從撒旦到霸王－－馬禮遜、郭實獵筆下的拿破崙形象及其影響

From Satan to Usurper: The Portrayal and Influence of Robert Morrison’s and Karl Gützlaff’s Chinese Writings on Napoleon

本文以馬禮遜、郭實獵中文著譯裡的拿破崙形象為切入點，探討十九世紀來華新教傳教士如何利用傳記、歷史著作傳播福音，又如何影響晚清士人的歷史地理著述。馬禮遜、郭實獵的海外傳教事業是福音運動的重要環節，而拿破崙的覆亡正是當時佈道文的熱門題材，因此他們紛紛譯介法國大革命與拿破崙事跡，宣揚上帝的權威。兩人的書寫源於新教傳統，又需迎合中國人的文化觀與歷史觀，筆下的革命既是上帝的懲罰也似中國的民變，筆下的拿破崙既似撒旦也是中國的霸王。待到鴉片戰爭之後，魏源、徐繼畬等晚清士人「開眼看世界」，可資憑藉的材料主要就是傳教士的著譯，他們崇尚儒家思想，反對基督教，故而將拿破崙塑造為黷武的霸王。

This paper attempts to analyze how Robert Morrison and Karl Gützlaff incorporated the life of Napoleon into their Chinese biographical and historical writings to preach the gospel, and how their writings influenced the late-Qing Chinese intellectuals’ works on world geography and history. The Evangelical Movement prompted Morrison and Gützlaff to propagate the gospel in China, and the downfall of Napoleon, a common theme used by European preachers to glorify God’s almighty power, naturally appeared in Morrison’s and Gützlaff’s writings. In an attempt to integrate evangelism and Confucianism, they interpreted the French Revolution as both a divine visitation and a secular rebellion, and Napoleon was depicted as both a personification of Satan and a Chinese-style usurper. After the Opium War, Chinese intellectuals like Wei Yuan 魏源 and Xu Jiyu 徐繼畬 composed their works on world geography and history mainly based on such Protestant missionary writings. Being Confucian scholars, they eliminated the undesirable elements of Christianity and portrayed Napoleon solely as a Chinese-style usurper.