翻譯政治及漢學知識的生產：威妥瑪與英國外交部的中國學生譯員計畫（1843-1870）

The Politics of Translation and the Production of Sinology: Sir Thomas Francis Wade and the Student Interpreter Program, 1843-1870

第一次鴉片戰爭後，中英兩國邁進了新的權力關係。戰爭前，英國本土沒有意識到學習中文的重要性以及培訓譯者的需要，比起西歐諸國，甚或俄國，成立漢學方面，英國絕對是後來者。在十九世紀前，英國若有外交上的需要，或只依賴異國譯者，或向私人貿易公司臨時抽調譯員，情形雖然狼狽，然而一直勉強應付得過去。直到第一次鴉片戰爭爆發，英國仍然處於譯者不足的情形，情報不足，因而嚴重影響了行軍士氣。不過，戰爭後，英國無論是否已準備充足，在外交層面上，撰寫及翻譯大量中文文牘，已變成英國外交部的基本日常工作。參與了第一次鴉片戰爭的威妥瑪，不單親身目睹英方在譯者不足的情形下行軍的艱險，他更體會到要保障大英帝國在華利益，英國亟需成立一支高水平的翻譯隊伍。本文利用大量藏於英國檔案局內的外交部及殖民地部資料，評析威妥瑪與外交部主持下的中國學生譯員計畫的關係。本文旨在指出，威妥瑪是這個計畫的旗手及靈魂人物，他以自己的漢學知識及熱忱，大刀闊斧地改革課程、編製教材、招聘譯員、參與教學工作，以及改善考試模式。本文在分析威妥瑪大力推動這計畫所發展的漢學及翻譯知識成果後，嘗試重新定位這位顯赫的中國近代史人物。

Anglo-Chinese relations entered a new phase after the Opium War in 1842. Prepared or not, the British Empire now had to face the fact that communication through textual and verbal translation was essential to daily business. It needed to build up a supply of trustworthy interpreters. Compared with other European countries, Britain was a latecomer in the study of Chinese. It relied on interpreters from Naples in the eighteenth century, and had to draft the few existing interpreters trained by private companies in Canton to serve as interpreters in the Opium War. As a colonel in the war, Thomas F. Wade must have observed the detrimental effect brought about by the lack of interpreters. As well, the lack of capable interpreters in British Hong Kong almost toppled the governance of the tiny colony where Wade first served as a court interpreter. This article, based on archival records in the Foreign Office, highlights Wade's role in creating Britain's student interpreter training program and examines how the program contributed to Sinological knowledge in Britain.