航向花之中土：蘇格蘭植物學家福鈞及其遊記文類書寫之探討

Voyages to the Central Flowery Land: An Exploration of Robert Fortune and the Genre of His Travelogues

本文研討蘇格蘭植物學家羅伯特．福鈞其人與他的遊記作品。他自1843年起受倫敦園藝學會、及隨後東印度公司、美國專利局任命，幾度進出中國及其他亞洲國家採集植物標本及引介新品種與植茶，更偶然造訪台灣。他將探覓植物途中見聞發表在園藝學會期刊等大眾雜誌，後結集成《華北諸省漫遊三年記》、《中國茶鄉之行》、《兩訪中國茶鄉和喜馬拉雅山麓的英國茶園》、《居住在華人之間》及《江戶和北京》等科學遊記與大眾暢銷書，本文探討他大眾科學遊記作家的角色與作品。本文不從殖民與後殖民理論來視其為帝國主義旅行者，而另從「文類」角度切入，佐以一手史傳資料，來觀察此維多利亞時期文類變遷下的科學遊記書寫，從幾項過去被忽略或低估的獨特文本參數，發現獨特身世人格、從科學轉向大眾文學場域、運用寫實描繪親身經驗、報導式敘事、輕描淡寫與幽默等技巧、文化交流、觀察者的反觀與自、人文省悟等議題，尤其闡揚其福爾摩沙印記。

This study explores the Scottish botanist Robert Fortune and his travel writings. He was first appointed by the Horticultural Society of London in 1843 and later by East India Company and American Patents Office to travel to China and other Asian countries to collect plants and introduce tea trees. He even visited Taiwan once. This work investigates his role as popular scientific travel writer and his travelogues, including Three Years Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of China, A Journey to the Tea Countries of China, Two Visits to the Tea Countries of China and the British Tea Plantations in the Himalaya, A Residence among the Chinese, and Yedo and Peking. Instead of reading Fortune as an imperialist through the lens of postcolonialism, from the angle of ＂genre＂ with reference to first-hand historical and biographical materials, I observe some idiosyncrasies in his travelogues during the transitional period of the genre of Victorian scientific travel writing. This paper explores many previously neglected or underrated parameters of his travel writings, such as the narrator's background and personality, the turn from science to popular literature, realistic delineations of first-hand experiences, report-like narrative, understatement and humour, cultural exchange, the observer's introspection, his humanitarian insights, and in particular, his Formosa imprint.