ although he had mentioned Western poetry and other genres as well as some important Greek, Roman and British poets. Wang Tao＇s experience and his understanding of Western literature were developed after the protestant missionaries introduced the Western concept of literature into China and recognized the term ＂wenxue＂ as the equivalent to ＂literature. ＂ The historical significance of the term still holds value to contemporary academic explorations into literary and intellectual history.