小人物的大历史:清初四川天主教徒徐若翰个案研究的启示

A Minor Figure,a Large History:A Study of Johan Su,a Sichuan Catholic Convert in the Early Qing Dynasty

本文对散藏于欧美各地图书馆的四份稀见中文天主教文献进行比照,同时结合有关教会史料,再现清初四川一位名不见经传的天主教徒徐若翰的生平。透过此微观史个案,本文揭示徐若翰如何协助巴黎外方传教会士白日昇首次将《新约圣经》译为中文,并独自编订了四福音书的《会编》,使"白、徐译本"得以传诸后世,直接影响了19世纪初马礼逊等新教传教士的译经工作。徐若翰从四川到广州、澳门,不但卷入天主教各修会之间复杂的争斗,还担任教宗特使多罗流寓澳门期间的中文秘书。此外,他在未寄出的一封信稿中,以"忝居教末"的信徒身份为多罗辩护,抨击在华耶稣会士一系列不端行为,完全颠覆了后者自晚明起理想化的"西儒"形象。深入挖掘这位小人物的不平凡经历,有助于消除近期研究中的若干盲点,对补充明清中国天主教的历史具有启示意义。

This article compares four rare Chinese Christian texts held in several libraries in Europe and America.By using a number of other relevant sources on the Catholic Church in late imperial China,it reconstructs the life stories of an obscure Chinese convert from Sichuan in the early Qing period,whose name was identified as Johan Su.In this micro-historical study,I will reveal how Su assisted Jean Basset(1662—1707),a missionary from the Missions etrangeres de Paris,in their first Chinese translation of the New Testament.He further compiled a Gospel Harmony by himself,thereby leaving an unnamed yet significant work for the later generations,particularly the Protestant Biblical translations initiated by Robert Morrison(1782—1834) and his peers in the early 19^(th) century.Along his journey from Sichuan to Guangzhou and Macao,Su not only was involved in the intense contests among the Catholic orders in China,but also served as a Chinese secretary of the papal legate Carlo T Maillardde Tournon(1668—1710) during his exile in Macao.Moreover,in one of his unsent letters Su expressed the voice of 'the most humble one in the Church' in defense of Tournon,and at the same time cast severe criticisms at the despicable acts of the Jesuits.His descriptions thus completely overturned the idealistic image of 'Western scholars' cherished by the Jesuits since the late Ming period.To reveal the remarkable life of this 'minor figure' can enrich our understanding of some previously untended subjects and remind us of their particular value in supplementing and rewriting the macro-history of the Catholic Church in late imperial China.