晚清西藥知識的引介與傳播──以中譯西書為考察中心

The Introduction and Dissemination of Western Pharmaceutical Knowledge in Late Qing China: Chinese Medical Texts Translated from the West

本文以來華傳教士編纂的中譯西書為中心，考察十九世紀中後期西藥知識被集中引介和傳播的歷史脈絡。在1850年代合信編纂的書籍中，許多藥物和製法與中土相同，其中包括西醫與中醫用法不同的藥物；由於書中僅簡介製藥技術和藥效，較少涉及學理層面，受到一些讀者質疑。1870年代，嘉約翰編譯出版了《西藥略釋》，揭示西人藉助近代化學知識和方法來研究藥性、製造藥物的進展。該書將化學藥物視為西藥，強調這是西藥相比中藥的優勢所在，華人將西藥與中藥進行對比的論述由此日益增多。與嘉約翰往來、競爭的傅蘭雅，與趙元益合譯數年，自1879年起陸續分冊出版《西藥大成》，首次有系統地介紹西人製藥技術，且收錄大量植物藥，並以近代植物學分類法編排。書中呈現的近代化學、植物學知識，也啟發部分華人，倡議採用西人化學之法以提煉中國本草精華。1890年，洪士提反出版配藥書籍《萬國藥方》，迎合了統一藥物譯名的需求。醫學傳教士強調閱讀譯書應有外國醫生的專業指導，但晚清圖書市場中的《西藥略釋》、《萬國藥方》等書，實際上成為華人行醫售藥、開設藥房的便捷指南。這種現象與二十世紀初歐美醫學界批判專利藥商的思潮結合，促使一些醫學傳教士對傳播實用藥物知識的態度轉趨保守審慎。清末以後，華人取道日本編譯的西藥譯著開始湧現，最終改變了英美傳教士一力主導西藥譯著編譯的局面。

This article focuses on Chinese-language pharmaceutical books translated from the West and compiled by missionaries, examining the historical context of the centralized introduction and dissemination of Western pharmaceutical knowledge in the mid to late 19th century. In Benjamin Hobson’s (1816–1873) medical books published in the 1850s, many remedies and dispensing methods were similar to those in China, some of which were employed by Chinese practitioners despite their usages slightly differing; however, the works rarely involve theoretical explanations and were thus doubted by some Chinese readers. During the 1870s, under the systematic introduction of the knowledge of modern chemistry into China and the development of missionary medical education, John Glasgow Kerr (1824–1901) complied Xiyao lüeshi西藥略釋(Brief Explanations of Western Medicine), which views chemical pharmaceutical technology as the major advantage of“Western medicine,”resulting in an increased Chinese discussion on comparisons between“Western”and“Chinese”pharmacy. John Fryer (1839–1928) then published Xiyao dacheng西藥大成(Materia Medica and Therapeutics) in collaboration with Zhao Yuanyi趙元益(1840–1902), which was the first to systematically introduce Western pharmaceutical technologies and arrange remedies by a modern botany classification, inspiring some Chinese to advocate using chemical methods to extract the essence of traditional herbal medicines. Finally, in the 1890s, Stephen A. Hunter (1851–1923) published the dispensing manual Wanguo yaofang萬國藥方(Prescriptions from around the World), attempting to standardize drug terms and names to meet translation needs. Despite being emphasized that they should be read under the instruction of foreign physicians, these books made their way into the late Qing book market and became popular guides on becoming a doctor, selling drugs, or opening a dispensary. But as criticism of patent medicine merchants rose in early 20th-century Europe and America, some medical missionaries turned increasingly conservative regarding the dissemination of practical pharmacy knowledge, and at the same time, Chinese books on Western pharmacy translated from Japan began to spring up, challenging the missionaries’hegemony over pharmaceutical knowledge.