論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
247
Confucian and Christian Canons
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
Dai Wei- Yang
戴維揚
CONFUCIAN AND CHRISTIAN CANONS
百le
initial ideological encounter between Chines€. and Europeans was carriedout
mainly by Christian missionaries. Merchants and politicians , with their profit and power
orientation , cared little about cultural contacts. Only the educated Christian missionaries
bridged the ideological gulf between the Oriental and the
Occidental.甘lese
missionaries
were following out one of the commands of their Lo rd:
Go ye therefore , and teach all na位ons ， baptizing 也em in the name
of the Father , teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I
have commended you. . . • . 1
Christian teachings had already carried missionaries and
proselytes 切
almost
every
corner of the world. Since the Chinese comprise almost a quarter of the world's population , the territory of China represents one of the most important missionary areas on
earth. Missionary efforts in a culturally advanced country such as China , however , are
!"~lOre
complicated than in countries lacking highly -developed cultural identities.
In the history of Christianity's proselytizing activities in China , three groups of
Christian missionaries came to the fore at three different times. In chronological order ,
they are the Nestorians , the Catholics , and the Protestants. Th e goals
of 血 is
article
will be to examine the accomplishments of each group in regard to making the Bible
available to the Chinese on one hand , and Confucian canons to the West , on the other.
A. The Nestor i ans
Th e first group of Christian missionaries to reach the Middle Kingdom was the
Sc riptural references are usually to the King James Version ,
unless otherwise noted.
1. Matthew 28 :19-20.
教學與研究第三期
248
Nestorians.
The Nestorian missionaries , according to A.J.
converted the nomad tribes in Central
As鼠，
Toyr泌的，
had spread and
and possessed the potential for the creation
of an Asiatic Christian civilization , had it not been for the rising of Islam which overcame
2
them in the Middle Ages. -
Since the Nestorians often introduced Jesus Christ as the
"Light of Life , ,, 3 and maintained that they themselves should also act like "the light of
the world, ,,4 the Chinese named the Nestorians
"Luminous Re ligion.
(景教，
Ch'ing-Chiao) , which means
'月
Th e first major Nestorian missionary , Alopen , was received by EmperGr T'ang
T'ai-Tsung in A. D. 635.
The Emperor had his prime minister issue a formal edict
6
welcoming Alopen to China. -
Three years later , another edict was handed down
declaring that the Nestorian texts could be translated into Chinese. Nestorian influence
waned, however, after their first suppression in A , D. 841 , and it eventually died
completely , so that the historical existence of these Nestorian missionaries fell from
awareness of both Chinese and Europeans until the discovery and examination of the
7
Nestorian Monument at Hs卜an FU in 1625.
Th e Monument attracted the attention of Jesuit missionaries in China , who brought
it 的 the
the
attention of Europeans and Chinese.
Jesuit，自ther
into La tin.
8
Th e first publicizer of their discovery was
Trigault , who inspected the Monument and translated the inscription
In 1625 , a Chinese Christian , Dr. Leon Li
(李之藻) wrote a
work entitled
A. J. Toynbee , A Stydy of History (Oxford , 1934) , II, 375-377.
John 8:12.
Matthew 5:14.
Hsiang- Li n Lo，唐元二代之景教(Nestorianism in the T'ang and Yuan Dynasties) ,
(Hong Kong , 1966) , p.12.
6. P. Y. Sa eki,The Nestorian Documents and Re lics in China (Tokyo, 1951) , p.35.
See also Arnold H , Rowbotham , Missionary arid Mandarin: 官Ie Jesuits at the
Court of China (Berkeley: Dniv. ofCalifornia Press , 1942) , p.7.
7. Sa eki , p.456. See also the Chinese original T'ang-hu卜yaoj侈的.
8. Trigault probably made a La tin translation of the tablet (Pelliot thinks itis the
work of Jacques Rh o and not of Trigault) , and Semedo made an I祖 lian version.
A more nearly complete La tin version by Michel Boym was published by Arhanasium Kircher in his Prodromus Coptus; sive Aegypticus(1636). The best translations are 切 be found in Henri Harvet ,La stele chretienne de Si-ngan-fou(Shanghai ,
1897). Eh eki,The Nestorian Monument in China.and a translation by A. Wylie ,
in Paul Carus ,The Nestorian Monument (Chicago, 1909). See also James Legge ,
The Nestorian Monument of Hsi-an' Fu in Sh en-H剖. China (London: Trubner &
Co. , 1888; rpt. New York: Pa ragon Book Re print Corp. , 1966) , and Heller，王星星
Nestorianische Denkmal in Siganfu. Pa uthier also translated the inscription into
French , and Neumann into German.
2.
3.
4.
5.
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
249
"On Reading 血e Nestorian In scription" ("讀景教碑書後"). Another Jesuit Father ,
Emmanuel Diaz Junior included these documents in his Chinese book on the Nestorian
9
In scription entitled 唐景教碑頌正詮 published in 1644.- Another Jesuit , Fr. Semedo ,
10
translated 血 e Nestorian In scription in 1655 into English in his Historv of China .
