洋务时期官员肄习西学的困境及其影响——重审天文算学馆设立之争

The Dilemma of Officials Absorbing Western Learning and Its Impact in the Period of Westernization Movement:A Further Study of the Controversy over the Establishment of the Astronomy and Arithmetic Department

1867年,京师同文馆增设天文算学馆,在由此引发的争论中,论辩双方均提出了官员是否可以肄习西学的问题。官员应为道德楷模,还是应具一技之长?治国应系于道德人心还是枪炮技艺?这是近代弱政府向强政府转化中所提出的新问题,也是倭仁与奕䜣等人争执的焦点之一。倭仁一派并不反对以西学培养专业人才(“工匠”),而是坚决反对正途出身人员肄习天算,他们担心的是以西人为师与廪饩、升职诱惑对士习官德的冲击。对官员道德的持续关注与高度敏感有其价值,但仅注重修身却不通政务、“时务”是倭仁等人之困境所在。奕䜣等在官员学习西学问题上有推动之功,却无法理解“儒者”与官员的界限,在论辩中无法自圆。双方对垒的重要原因之一是对工匠、儒者、官员等群体的联系与边界认识不一。这场论辩对于三者关系的阐发引人注目,推动了“士”与“大夫”的揖别,昭示了“士”的近代走向,为当时重新思考官员选拔与培养标准提供了契机。

In 1867,the Astronomy and Arithmetic Department was established in the Imperial Translators'Collegc.In the ensuing debate,both parties involved in the debate put forward the question of whether officials could absorb Western learning.Should an official be a moral model or a person with a skill?Should the country be governed by morality or technology?These were new issues raised in the transformation from the weak government to the strong government in modern times,and they were also the focus of disputes between Wo Ren and Yi Xin.The faction of Wo Ren did not object to the cultivation of professional talents(craftsmen)with Western learning,but firmly opposed the study of astronomy and mathematics by people who passed the imperial examination.His continuous attention and high sensitivity to official morality had its value.But only paying attention to self-cultivation without understanding government affairs and current affairs was the plight of Wo Ren's faction.Yi Xin and other officials had promoted the study of Western learning,but he didn't understand the boundary between Confucians and officials.The elucidation of the relationship between craftsmen,Confucians and officials in this debatc was remarkable.This debate showed the modern tendency of scholars,and provided the opportunity to re-consider the criteria for the selection and training of officials.