「殖民地」的概念史：從「新名詞」到「關鍵詞」

The Conceptual History of “Colony” in Modern China: From “New Term” to “Keyword”

「殖民地」做為與”colony”對等的詞彙，是1890年代中期漢語世界裡才出現的「新名詞」。自其問世迅即廣傳達播，儼然成為人們同識共曉的一個「規範詞彙」；它的廣泛應用，不僅供應了思想變遷的動力，更為中國的自我認知別開新局。稍後，「殖民地」隨著另一個「新名詞」－「帝國主義」－的創造與流行，共被詮解為導致中國國族的危機根源。這些「新名詞」流衍既久，其意涵好似不證自明，是人們詮釋與理解現代世界的「關鍵詞」，為開展中國國族命運前景的思想環境，添增了各色樞紐般的驅策動力。透過「殖民地」的概念史研究，識其淵源，曉其本末，顯示這些「新名詞」之所以成為「關鍵詞」，實是漫長的歷史過程與現實需求相互樛結纏繞的產物；爬梳「新名詞」問世的具體歷史過程，有助於我們反思這些詞彙概念之內涵及其象徵意義。

This essay focuses on the conceptual history of the term ”colony” since the mid-1890s, telling the story of how it was created as a ”new term” as well as the circulation of this term in modern China. One particularly striking phenomenon occurred when ”colony” was combined with ”imperialism,” another ”new term” that appeared during the late 1890s, with both terms then transformed into nonnative vocabulary used to interpret the world and history. In the end, the term ”colony” developed into a ”keyword” that proved to be a driving force for establishing nationalist agendas in modern China.