Since
then，也e
discovery of the
Nestοrian
Inscription has been recorded in many books.
Nevertheless , prior to the nineteenth century , such personages as Voltaire in France , La
11
Croze (1661-1739) in Germany , -- Bishop Horne in England , and others contended that the
Monument was "a Jesuit forgery ," and that there had been no Christian presence in China
prior to the seventeenth century.
Historical evidence , however , clearly
refutes 血 ese
allegations of fraud.
Th e
Chinese imperial edict of A. D. 638 mentioned above already referred to the Nestorians
in T'ang-hui-yao.
Th e same historical record also indicated another imperial edict of
the Emperor Hsuan-Tsung conferring the official name of "叮Ie Ta-c h'in Monastery" on
12
血 e "Th e Persian Monastery" in A. D. 745. -~ Ano血 er Chinese document showed that the
13u
Emperor Kublai teceived Nestorians at the Yuan court.... Fu rthermore , Pa ul Pelliot and
Sir Aurel Stein found various Trang and Yuan dynasty Nestorian sutras a Q.d documents at
Tun-huang in 1907.
during 血 e
Since there is no longer any question of their existence in China
period from 635 to 1368 , the questions become: 1) Wh at happened to these
Nestorian Christians after the 841 suppression of them during the T'ang dynasty? and;
2) Wh at happened to them after the fall of the Yuan dynasty in
1368?
四Ie
answers could
9. saeki , op. cit. , pp. 78-79 , gives a list of translations and annotations of the
inscription by various authors since the discovery of the Monument.
10. Alvarez 8emedo ，加中erio de la China 仰包drid， 1642). French editions of Semedo's
book appeared in 1642 ,(Paris) and 1667 (Lyons); a La tin edition appeared in 1645.
Semedo , a native of Portugal , was born in 1585. He arrived in Nanking in 1613 ,
worked at Hangchow , Kia T'ing，回Ianghai， and Sianfu. He was the first European
to see the Nestorian tablet at Sianfu. He visited Rρme from 1642-1644 and spent
the last years of hislife at Canton. He died in 1658.
11. Voltaire , Lettres chinoises DE旦旦旦， XX眩， 464 ， 478. See also La Croze's article ,
"De Libris Sinensibus Bibliothecae Re giae Berolinensis ,"Miscellanea Berolinensia
(1710) , I , 84-88. Cited from Do nald Frederick 扭曲， "Contributions of China to
German Civilization , " Diss. Univ. of Chicago 1941 , p.80.
12. Columba Cary-Elw旬，包ir且主旦d the Cross: Studies in Missionarv His切 η
(Lo ndon: Longrnans , Green and Co. , 1956) , p.33.
13. 唐會要卷國卡九(T'a間 -hui-yao， Vol.49). 8e e also saeki，四e Nestorian Documents
and Re lics in China (Tokyo , 1951) , pp. 457 , 478-479.
教學與研究第三期
250
not be found in any important historical books until the discovery of the Nestorian
In scription in the seventeenth century.
Th e reasons will be discussed below.
In his work , China and Cross , Cary-Elwes maintained that with 也 e infusion of
Buddhist and
T尬。ist
ideas the group lost its separate Nestorian identity. After
his examination of the inscription of the Nestorian Stele , Fr. Harvet
felt 曲的 every
line
was reminiscent of some great work , not least the Five Classics of the Confucian canon ,
and that more than thirty of those expressions were borrowed from the Book of ChanJ?:es
alone. Almost as many came from the Book of Poetry;twenty or so from
the 主旦旦控. Th e
14
Confucian canonical books furnished a total of about 150 allusions. ~~
author of the Nestorian Inscription , Ching-ching
(景淨，
Actually，也e
Adam) was not translating
Christian Sc ripture , but translating Buddhist sutras. Th e Buddhis t monks undoubtedly
15
ridiculed Adam's translation. -- Th e Nestorians did not translate Confucian works into
European languages , nor did they translate any Christian works into
Nestorian documents found other than
the 鼠 mous
Chinese. 甘Ie
only
inscription comprise about thirty
relatively unimportant Nestorian sutras , which are all highly syncretic.
Since the
Nestorian canon comprised only such syncretic works , Nestorianism failed as a movemente
As a result , the Nestorians left no significant impact on the history of cultural
contacts between the East and the West.
B. The Roman Catholics
Following the T'ang dynasty , Franciscan priests were received at the Mongol court
during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries , while Jesuit priests were received at the
Manchu court in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuri.es . Both the Mongols
were known in Europe as the Tartars.
silk route from the Middle East through
and 岫 rchus
Th e Franciscans travelled across the overland
Turkistan 切 western
China , while the Jesuits
arrived by the sea route from Europe through Lisbon to Macao and finally China.
Since these Catholic missionary activities lasted for centuries , the following
discussion will be confined to the attitudes of these two orders toward the Confucian and
、，
14. Henri Harvet ,La Stele
chretienne de Si -ng-a n -fou(Shangh剖， 1897) , Pt. II (p. 216 ,
note 2).
