梅贻宝《墨子》英译与墨学西传

Mei Yi-pao's English Translation of Mozi and the Dissemination of the Mohist Thought in the West

旅美华人梅贻宝1929年推出的《墨子伦理学和政治论著》不仅是世界首部《墨子》英译单行本,同时作为首个《墨子》华人译本,也是近代我国本土译者主动向西方译介中国哲学的早期尝试。本文借助译者个人回忆录、博士论文、民国时期西方汉学报刊等一手史料,结合当时历史文化语境,深入考察梅译生成的历史背景、翻译动机、翻译特色及其影响。对梅贻宝《墨子》英译活动的钩沉不仅有助于深刻认识我国近代知识分子如何透过翻译践行文化自觉、传播中华文化的家国情怀和世界视野,同时也为重新审视当下我国本土译者在中国文化国际传播中的使命和角色提供了历史参照。

The 1929 publication of The Ethical and Political Works of Motse by Mei Yi-pao marks a milestone in English translation of Mozi.As the first complete rendition of the Chinese classic undertaken by a Chinese scholar,the publication represents an early initiative by modern Chinese academe to actively engage with its Western counterpart in introducing classical Chinese philosophical thoughts to the West.Drawing upon available primary sources such as the translator's memoirs,doctoral theses,and relevant Western Sinological works,this study reexamines Mei's version in reference to the social,historical and cultural milieu prevailing at the time when it was published,in terms of its textual features,the motives for undertaking the project,and the translation's influence on subsequent developments in the field of Sinology.Reading Mei Yipao's translation of Mozi anew serves not only to lluminate the manner in which modern Chinese intellectuals used translation as a medium for raising cultural self-awareness and publicizing the sentiments and visions characteristic of Chinese civilization,but also to offer a historical vantage point from which to rethink contemporary Chinese translators'responsibilities and roles in the on-going efforts to disseminate Chinese culture.