“小己”的诞生:严复对西方“个人”知识概念的译介

The birth of“Small self”(Xiaoji小己):Yan Fu’s translation of the western concept of“individual”knowledge

“个人”作为中国近代化进程中的文化符号,堪称转型时代的“关键词”。“小己”是严复用以表达近代西方“个人”(individual)概念的独创译词,首见于《群学肄言》,语出司马迁《史记》。严复的译名策略是“以儒释西”,“小己”的诞生体现出其典型的“中西合璧”的“群己观”,他为西方中性的“个人”概念涂上一层儒家伦理色彩,将斯宾塞的社会学思想演绎成赋予儒学价值的“群己观”,追求“群己平衡”。在近代本土化语境下,严复以“小己”为代表的传统文言语汇对译“individual”,努力调和西方“个人”观念与儒家伦理之间的矛盾,是“会通中西”翻译追求的充分反映,帮助西学“个人”概念完成在本土意义上的接引与转换,为推动近代中国学术话语建构与中西文明交流互鉴作出卓越贡献。面对外来语的冲击,严复苦心孤诣创制的“小己”仍有市场,近代报刊中有不少采用“小己”表示“个人”概念的用例,近代早期英华辞典也多收录“小己”一词,“小己”的传播图谱清晰可见,从历史容受视角可证其文化影响力。晚清中国用于翻译“individual”的译名从一开始就呈现了纷繁复杂的景象,如“人”“人人”“个人”“私”“己”“小己”“么匿”,等等,这些译名在相当长的时间内自然竞争并存。梳理“个人”对译英文“individual”的历史演进轨迹,考察近代中国思想史上的“个人”话语发展演进脉络时,应充分认识到严复“小己”的创译功不可没,有不可替代的文化价值。由此可进一步思考近代中国语境下西方“个人”概念的本土化译介,以及中国式个人话语的建构与中国现代个人观念的发生。

As a cultural symbol in the process of China's modernization,“individual”can be called the“keyword”in the transitional era.“Small self”(Xiaoji小己),a new term Yan Fu used to express the concept of the individual in the modern West,is first found in his translation of The Study of Sociology(Qunxue yiyan《群学肄言》)and is derived from Sima Qian's the Records of the Historian(Shiji《史记》).Yan Fu's translation strategy is to“use Confucianism to explain the West”,and the birth of the“small self”(Xiaoji小己)reflects his typical“group-self view”with the characteristic of“combining the East and the West”,in which he paints a layer of Confucian ethics for the Western neutral concept of“individual”,and interprets Spencer's sociological thought into a kind of“group-self view”that endorses Confucian value,and pursues a balance between Group and Self.In the context of modern localization,Yan Fu translated“individual”with traditional vocabulary represented by“small self”(Xiaoji小己),trying to reconcile the contradiction between the Western concept of individualism and Confucian political ethics and helping Western concepts to complete the transformation in the Chinese context.He has made remarkable contributions to the construction of modern Chinese academic discourse and the mutual appreciation between Chinese and Western civilizations.Under the impact of foreign words,“small self”(Xiaoji小己)still has a“market”,and there are many cases in modern newspapers and periodicals that use“small self”(Xiaoji小己)to express the concept of“individual”.It is also included in the early modern Anglo-Chinese dictionaries.This shows the spread of“small self”(Xiaoji小己)in modern times,and its cultural influence can be proved from the perspective of historical acceptance.The names used to translate“individual”in the late Qing Dynasty presented a complex scene from the very beginning,such as“person”(人),“human”(人人),“individual”(个人),“private”(私),“self(己),“small self”(小己)and“Yaoni”(么匿),which naturally competed and coexisted for quite a long period.When reviewing the historical trajectory of“individual”in the translation of English,and examining the development and evolution of“individual”discourse in modern Chinese ideological history,we should fully recognize that the translation of“small self”(Xiaoji小己)is of great merit and has an irreplaceable cultural value.In this way,we can further consider the local translation of the Western concept of“individual”in the context of modern China,as well as the construction of Chinese personal discourse and the emergence of the modern concept of the individual in China.