明清之际耶稣会士编译中文圣人传集考论

A Study of Two Collections of Chinese Catholic Hagiographies Compiled and Translated by Jesuit Missionaries during the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties

明清之际,来华耶稣会士译述了多部圣人传记,其中《天主圣教圣人行实》与《圣年广益》两部圣传集收录400余篇圣人传记,并被多次摘录、改编,流传甚广。《天主圣教圣人行实》与《圣年广益》承袭欧洲圣传集,在译介众多圣人形象、故事的同时,也将西方圣人类型与圣传编纂体例移植入华。明清之际耶稣会士的中文圣人传集编译是天主教文学东传与天主教圣传全球传播的重要内容,传教士的译写不仅为本土天主教圣人形象与圣传书写提供范本,也为中国宗教人物传记在僧传、仙传之外增添了新的叙事模式。

During the late Ming and early Qing dynasties,Western Jesuit missionaries in China translated a number of hagiographies,among which were two collections of hagiographies called Tianzhu Shengjiao Shengren Xingshi(Saints of the Catholic Church)and Shengnian Guangyi(The Holy Year).These two collections contain more than 400 hagiographies,which have been excerpted and adapted many times,and widely-circulated.Both were developed from European hagiographies.While translating images and stories of Catholic saints,the Jesuit missionaries introduced the category of Western saints and the style of compilation of hagiography to China.The compilation of Chinese hagiographies by Jesuit missionaries in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties was an important part of the eastward transmission of Catholic literature and the global spread of Catholic hagiography.The missionaries’translations not only provided models for local writing about Catholic saints and hagiographies,but also added a new narrative model to Chinese religious biographies like those of monks and immortals.