「帝國」概念在漢文圈的翻譯與流傳：從幕末日本到清末中國

The Translation and Spread of the Concept of “Empire” within the Literary Chinese Sphere: The Bakumatsu Period to Late Qing China

本文企圖從跨語言和文脈的思想史角度來解釋「帝國」概念如何在中國乃至東亞漢文圈中開始被翻譯、接受與流傳的過程。首先，本文討論在歐洲語言中與「帝國」相關的Imperium等概念語群的意義如何演變的過程。然後探究在古典文言文中，「帝國」這一詞彙原本所指為何。其次，論述「帝國」一詞在與中國共有漢文脈的德川後期，蘭學者如何將之做為Keijzerryk和Empire的譯語使用，之後又如何被儒者和國學者理解、使用，從而有日本特殊語意的過程。然後，就《大日本帝國憲法》的編纂過程，及清末中國對日本立憲體制的模仿過程，主要闡明「帝國」概念與體制媒介一種源於西方國家的日本式君主立憲國家制度之創立的意義，進而論述正是這種「帝國」概念與體制成為清末大清政府與知識人認為可學習效法的對象，使得「帝國」概念開始在中國廣泛使用。然本文也強調「大清帝國」和「大日本帝國」畢竟承載著不同的歷史，故對於「帝國」的想像也不盡相同。藉此，本文主張討論東亞漢文圈如何接受西方政治概念時，除需考量漢文脈具有的媒介意義外，更要注意各自社會、國家之歷史與語言脈絡差異的問題。

This paper aims to expound how the concept of “empire” was translated, received, and transmitted throughout China and the literary Chinese sphere from the perspective of intellectual history across languages and contexts. First, I discuss how the meanings of imperium and other related concept groups, which share a relationship with “empire” in European languages, were adopted, evolved, and developed; subsequently I explore the matter of what the term “diguo” (empire) originally meant within classical Chinese. I then survey how the term “teikoku” (empire) was used by Japanese scholars with a background in Dutch learning as the literal translation of “keijzerryk,” or empire, in Japan, which shares a classical Chinese tradition with China, and how it was transformed by Japanese scholars of Confucianism and of “kokugaku” (national learning) to create a particular meaning of “teikoku” within the contexts of Japanese culture. Secondly, with regards to the processes of drafting the Constitution of the Empire of Japan and of China’s study of the Japanese constitutional system during the late Qing dynasty, I investigate and compare how the concept of “empire” was received and employed in both Meiji Japan and late Qing China. In this way, this paper shows that the concept and system of “empire” served as a kind of medium for Japan to establish itself as a constitutional monarchy, which had originated from Western countries. It was precisely this form of “empire” that was imitated by the Qing government and Chinese intellectuals, facilitating the spread of the conception throughout China. However, despite these parallels between the Qing Empire and the Empire of Japan, I also stress the importance of acknowledging the distinct histories carried by each empire, thereby influencing their imagined “empires.” Therefore, this paper advocates that when discussing how Western political concepts were adopted by countries within the East Asian, we should not only focus on the significance of the shared contexts of literary Chinese as a medium, but also devote more attention to differences in the historical and linguistic contexts of the respective societies and countries.