「萬歲爺意思說」－－試論十九世紀來華新教傳教士對《聖諭廣訓》的出版與認識

“The Meaning of the Emperor” : On Protestant Missionaries’ Publishing and Understanding of the Sacred Edict in 19th Century China

十九世紀基督新教在華活動史研究，是一塊仍待開墾的領域。而本文的目的，即嘗試從出版文化史的角度，以《聖諭廣訓》一書為例，來窺探清末來華新教傳教士漢學書籍出版研究之一隅。《聖諭廣訓》是由清朝統治者所頒布，並運用政治力使之廣為刊行的官樣書籍。然而十九世紀來華宣揚福音的新教傳教士們，卻十分重視該書及其白話解，且翻譯、出版了若干與其相關的出版品。本文即企圖探究這些新教傳教士出版《聖諭廣訓》之目的，並試圖考察他們閱讀與認識該書的視角。其次，本文還引用了十九世紀來華新教傳教士所發表的英文漢學論著，來描述他們眼中所見的，以《聖諭廣訓》及其白話解為劇本，而定期在各地舉行的「聖諭宣講」之儀式實況。最後，本文闡述了當時新教傳教士如何翻譯與解釋《聖諭廣訓》中「天主教」段的內容。

The historiography of Protestant missionaries in China during the 19th century is a realm that has been more or less neglected to present. The purpose of this article is to examine research on the publishing of sinological works by Protestant missionaries in China during the late Qing, especially that of the Sacred Edict. The Sacred Edict was issued by Qing Dynasty rulers and was widely circulated among officials. Protestant missionaries that came to China to preach the gospel in the 19th century attached great importance to the Sacred Edict and its vernacular edition. They translated and published several related publications. The purpose of this article is three-fold: first, to analyze the purpose of the missionaries publishing the Sacred Edict and to comprehend their reading and understanding of it; second, to discuss the ceremony associated with their preaching of the Sacred Edict that was performed regularly throughout the empire; and third, to give an account of how the Protestant missionaries translated and explained the meaning of “Teen-choo” 天主 in the Sacred Edict.