再论汉语“博物院”一词的产生与流传——兼谈E考据的某些问题

A New Discussion on the Creation and Circulation of the Chinese Term “Bowuyuan”:Also on Issues of E-Textual Research

1838年刊行的《美理哥合省国志略》中有"博物院"一词,目前所见当是汉语中最早出现"博物院"之处,较《四洲志》中的"博物馆"提前了三年。经过考证,此处的"博物院"或指1828年对外开放的美国费城自然科学学会博物馆,此馆亦标志着美国以博物馆为基础的自然史研究开端。中国近代早期博物馆史料零散,通过网络数据库得到若干孤立资料,如若不返回原始语境解读文本,而仅从字面望文生义,牵强勾串,进而试图得到一个大结论,无疑是一种危险的做法。

The first appearance of the Chinese term ＂bowuyuan＂ known to date was in the book Meilige heshengguo zhilUe published in 1838, which was three years earlier than the use of ＂bowuguan＂ in Sizhou- zhi. Textual analysis shows that the term ＂bowuyuan＂ （museum） in the book may refers to the Academy of Natural Sciences Museum of Philadelphia, which was opened in 1828, marking the commencement of muse- um-based natural history studies in America. The historical documents about early museums of China are scattered. It is inadvisable to draw conclusions from reading and interpreting the documents achieved from internet database solo by their literal superficial meanings without putting them back to their original con- texts.