英驻华使领馆翻译官培养与远东情报网构建(1842-1884)

The Training of Interpreters in the British Diplomatic and Consular Establishments in China and the Consturction of the British Foreign Office's Far East Intelligence Network(1842-1884)

近代英外交部驻远东各使领馆的翻译官不是单纯的技术性翻译人才,而是搜集远东情报、研究远东情势、生产远东知识的情报官员。这使翻译官培养具备情报官员培养之意涵。在翻译官培养中,翻译学员计划及其对“高阶学员”的培养起到关键作用。通过该计划,英外交部积蓄了大批兼具西方近代科学知识和远东知识(如汉学、日本学)的官员,英驻北京公使馆汉文处、驻日本公使馆日文处也成为情报人员培养基地。该计划培养的人员,不仅推动着英驻华使领馆情报网络的完善,也让外交部构建远东情报网络成为可能。

In modern times, interpreters of the British Diplomatic and Consular Establishments residing in the Far East played the roles of not just pure translators, but also intelligence officers whose responsibility included collecting information, studying the local and regional situations and producing knowledge about the Far East. As a result, the training of interpreters can be seen as the training of intelligence officers, in which the Student Interpreter Program, especially the training of "Senior Students," had played a key role.Through this plan, the British Foreign Office had accumulated a large number of officials well-versed in modern scientific knowledge from the West and Far Eastern Studies(such as Sinology and Japanese Studies). The Chinese Secretary Office of the British Diplomatic Establishment in China and the Japanese Secretary Office of the British Diplomatic Establishment in Japan had also become training bases for intelligence officers. The officers trained by the program not only enhanced the intelligence network of British Diplomatic and Consular Establishments in China but paved the way for the British Foreign Office to construct an intelligence network covering the whole Far East.