韦斯顿与乾隆《御制凯歌三十章》的英译与传播

The English Translation and Dissemination of Thirty Chapters of Imperial Victory of Weston and Qianlong

韦斯顿1810年在伦敦翻译出版的The Conquest of the Miao-Tse,An Imperial Poem by Kien Lung是乾隆《御制凯歌三十章》的第一个英译本。译本的中文诗稿来自小斯当东的父亲购买的法国传教士手稿。韦斯顿的翻译工作是借助多部西传欧洲的汉语字典及当时欧洲的汉语研究成果完成的。译本对诗歌创作背景的介绍有误,字面释义错误较多,但大部分章节的大意翻译是准确的。译本体现了19世纪英国知识阶层试图通过直译汉语文献了解真实中国的决心和努力,为英语世界提供了一个基本能够呈现乾隆诗歌风格的汉诗样本,也为学界了解中国古代字典的西传提供了重要线索。

The Conquest of the Miao Tse,An Imperial Poem by Kien Lung,translated and published by Weston in London in 1810,was the first English translation of Emperor Qianlong's Thirty Chapters of Imperial Victory.The Chinese poetry manuscript of the translated version comes from a French missionary manuscript purchased by the father of George Staunton.Weston's translation work was completed with the help of multiple Western European Chinese dictionaries and the achievements of Chinese language research in Europe at that time.There are errors in the introduction of the background of poetry creation in the translated version,and there are many literal interpretation errors,but the general translation of most chapters is accurate.The translation reflects the determination and efforts of the 19th century British intellectual class to understand the real China through literal translation of Chinese literature,providing a basic sample of Chinese poetry that can present the style of Qianlong poetry for the English-speaking world,and also providing important clues for the academic community to understand the Western transmission of ancient Chinese dictionaries.