官智渐开:光绪、宣统朝之译务与译识

Translation Activities in the Twilight Years of the Qing Dynasty

清末翻译高潮的兴起并非一蹴而就,而是以筹防心态到求强求变的转变为铺垫。综理《清季外交史料》相关档案可见,光绪、宣统两朝对翻译费墨颇多,记录了文书翻译、约章翻译、界务翻译、律例翻译和书报翻译等诸多具体翻译事务,大量夹陈清廷官员在中外语言接触和翻译事务中的态度与认识。一方面,为时局所迫,清廷对语言问题日益警惕和重视,通过反复核对、详校译文等方式以确保权益;另一方面,逐渐意识到译之迫切与必要,在译员选派、华报译出、开启民智等方面提出裨益时局的观点和细则。清末翻译从求不至被蒙蔽,到主动译入借鉴,显现出中外交往中从被动接受到主动抗衡的转变。纵然充满被动与无奈,但官员阶层对翻译的态度映射出清廷主权意识、制度意识和求强意识的转变,在此意义上,可以说,清末官智逐渐开启。

The translation boom in the final years of the Qing dynasty did not come all of a sudden,but as the result of a shift from a passive to an active approach to matters of translation by the authorities.This is a conclusion drawn from a close reading of Qingji Waijiao Shiliao(Historical Sources of the Late Qing China's Diplomacy).As the documents collected in the volume also show,a wide range of translation activities-from the rendition of official documents,contracts,treaties,and diplomatic representations concerning border conflicts to that of important foreign publications-was being undertaken during this period,and the official attitude towards cross-linguistic interactions was apparently undergoing a major change at the same time.Such a change was brought about first by the Qing Court's realization that wording in translation was no trivial matter,since any error in this regard could harm the empire's rights and interests.Later on,there also appeared to be a growing awareness on the part of some officials that translation could play a vital role in national development as well and that the Court should therefore adopt a more proactive attitude toward it.The shift in attitude ran parallel to a heightening in the officialdom's consciousness of the empire's sovereignty,political system and national strength.And it sped up the process of opening up to the outside world toward the end of the Qing dynasty.