雷慕沙博士论文《舌诊研究》初探

A Study of Abel-Rémusat's Doctoral Dissertation:Dissertatio de glossosemeiotice

1811年,欧洲第一位汉学讲座教授—法国汉学家雷慕沙以拉丁语论文《舌诊研究,即论从舌头看出的病征,以中医理论为中心》(1813)获得医学博士学位,这或是西方第一篇以介绍中医为主题的博士论文。作者以来华传教士对中医的介绍为基础,通过将西医与中医在舌症状方面的理论进行梳理和对比,展示了中医的博大精深。通过对《舌诊研究》的篇章结构、语言风格进行分析可以看出,该论文是一篇逻辑清晰、结构完整、语言典雅的修辞学范文;论文的西医文献丰富,引用规范,但是作者对中医文献的出处避而不提。文章最后附上笔者翻译的《舌诊研究》全文,以期为雷慕沙研究和中、西医学早期交流研究提供参考资料。

Jean-Pierre Abel Rémusat,the first Chair Professor of Chinese Language and Literature in Europe,was a medical doctor.In 1811 he obtained his medical degree with his dissertation written in Latin: Dissertatio de glossosemeiotice,sive de signis morborum quae è lingua sumuntur,praesertim apud Sinenses(published in 1813).It might be the first doctoral dissertation dealing with traditional Chinese medicine in the West.According to missionaries' writings on Chinese medicine and comparing Chinese glossosemeiotics with Western theories,he argued that Chinese medicine was broad and profound and had much correspondence with Western medicine.Through an analysis of the structure,style and citations of Rémusat's dissertation,it is obvious that the dissertation follows a typical rhetorical model with an explicit logic,is a complete composition and uses elegant language.The western medical references are rich and correctly cited,while the Chinese ones are hardly mentioned.The whole translation of this dissertation will be attached in the end,in order to offer material for studies on Abel-Rémusat and on the early communication in the field of medicine between China and the Western world.