15. ·See 8a eki's translation , pp. 466 -4 70 ，“大唐貞元續開元釋教錄'~''Wh
at the Buddhist Pr iest Yuan-Chao Wrote About the Nestorian Bishop , Adam. 可
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
251
Christian canons , i. e. , the Four Books and Five Classics. and Th e Bible.
1. The Franciscans
Like the
Nestorians，他e
Chinese to Christianity.
Franciscans
Recognizing 也e
鼠 iled
to convert
significant
numbers of
rapid success of 也 e Mongols' bids for world
supremacy, Pope Inn ocent IV ordered a Franciscan to deliver a letter to the Mongol
Th is missionary , Friar Gi ovanni (John) of Pian di Carpini , was one of 也 e first
cour t.
disciples of St. Francis of Assisi
describe 也 e
to visit China and one of the first Europeans to
Chinese. In a letter to a friend , he reported that:
Th e men of Ca也ay are pagans , having a special kind of writing by
and as it is said , the scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments. Th ey have also recorded in histories the lives of their
forefathers; and they have monks 16 and certain houses made like
our churches. Th ey say 他的也ey have many saints also , and they
worship one God. Th ey adore and reverence Christ Jesus our
Lord , and believe the article of eternal life , but are not bapti1z~d.
17
Th ey also do honourably esteem and reverence our Sc riptures.
也 emselves，
Having accomplished his task as a messenger , Friar Gi ovanni went back to Europe
and delivered a message from 他 e Khan to the Pope.
Friar Gi ovanni also whetted the
interest of Ma rco Polo and a swarm of merchants , and
paved 也 e
way for future Fran-
ciscan missionaries , as well.
Guillaume (William) of Rubruck , a Franciscan like his predecessor , was chose!]. by
Louis IX of France as a messenger
capital , where he was received
Central Asia and in China.
greatest
obs個 cles
to the
t。他e
by 也 e
Mongols. On April 5 , 1254 , he arrived at the
emperor. He found Nestorian descendants both in
To Friar William , these Christian Nestorians were the
Ca也 olic
missionaries:
16. Th ere is ~ cer個 in confusion in 也 is passage between Buddhist and Christian
practices and belief. Th ere were still some Nestorians in China. Friar Giovanni
might also have been confusing Manicheans for Christians.
17. Ma nuel Komroff, Contemporaries of Macro Polo: Consisting of the Travel
Re cords ωthe Ea stern Pa rts of 他 e World of William of Rubruck (1253-1255); the
J(:)Urnalol~_~hn of Pian de Carpini (1 245-1247); and the Journal of Friar Oderic
(1318-1330)(London , 1929) , Ch. vii (p .37).
教學與研究第三期
252
Among them there are Nestorians and 8a racens who are considered
as foreigners in Cathay. Th ere are Nestorians in fifteen cities of
Ga thay and in a city called Hsianfu there is a Bishop.... If it is
necessary 切 believe what I have heard，位lere are also hermits who
live ascetic lives in the woods. Yet 也 ey reci胎 their prayers and
have their holy books in Syrian , and 也 ey do not understand 血 em.
宜'he consequence is that they chant as do the monks in our country
who are unversed in grammar. 世ley are above all usurers ,
drunkards and some live with 也e Ta rtars and have like 血em
several wives.... 官lOse amQng 也 em who educate the young noble
Mongols , while teaching 也em 也e Gospel and the Fai曲， succeed in
alienating them from 也 e practice of Christian virtue , through the
bad example of 也eir lives. 18
Th e Mongol emperor in turn sent Friar William back to Europe as a messenger; he
seemed to have carried out no proselytizing activities while in China.
Not only did missionaries from Europe come to Peking but Christians from China
also visited
Rβme.
Ra bban 8a uma , the Nestorian Christian priest whose home was
Peking , arrived in Rome in 1287, and went to Pa ris and Bordeaux
to 也a曲曲e
clergy who
Mongols , Turks , and Chinese. He reported
19
that many of the children of 血 e Mongol kings and queens had been converted.-- In Pa ris ,
20
8a uma spoke wi血 Philip 血e Fair. At Bordeaux, he met King Edward I of England.
had conducted missionary activities
among 也e
8a uma then returned to Rβme in the spring of 1288.
Th is time , he was welcomed by 血e
newly elected Franciscan Pope , Nicholas IV, who sent John of Montecorvino to
China 也e
following year.
世le
third major Italian Franciscan messenger , Giovanni (John) da Montecorvino ,
was sent to the Mongol emperor by Pope Nicholas IV, the first Franciscan to be elected
Pope. Unlike his two predecessors , John of
Mont的 orvinco
the rest of his life to the Chinese. He died
扭曲e
eighty -one.
stayed in China , and devoted
Middle Kingdom in 1328 at the age of
Like the later Jesuit supervisors Ricci and Verbiest , he continuously
implored the Pope to send more missionaries to China. Wh en Pope Clement V received
p.46. In his note he said , "宜here certainly were Nestorian
proved visually to as切nished Ro me and Western Europe when
a few years later one of them，加boon 8a uma , appeared having travelled from
Peking , as will be recorded in its due place."
