传教士汉学研究中的博物学情结--以17、18世纪来华耶稣会士为中心

The Missionaries' Complex about Natural Science in Research on Sinology ——Focusing on Jesuits to China from 17th Century to 18th Century

明清时期是中西文化交流史上的重要阶段,来华传教士为中西人文科学和自然科学方面的交流做出了很大贡献。作为中国地理、植物、医药知识西传的开拓者,17世纪中叶波兰耶稣会士卜弥格撰写了《中国植物志》等相关著作,开创了传教士汉学博物研究的新领域。18世纪法国耶稣会士韩国英继承了这一传统,对植物等自然物种进行了田野调查,发表了题材广泛的博物学论著,进一步推动了中国博物学知识的西传。这些早期汉学博物学家所进行的跨文化的知识传译,为19世纪欧洲汉学与博物学之间更为广泛的交汇与对话奠定了基础。

The Ming and Qing Dynasties serve as a crucial period for China-West cultural exchange. During the very stage,western missionaries to China contributed greatly to the exchange of human science and natural science between China and the West. As a trailblazer in introducing Chinese geography,Chinese science of herbs and Traditional Chinese Medicine to the West,Michal Boym,the Polish Jesuit,compiled such famous masterpieces as Flora Sinensis in the middle of the 17 th Century. He broke a new ground for missionaries who studied Chinese natural science. In the 18 th Century,Pierre-Martial Cibot,the French Jesuit,inherited the very tradition. Pierre-Martial Cibot conducted detailed fieldwork on such natural species as plants,so that he published several works about natural science. His works covering many subjects further promoted the popularization of Chinese natural science in the West. The primary cross-cultural translation of knowledge made by these missionaries paved the way for the extensive confluence and exchange of European Studies on Sinology and Chinese natural science.