理雅各中国典籍翻译:基督教情结与中西宗教比较研究

James Legge's Religious Complex and Comparative Religious Studies in His Translation of the Chinese Classics

以1876年回到牛津大学任首席汉学教授为界,可以把理雅各的中国典籍翻译生涯划分为两个时期。前期,理雅各在儒家十经~①的翻译中植入"God",编织中国古代宗教多神等级体系,流露出求证"上帝"普遍存在、贬低儒教的意识,以及基督教至上的优越感。后期,理雅各受比较宗教学家麦克斯·缪勒的影响,欲通过《中国圣书》的编译呈现中国古代本土宗教的特色和原貌,表现出宗教比较的倾向。由于其基督教至上的宗教观始终没有改变,因此《中国圣书》中所呈现的"中国古代宗教"的"原貌"是扭曲的。所以,理雅各虽然向西方传递了中国文化,但是其对西方宗教哲学界也意味着误导。这折射出,实际上翻译总是在暗中改写着人类宗教思想史。

James Legge's experience of translating the Chinese classics falls into two stages with 1876 as dividing line in which he came to Oxford as the chair of Chinese.At the former stage,he implanted 'God' and concocted a polytheistic hierarchy in his translation of the nine Confucian classics,revealing his intention to prove the ubiquity of 'God' and to show his sense of supremacy of Christianity,while relegating Confucianism to a lower position.At the latter stage,under the influence of F.Max Miiller,a leading linguist and scholar of comparative religious studies,Legge claimed to represent the features and the original appearance of the indigenous religions in ancient China through translating The Sacred Books of China,showing an inclination to comparison of religions.However,his view of Christianity being supreme stayed unchanged substantially all the time,and as a result, 'the original appearance' of 'the indigenous religions in ancient China' represented in The Sacred Books of China was,unavoidably,a distortion.Therefore,although Legge introduced Chinese culture to the western world,his work signified a serious misdirection,which reflects that,as a matter of fact,translation has covertly rewritten the history of religious thought.