晚清“采西学”中的“显微镜知识”与本土回应

The Adoption of Western Learning: Debates on the Knowledge of the Microscope in Late Qing and the Native Responses

近代中西文化交流是历久弥新的重大问题,如何理解"本土"与"异域"之间的知识融通,也构成探讨"西学东渐"与"西器东渐"的重要议题。透过晚清"采西学"中的"显微镜知识"与本土回应的历史文本,或可发现问题的关键所在。无论是"走出去"的国人"海外奇谈"式的记述,还是"引进来"的"西书"呈现出的不同的知识分类和知识认知方式,均呈现出"旧识"与"新知"之间的往还,这其中包含着"显微镜知识"的生产与再生产的复杂历史情节,这也是审视中西文化之调适与回应的枢机所在。

The cultural exchange between China and the West is a significant topic. How to understand the integration of the ＂indigenous＂ and the ＂exotic＂ knowledge is a very important issue in the discussion of the Eastern dissemination of Western learning and equipments. An analysis of the historical documents on the knowledge of the microscope and the native responses could perhaps help us find the key to the question. Whatever the records about Western knowledge or the introduction and translation of Western books, they all show that there are different ways of knowledge classification and communication. To some extent, they demonstrate the interactions between ＂old knowledge＂ and ＂new technology＂, including the complex historical process in the production and reproduction of the knowledge of the microscope. This is necessary for the review of the Chinese adaption of and response to Western culture.