19. Sir E. Wallis Budge ,The Monks of Kublai Khan , Emperor of China (London ,
1928) , p.173.
20. Sir E. Wallis Budge , p.186.
18.
Ca叮 -Elwes， Ch缸鼠，
anchorites，的 was
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
his appeal for help , he
commended 也e
253
Franciscans 切 choose
Minister-General of the
seven brothers , zealous and learned in Holy Sc riptures , to be made bishops. Only three
reached Peking , in 1308.
fourteen
y曲rs ，
was
Friar John of Montecorvino , who had been awaiting 也 em for
cons白 rated
the first Archbishop of Peking.
years , Friar John converted a great many persons.
Ov er the next twenty
Although 出e
Nestorians severely
impeded his efforts , he was venerated as a saint , and buried in Peking with great honor
by 也e
Chinese. 'He
was 也e
first Franciscan missionary who had consecrated his whole
life to the China mission.
Five years elapsed before the news of Friar John's death reached the Pope.
In
1333 , Pope John XXII appointed his successor to Peking , to be accompanied bytwenty
。也er
By 1338 , however , they had only reached Thrkistan; a
friars and six laymen.
letter written by Pope Benedict XI referred to 也is group , building and repairing churches
21
there. ~~ Meanwhile , an embassy appeared in 1338 from the Chinese emperor wi也 a
22
letter requesting the Pope to set up frequent exchanges of messengers.
Wh en John of Montecorvino died in 1328 , however , Mongol Franciscan missionary
efforts in China died out
at 也 e
same time. On e
of 也e
major causes for the failure was
the lack of deep mutual understanding between the European
Chinese , naturally , could read
neither 也e
Persian translation
and 也 e
of 也e
edition without long training. Wh en Friar William entered the court
chanted 也e
Bible
Chinese.
nor 也 e
for 也e
Th e
Vulgate
first time , he
following:
A solis ortu cardine
et usque terre limitem
Christum canamus· principem
Natum Ma ria Virgine. 23
Ra位ler 誼通 n receiving 也e
welcome he perhaps expected, he was searched for knives.
Moreover , there were many difficulties in
parties. John of Montecorvino ,
on 也e
translating 也e
conversations between the two
other hand , was luckier and was allowed to build a
church in Peking , and later to build one by the gates of palace ,
so 尬的也e
hear the chanting of the choir. Unfortunately , the Emperor appeared
Emperor could
interested ∞ly
in
21. H.K. Mann，甘Ie Lives ()f thePoQes in the Middle Ages (London , 1928) , XVII , 98.
22. Sir Henry Yule , The Book of Ser Ma rco Polo , rev. ed. Henri Cordier (London ,
1921) , III , 180.
23. Ma nuel Komroff , Contemporaries of Ma rco Polo.p.146.
教學與研究第三野
254
the melodic value of the chants.
As a result , Friar John was frustrated in his attempts
to act as a true missionary. He described his activities in a letter as follows:
Also , I have gradually brought one hundred and fifty boys , . . . who
had never learnt any religion. Th ese boys I have baptized , and I
have taught them Greek and Latin 延旦旦旦旦旦旦旦.• • • His Ma jesty
the Emperor , moreover delights much to hear them chanting. I
have the bells .;:o ung at all the canonical hours , and with my congregation of babes and sucklings I perform the divine service , and the
chanting we do by ear , because I have no service book with the
notes. 24
Friar John could only teach a few children to chant in La tin; he could never teach millions
of Chinese to understand the Latin canons.
La tin ritual could not be brought into an
harmonious relationship with Chinese thought. Once the La tin master passed away , the
babes and sucklings were lost in'the masses. Since Christian Sc ripture was not translated
25
in切 Chinese ， -- the Chinese could not read the La tin Sc ripture themselves.
Conversely ,
since the missionaries did not pay any attention to Chinese culture , the Confucian canon
was not introduced to the Europeans. Th erefore , the Franciscan missionaries to China
failed
切 make
any significant impact.
Th e differences between the Christian groups also hindered their proselytizing
activities. Th e Nestorians did all they could to defeat the Franciscan missionary attempt.
A similar situation would recur later in the conflicts between the Franciscans and the
Jesuits.
官Ie
fall of the Mongol dynasty and the rise of Islam brought about the end of the
Franciscan missionary efforts.
Th e Franciscans remained onlya "foreign mission" in
China , a church for visiting European merchants who came in the wake of the Mongol
26
conquerors.-- Due 切 the large number of such persons , I shall discuss only the Polo
family.
24. Quoted in Cary-Elwes，旦控盟， p.59 , Cf. Yule，已且主YJ III , pp . 46 -4 7.
25. Although Friar John translated some of the New Testamentand Psalms into
Mongolian language , the Chinese still could not read the Mongolian translation.
