学贯中西,身遍寰球:上海广方言馆的翻译及外事人才

Shanghai Guangfangyan Guan and Its Training of Interpreters and Diplomats in the Late Qing Dynasty

作为晚清时期用于培养外语人才的官办新式学堂,上海广方言馆在四十二载办学历程中培养出数量颇丰的翻译及外事人才,这与清末民初的翻译实践和外交活动密不可分。本文着眼于广方言馆翻译及外事人才的培养和产出,重点爬梳其外语人才的培养方式和相关学生的职业去向,探讨其在中国近代翻译史和外交史中产生的影响。研究发现,广方言馆培养的译者与使者遍布世界各国,这在一定程度上减少了中外交流的语言障碍,促进了晚清社会对西方科技及文化的了解和接受,并对中国近代外交队伍的建设起到了积极的推动作用。

Shanghai Guangfangyan Guan,a foreign language school which aimed at training translators and interpreters,was set up in 1863.In its history of 42 years,the School nurtured many translators,interpreters and diplomats,who facilitated the communications between China and foreign countries,accelerated the introduction of Western technologies and cultures into Chinese society,and pushed forward the modernization of China’s diplomacy.By exploring relevant historic materials,this paper studies how the students were trained in the School,lists the students who became translators,interpreters and diplomats after graduation from the School and discusses the influence they had on the historical process of the late Qing Dynasty.