「我會穿上綴有英國皇家領扣的副領事服」：馬禮遜的政治翻譯活動

“I Am to Wear a Vice-consul's Coat, with King's Buttons.” The Political Translation of Robert Morrison

身為首位來華傳教的新教傳教士，馬禮遜（Robert Morrison）無論在中國的傳教、教育、印刷以及字典編纂上，皆成就斐然，世人對他這些方面的成就亦有極多的研究。在翻譯方面，馬禮遜最重要也最受人矚目的成就，莫過於對聖經的完整翻譯，然而十九世紀初，當英國力抗中國司法和權威時，馬禮遜也曾擔任英方翻譯，而他涉及政治翻譯工作的事跡，仍鮮為人知。馬禮遜曾兩次擔任英國政府的官方翻譯，第一次是一八一六年，英國再度派遣使節團出使中國並由阿美士德爵士（Lord Amherst）領軍，當時馬禮遜擔任隨團翻譯；第二次則是一八三四年，馬禮遜出任英國首位駐華商務監督律勞卑（Lord William John Napier）的中文秘書及翻譯。在這兩次事件中，英國都嘗試運用外交手段，迫使中國打開緊閉的大門。雖然無論是阿美士德或是律勞卑，最終都沒能達成使命，但馬禮遜作為團隊中唯一熟悉中文的成員，兩次任務中都扮演了重要角色。除了官方職位外，事實上馬禮遜自從任職廣州東印度公司，擔任中文秘書和翻譯以來，即非正式地介入了許多英中、中英政治方面的翻譯，扮演了當時中國官員與英國商人之間的橋樑。馬禮遜多次處理敏感衝突事件，因此被認為「大幅改變了英中關係的本質」。這些對中英關係的影響，其實遠較他兩次擔任官方翻譯來得深遠的多。這篇論文探討了作為政治譯者的馬禮遜所涉及官方與非官方的翻譯活動，以及這些活動對十九世紀初英中關係的影響，本文也應可豐富我們對馬禮遜以及中英外交史上一些關鍵議題的瞭解。

Numerous studies have been conducted on Robert Morrison, the first Protestantmissionary to China, for his achievements in preaching Christianity to theChinese, and in areas such as education, printing, and lexicography. In translation,the greatest accomplishment of Morrison was his complete translation ofthe Bible, and this, by all means, attracts great attention. However, what has notbeen duly recognized is his role as a political translator working for the Britishin their struggle against the Chinese laws and order at the turn of the 19th century.Officially, Robert Morrison has worked for the British government for twotimes: first in 1816 as the interpreter in the second British mission to China ledby Lord Amherst, and then in July 1834 as the Chinese Secretary and Interpreterfor Lord William John Napier, the first Chief Superintendent of BritishTrade in China. Both can be seen as very strong diplomatic attempts of theBritish government to force open the tightly closed door of China. Thoughneither Amherst nor Napier was able to achieve their goals, Morrison, as theonly person who had a good command of Chinese, played a vital role in thesetwo missions.Apart from these official capacities, Robert Morrison has in fact been involvedas a translator in British-Chinese politics unofficially since his employmentas the Chinese secretary and interpreter of the East Indian Company atGuangzhou. He was at that time the bridge between the Chinese local officialsand the British traders. Handling many sensitive issues of conflicts, Morrisonwas considered to have “significantly altered the character of British relationswith the mandarins”. This in fact had much longer and more profound impacton Sino-British relationship than acting as interpreter in the two official missions.The present paper looks into the translation activities of Robert Morrisonas a political interpreter, both officially and unofficially, and their impact onBritish-Chinese relations in the early 19th century. It will enrich our understandingof Robert Morrison as well as some key issues in the history of Sino-Britishdiplomatic relationship.