Concerning the Mongolian translation , see M. Abel-Remus帥， l'~ouv倒uxMι
捏旦旦立Asiatiques (Pa ris: Schubart 前 Heideloff， 1829) , II, 195-198.
26. 'Cary-Elwes，旦控， p.48.
,
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
臼1
255
27
their return from China to Ro me in 1269 ,-' Ma rco Polo's uncles Maffeo and his
father Nicolo Polo told the Pope that Kublai Khan , who in 1257 had styled himself
Emperor of China , had requested one hundred missionaries for China.
Th e
Pope ,
Tedaldo Visconti , paid little attention to their request , but sent off the Polos with merely
two Dominicans and letters for Kublai Khan.
attempt to get
位1e
切 China.
Later 也 e
two Dominicans gave up
their
Th e three Polos continued their jou;rney , and were welcomed by
28
Kublai Khan again at Peking and at Xa nadu in 1275. -- Th ey stayed in China
eighteen years altogether.
about
Ma rco Polo's adventures in China became the basis for his
description of China , which in turn fascinated many Europeans , including Christopher
Columbus.
Although Ma rco Polo paid little attention to the moral and religious tenets of Ta oism
or Confucianism , he did mention some Buddhist practices and enlist Buddha as a saint in
29
the company of the 1.0吋 Jesus Chrisr:- Besides , in his narrati惘， there were references
to 700 , 000 Christian families in the southeast of China. Th ey still had the Psalter
30
in their possession. -- Cary-Elwes , in China and the Cross , maintained that these
families were descendants of the Ma nicheans. Th e history
31
by the Jesuits in the seventeenth century.
of 也ese
groups was uncovered
2. The Jesui ts
Th e history of the Jesuits in China can be viewed as having been bounded byeither
of two different sets of dates: from Francis Xa vier's arrival in 1552 to the disbanding of
27. Concerning the two Polo brothers' first trip to China the time they left the
Crimea after 1260 and followed the trade routes to Peking , see A. C. Moule and
P. Pelliot ,Ma rco Po lIo: Th e Description of 也e World (London , 1938) , I, 22-28.
28. In 1264 , Kublai Khan extended the Mongolian empire into China south of the Great
Wall , and took up his capi個1 at "Cambuluc" (Peking) and s 前 up "Xa nadu" (上郁，
Shang-tu) , a summer retreat , in 也 e hills nor也west of the capital. See Donald
F. La ch , Asia in the Making of Europe (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press , 1965) ,
I, Bk. I (pp. 34-35). 亟且也旭ter was mythically described in Ma ndeville's
Tra捏捏 and Coleridge's ''K ubla Khan. "
29. 扭曲，主蝕， I , Bk. I , pp. 36-37.
30. See Marco Polo's Travels , trans.Aldo Ricci , ed. L. F. Benedetto (London ,
pp. 261-263.
31. Cary-Elwes，主且盟， p.50.
可嘲明「
教學與研究第三期
256
32
the Jesuits in 1773 , -- or; from Ma tteo Ri cci's reception in 1600 at the Chinese court to
也e
death in 1814 of the last Jesuit in Peking (Father de Poirot). In addition to setting up
missionary activities among the people as had the
exploring classical
Chinesι 也ought.
.:resuits
also set about
Th is chapter will be confined to a discussion of key
Jesuit figures and their influence on Jesuit
works.
Franciscans，出e
interpre但 tions
of the Chinese
canonical
Naturally , the Jesuits' main reason for studying these works was to aid in their
missionaryactivities. As a result , most of the Jesuits used and interpreted theConfucian
classics as their catechetical supplements to Christian
d∞ trines.
a. Catechetical Interpretations of the Confucian Four Books
Francis Xa vier , one of the ten founding fathers of the Jesuits , visited India and
Japan. Wh ile
pr閣ching
in Japan , he
I晶 rned 曲的 China
was the center of Asian civiliza-
zation. He 也en left Japan for China , but died on the island of 上 JII(組ang-ChU!'ln) ， off
Al曲ough
the coast of China.
鼠也er
he never
of the China mission , as well
pioneer of Jesuit
r甜的ed
旬出e
missiona叮 activities，
missionary work.
mainland China , he is still honored as the
father of Jesuit missions in general. As the
his policies became the models for Jesuit
His approach was radical at the time , based
on 也e philosophy 曲的
Christianity must be expressed in the native languages using concepts derived from the
indigenous culture.
Si nce he stressed the impor包nce of using the languages of the
peoples to whom he preached , he would translate various prayers and the catechisms into
the native language , and then memorize them.
Furthermore , he emphasized acquiring
an understanding of the core of the culture. He felt that missionaries could not proselytize effectively unless they were equipped
33
philosophy.
wi血 proper
training in
I∞al
language and
Xa vier believed in first converting the emperor and the intelligentsia , a resem-
blance to the Confucian concept of educating from
wa rds the
bottom.
