《中华帝国全志》成书历程试探

The Motivations and Course of the Publication of Description de l'Empire de la Chine

本文尝试考察汉学巨著《中华帝国全志》编者杜赫德与传教士供稿者的情况以及二者之间的微妙关系,追索促使该书编行的因素,回溯多变的成书经过。经研究发现,汇集了百余年间入华天主教传教士中国论说的《中华帝国全志》诞生于明清之际入华耶稣会士引发"礼仪之争"、教会系统内部派别缠斗的特殊历史背景之下,其编行既根源于政治动因,也有着学术追求,编者与供稿者的分歧与妥协也影响到成书的样式。在诸多因素交互作用下,该书逐步形成了四卷本百科全书式的规模。

This paper studies the editor and missionary contributors of the sinological masterpiece Description de l'Empire de la Chine and the special relationship between them, and traces the motivations and course of its publication. Through this research, we discover that Description de la Chine, as a compilation of the descriptions of China by Catholic missionaries written during over one-hundred years, came into being against a particular historical background: the Rites Controversy and the frequent conflicts within the Catholic Church. Its editorship reflects various political and academic motivations and the divergence and compromise between the editor and the contributors, which influenced the final form of the book. Under the influence of different sources, this book came gradually into its encyclopedic scale of four volumes.