晚清时期新教传教士对《论语》的英译与诠释

Studies on the Translation and Interpretation of Lun Yǚ by Protestant Missionaries during the Late Qing Dynasty

与明清之际耶稣会士把翻译包括《论语》在内的儒家经典作为一个系统工程不同,晚清时期新教传教士对《论语》的翻译活动更多是个人行为。从1809年到1910年一个世纪里,先后有四位新教传教士出版了《论语》英译本。早期新教传教士马士曼、高大卫翻译《论语》最初动因是学习语言的需要,他们对中国的宗教文化并无深入的研究;而理雅各、苏慧廉等则是在研究中国宗教的基础上翻译《论语》的,他们不管是在翻译体例方面,抑或是在译文质量上都进一步完善,他们的翻译极大地促进了西方的汉学研究与发展。晚清时期新教传教士基于不同的"他者"中国宗教观,在英译《论语》时采用了不同的翻译策略。

Unlike those Jesuits who regarded their translation of Confucian classics as a systematic project during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Protestant missionaries interpreted Lun Yǚ from their own way individually. From 1809 to 1910, there were four English versions of Lun Yǚ translated by those Protestant missionaries. The primary purpose for Joshua Marshman and David Collie to translate Lun Yǚ was to learn Chinese well, while James Legge and William Soothill studied Chinese religions very well before they translated Lun Yǚ. Different styles and translation strategies were applied by the Protestant missionaries who based their study on various perspectives of Chinese religions.