四lis
the 切p
of the
s∞ ial
structure down to-
approach was carried out by the later Jesuits in the Chinese
court. In addition , Xa vier felt that all Jesuit missionaries should report their activities
32. Pope Clement XIV disbanded the Jesuits in 1773 through an encyclical entitled
"Do minus et Rβdemptor. "
鉤. James Brodrick , saint Francis 過vier， 1506 -1552(New Yor~: Wicklow Press ,
1952) , pp. 141 , 240.
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
257
to their immediate superiors and to Ro me. As will be seen later , the reports and other
writings sent to Europe spurred secula r and clerical controversies , and were major
factors leading to the
Alessandro
event田 I
disbanding of the Jesuits.
Valignano，也e
second major Jesuit
扭曲e
Ea st Asian mission, success-
fully opened the China mission. In order to avoid Portuguese domination , he chose fellow
I個lian
Jesuits , Michele Ruggieri , Francis Pa sio, and Matteo Ri cci , for the China
mission.
Like Xa vier , he wanted his
I個lian
become adept in Chinese philosophy as well.
Jesuits to learn the Chinese dialects and
Following Valignano's directions , Ruggieri
and Ricci garbed themselves in Buddhist habits. After they became more sensitive
Chinese intellectuals' Confucian
unders個 nd
百lese
orien個tion，也ey
to 也e
adopted Confucian robes. In order to
the Chinese , Ruggieri and Ricci both studied Confucian classics diligently.
studies would enable them to teach succeeding Jesuit missionaries the complexities
of Chinese culture, and also to send accounts of Confucianism back to Europe. Ruggieri
was the first Jesuit to translate the Confucian Four Books into La tin; however , he was
prohibited from publishing thise work and his Chinese catechism 天主實錄in Lat妞，
34
because of the opposition of Valignano and Ricci.- ~ Ru ggieri' s La tin translation .of
the Confucian classics was only a by-product; his major concern was to make the Bible in
some form available in Chinese.
shi-Iu , True
title of this
Rβcord
Toward 出 is end , he published 天主實錄(歪扭旦草包
35
of the Lo rd of Heaven) in 1584.--
book，天主佇立盟主挫，
Th e Chinese term for God in the
Lord of Heaven) has remained the name for God in
China and also the Chinese characters used for the Catholic religion.
Th e opposition from his co-workers and from his supervisors prevented Ruggieri
from staying in China.
Had he been allowed to stay, his impact on Jesuit policies
undoubtedly would have been enormous.
Like Ruggie肘， Ricci prepared a rough translation of the Four Books , kno耐 n as the
34. Pa ul Rul e , "Confucius or K'ung-t'zu," Diss. Australia , 1973 , p. 87. He
notes the manuscript of Ruggieri's translation in the Biblioteca Vittoria Emanuele
in Ro me (Fondo Gesuitico 1195) , and that it is dated 1591-92. See also note in
Fonti Ri cciane , I, 43.
Rule , "Confucius ," p. 88. Rule noted there were two copies of this book in the
Jesuit Archives in Ro me (Ro me: ASJ , Jap , Sin 1 , 189 and 190). A modern edition
of this work was printed in Ta ipei in 1966 undertthe title of 天主聖教實錄in 天主教
東傳文獻續篇II ， 755 -838.
教學與研究第三期
258
Tetrabiblio , at some time prior to November , 1593. Unfortunately , there is no trace of
36
this work in any European archives.-- Ricci entered the title of this work in his ~
37
Storiche.
After Ri ce i' s
d曲 th
in 1610 his friend Tr igault
published it in 1615 in Rome in his Christiana
translated 包且生旦 into La tin
Expeditione.
宜his
and
latter work was
reprinted three times , and also went through three editions in Fr ench , and one each in
38
German , Spanish , and Italian.-- In this book , Confucius was introduced to Europe as
，月9 In another passage , Confucius is
"the most renowned of all Chinese philosophers. ,,--
described as "the Prince of Chinese Philosophers"; it is also indicated that he had
"compiled four volumes of the works (Four Books) of more ancient philosophers and had
written five books (Five Classics) of his own. Th ese five are entitled 'Th e Doctrines.'
,,40 Here Ri cci made a major error that influenced most of the Jesuits' understanding
41 . . ..
.. _
_.
. 42
of the two-part Chinese canon. -- Actually , the Four Books are separate works-- whose
grouping together was formalized as a result of the studies of Chu
Th e authorship of three of these works is traditionally
Hsi 抖.
D. 1130-1200).
ascribed 切 Confuci間，
while the
fourth is ascribed to Mencius , a fourth century B. C. Confucian. In regard to the
旦旦星星虫，
Confucius is the author of only one of them.
四e
!控旦
separate works that comprise
the Five Classics were brought together as a formal canon during the middle of the Han
36. Rule , "Confuβius ， " p. 95.
37. Ricci , ()P ere Storiche , n , 117-118 , 125.
38. Ma tthew Ricci , China in the Sixteenth Century: Th e Journals of Ma tthew Ri cci
1583-1610 , trans. L. Ga lagher , translator's preface (New York: Ra ndom House ,
1953) , p.xvii.
