首任駐英副公使劉錫鴻的思想與西洋觀感：以華夏觀為中心

Liu Xi-Hong, the First Qing Dynasty Deputy Ambassador to British, his thought and impressions of the Wes

晚清自強運動為中國近代化之開端，亦開啟了長久以來傳統知識分子所共有的「華夷世界觀」的新局面。設立外交機構、輸入國際法、普及北京同文館與江南製造局翻譯館所譯的西書，以及派遣駐外使節等，各種洋務政策提供晚清士人一扇通向世界的窗口，對於他們如何認知世界，特別是西洋觀，均有深遠影響。究竟晚清士人眼中的西方世界為何？新的西洋認知和傳統世界觀之間互相發生了什麼作用？兩者間又如何協調？對西方文化的認識屬於機器、制度或思想層次？類此議題，學界過去已多有論及。但是有關晚清士人世界觀的嬗變等相關討論，仍較集中於洋務派，對於洋務派的研究亦較引人矚目，惟目前未足以掌握保守派的世界認知之整體面貌。本文目的是，重新檢驗歷來較不受學者關注的保守派──晚清外交官劉錫鴻對世界的認識，從而試圖勾勒自強運動期間士人世界觀的各種面貌。本文將以劉錫鴻擔任駐英副公使期間所著的《英軺私記》與《劉光祿遺稿》為主，配合《郭嵩燾日記》等同時期清廷出使外國相關人員的一手紀錄、奏稿與檔案，探討他的政治思想與儒家思想、時代變局之間的互動關係，並釐清其親身經歷對世界觀的影響與其蛻變的軌跡。

After Opium War, late imperial China was exposed to western military incursions repeatedly and began its modernizations. Some gentries had become a significant force around the middle of the nineteenth century in responding to these western invading pressures. They were also known as the conservatives in late Qing. Above all, they had already rooted deeply in the past Sino-Western contacting history. One remarkable figure in late Qing was Liu Xi-Hong, the first Qing Dynasty deputy ambassador to British, who is representative of the conservatives. What was the gentries’ main point of view in the western world? How did they recognize the world? What were the interactions and relationships between late western views and traditional views of the world? This paper will examine two main questions. The first one is to explore Liu Xi-Hong’s thought, especially his view of the west before and after he left for London. This paper will use some resources, such as Liu’s memoirs, “Ying-Yao Si-Ji(英軺私 記)”, and official records, “Liu Guang-Lu Yi-Gao(劉光錄遺稿)” and so on. The other main question is to examine his view of the world and Sino-Barbarian Ideology(華夷 觀念) in context of the contemporary intellectual.