过渡时代的译才:江南制造局翻译馆的中国译员群体探析

Translators in the Transitional Times: an Exploration of the Group of Chinese Translators in the Translation Department of Kiangnan Arsenal

江南制造局翻译馆是近代规模最大、影响最广的官方译书机构,集聚了多达50余人的中国译员群体。他们普遍热心西学且学有专长,其籍贯来源多集中于以江苏为核心的江南地区;除少数考有功名外,其多数出身于科举时代没有功名的普通知识分子;其教育背景新旧杂陈,接受洋务教育者居多。其群体构成反映了近代初期较早接触西学的新型知识分子的某些共同特征。在翻译西书过程中,他们积极参与书目选择、专业名词创设及"西译中述"方式的译书活动,在与西人合作下,完成大量高质量的西学作品翻译,对近代西学传播做出巨大贡献。他们是晚清翻译高潮中相当数量的中国译员群体的一个缩影,是被动开放的中国在急需引进西学而又缺乏人才情况下的过渡时代的译才。

The Translation Department of Kiangnan Arsenal was the largest and most popular official translation agency inthe modern times. There were more than 50 Chinese translators working for it. They were eager to study western knowlage andmade good achievement. Most of them came from Jiangnan region which was centered on Jiangsu Province. Apart from a fewwith official rank ,most of them were just normal intellectuals without official rank in the imperial era, The educational back-ground of them included the coexistence of the new and the old. The majority of them accepted westernization education. Itsgroup composition reflects some common characteristics of the new intellectuals in the early contact with the western. In theprocess of western books＇ translation, they participated actively in bibliography choice, professional terms establishment and thetranslation activities form of ＂Interpreted by foreigners and deduced by Chinese ＂. With the cooperation of westerners, theycompleted a large number of high quality translations of western works, and made great contributions to the modern western civ-ilization＇ s spread. They are a microcosm of the quite number of Chinese translators in the translation climax of the late QingDynasty. They are the translators of the transitional era when the passively opened China was in urgent need of introduction ofwestern civilization but short of talent.