39. Ma tthew Ri cci , China in the Sixteenth Century, p.30.
40. 些盟主， p.33.
41. Following Ricci's discrimination , Du Halde termed the Five Classics as "Livres
canoniques du premier ordre ," while the Four Books as "Livres canoniques du
seconde ordre. "
42. The Four Books , entitled晶晶語('Analects of Confucius)，中庸(Doctrine of the M曲n) ，
大學 (Great L曲 rning)， and孟子也旦旦控~).
43.Five Classics , under the titles 詩但旦控，y)，書但istοrical Reco吋帥，易(包呈盟盤)，
禮(旦控~)，春秋(Annals of Sp ring and Autumn).",Th e Five Classics , "as Lin Yutang has pointed out, "formed the body of historical learning edited , taught and
handed down by Confucius himself, while the Four Books on the whole represented
the works of his followers , their .records of Confucius' savings and their interpreta位 on or developments of Confucius' thoughts." (Lin Yu-tang ,Th e Wisdom of
Confucius (New York , 1955) , p.38.
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
dynasty (206 B. C. -A. D. 220).
Most important , since Ri cci felt
mainly "directions for proper moral
introduced them
to 也e
that Christianity
felt 也at
He also
e也 ical
that 也ese
books were
44
in the light of human reason , W~ he
pr∞ eedings，
Jesuits for their
could 祖ke
259
and social-political values. He also hoped
over Buddhism's position as China's most popular religion.
Christian teachings could supplant
cer個 in
aspects of Confucianism with
which he disagreed. In collaboration with the Chinese prime minister Hsu Kuang-ch'i , a
Christian convert, Ricci arrived at the Chinese phrase that was to serve as the motto for
也e
Jesuits' missionaryactivities "補儒易佛" (切
45
Buddhism" (wi也 Christianity) ).
"supplement Confucianism
and replace
Ri cci maintained that the Contemporary Chinese interpretations of Confucianism
were too
metaphysical，也at
emphasis should be placed on the pragmatic aspects of
Chinese ethics and political organization. Ricci expressed this attitude
何'ien-c hu
shih-i. Tr ue Doctrine of the Lord of Heaven) , which was published first in
1595 , translated
in切
46
~difiantes in 1818."'u
translatio咀 of
Japanese
in 1604 and into French by Fr. Jacques in
and not
book as a catechism. Th e La tin
47
the title of his book , De Deo Vera Dispu祖tio ， -. indicated its format as a
chapter 血的 he
wi也 matters
也 且i -i
1也豆豆
Ri cci himself described this
debate or dialogue with a Western scholar. Ricci carefully explained
the first
扭曲e 天主實義
of
would enable the Chinese to
Supreme 風lier)
wi也 the
interpret 也e
as being the God in the Catholic
the Chinese could easily be
beginning of
general practices of 也e Ca血olics
48
Sc riptures , or traditions. ~- Ri cci believed 血的 T'ie旦二
was concerned only
dοctrine，
at 也e
classical
Bible.
brought 切 unders祖nd
區位lis
concept" 上帝" (包盟主，
initial idea were accepted ,
the Bible as divine revelation.
His
influence could be seen in the later Jesuit translations or paraphrases of the Four Books.
Likewise , Sa inte-Marie , in the Traite... mission de la Chine gave a concise description
44.
45.
Ricci , China in 也e Sixteen也 Century， p.33.
Ri cci , China in the Sixteen血 Century， p.488. See also Hsu Kuang -c h't
(徐光啟) in 值le Preface to 泰西水法quoted in Fa n l! Hao's 旦旦且旦， II, 212.
Ma此hew
j\J包tthew
46. Fang Hao，中國天主教史人物傳(Biol!raphy of Chinese Ca也olics)， I , 78. See also
恥'wbo也a 血， Missionary and Ma ndarin , p.254 , who mentions 也e similarity of 也e
Ricci's 扭曲tise with Nicolas Ma le-branche , Entretiens d'un philosophe chretien
et d'un philosophe chinois s凹 l'existence et la nature de Dieu 但有aris ， 1708).
47. In a Ie前er accompanying 也e first edition sent 切Rome in 1604. See E盟i
旦旦蛀虫z II , 293n.
48. Ricci , T'ien -c hu shih-i. Cf. Rule' s translation in his "Confucius , " p.133.
教學與研究第三期
260
49
of the Chinese classics.
He compared the Chinese reverence toward the Four Books to
50
the Christian respect for the Four Go spels , the essential canon in the Bible.
4
-
Prior to the publication of Confucius Sinarum Philosophus in 1687, the Jesuit
missionaries
f，∞ used
their efforts on formulating catechetical interpretations of Con-
fucianism in Chinese. Th ey studied the Confucian classics , and adopted Confucian sayings
in their Christian publications.
In addition
切
Ricci's
and
Ruggieri's 恥'0
Chinese
catechisms , Ri cci wrote sixteen books in Chinese. Most of the other seventeenth century
51
Jesuit missionaries in China were also competent in Chinese composition.
Wh en the Jesuits faced difficulties in preaching to the Chinese , they retreated to
their work on the translation of the Confucian classics. In 1662 , the first La tin translation of the Confucian canon was published in China by Ignacio da Costa and Prospero
h切rcetta.
Th is La tin translation only included part of the 論語(主旦控旦旦) and the 大學
52
(Great Learning) , two of the Confucian Four Books.- - In 1667, Intorcetta published part
of one of the other Confucian canon，中庸(Doctrine of the Mean) under the title of Sinarum
53
Sc ientia Politico-Moralis.-- In 1669 , an edition of 也is latter work , was published in
Goa , to which was appended a preface and a "Life of Confucius. "
After
Intorcetta
returned to Europe in 1668 , his books were reprinted in Paris in 1672 and translated into
54
French in Th evenot's book in 16 羽. The rarity of the works in European libraries
4
49. Antoine de 8a in扣-抽rie (Antonio Caballero a 8a n個抽 ria) ，利安當O.F. 此，1:旦控
sur quelques points importunts de la mission de la Chine (Pa ris , 1701) , pp.2-3.
50. Da vid E. Mungello , Leibniz and Confucianism: Th e Search for Accord 但onolulu:
Th e Univ. Press of Hawaii , 1977) , p.73.
51. Shou -i Ch' en，中歐文化交流史事論叢(Discourses on the History of China - European
Cultural Communication)(τ'a ipei: Commercial Press , 1970) , p.8 1. See the list
of the Jesuits' publications.
52. 8a pientia Sini帥， exponente P. Ignacio da Costa Lusitano S∞. J esu a P. Prospero
In1lorcet個 Siculo eiusd. Soc. orbi Proposi個 Kiam -cham in urbe Sinarum Provinciae Kiam-剖， 1662. I examined this rare book in the New York Pub lic Library.
53.Sinarvm Sc ientia Politico-Moralis a P. Prospero Intorcetta Sicvlo , Societatis
lesv , Canton, 1667. Th e Colophon's edition was published at Goa e , iterum
recognitum , 1669.
French edition Sinarvm scientia politico-moral站， sive
Sc ientiae sinicae liber inter Confvcii libros secvndvs.a P. Prospero In切rcet阻. • •
in latinam versa... , Pa risiis , 1672.
54. See Confucius Sinarum Philosophus title page of "Sinarum Sc ientia." M. Melchisedec Th evenot， Rβlations de Divers Voyages Curieux (Pa ris: Th omas Moetta
Librai凹， 1696) , part IV, "IB vie de Confucius" "Sc ientiae Sinicae: Li ber Inter
Confucial Libros Secundus" and"可nopsis Chronological Monarchiae Sinicae. "
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
demonstrates their limited circulation.
261
55
It was only with the publication of Confucius Sinarum Philosophus in
Europ 曲n
scholars began noticing these works on
56
China.
四 is
1687 尬的
book represented the
cumulative , collaborative result of the Jesuit interpretations of Chinese culture. In
particular , it included translations of three of the Confucian canons: Magnae Sc ientiae
(Gr曲 t Learning，大學) ,
Sinarum Sc ientia Politioo-Moralis( Doctrine of the
Mean，中庸)
and Ra tioncinantium Sermones(主旦控虫，論語). Since Ri cci rejected Mencian inter57
pretations of Confucian classics , the 草里旦控呈 was not included.-. Ri cci also excluded
all of the commentaries by later Chinese scholars , which Chinese traditionally study
along with the original texts.
bias of their contents.
Th e titles given these works clearly show the missionary
Th ey viewed Confucian classics only from the standpoint of
political morality; the Confucian sayings were interpreted as rational sermons. Like the
European
catechism，也ese
understand the
Sc riptures.
were Confucian moral
白 sum
sayings 也at
would help people to
up , there is a dual implication of the Jesuit emphasis
on the "morality interpretation" of Confucianism , i. e. , 1) Th eir interpretation would
convince the Chinese that Confucianism did not contradict Christianity , and ,
of interpretation would also
convince 也 e
2) 世lis
kind
Roman Ca尬。lie Church 也at the Chinese were
true converts , even when they continued to practise ancestor worship and Confucian
rituals.
Pa ul Ru le has shown
that 他 ese
original sixteen-character text
graph
扭曲e
translations were not literal. He points
of 也e
first passage translated is amplified
translation , comprising a translation of a commentary
out 曲的也e
intοa
by 也 e f卸nous
para-
scholar
55. C. R. Boxer , "Some Sino-European Xylographic Works 1662-1718 , "Journal of the
Ro yal Asiatic 做到ciety， (1947) , ppo 199-200 , 202 , and H. Cordier , Essai d'un
bibliographie des ouvrages publies en Chine par les Europeens au xvrre et XVIIle
豆益挂到Paris ， 1883) , pp. 13-16.
56.Confucius Sinarum Philosophus; sive , Sc ie叫ia Sinensis , La tine ExP osita , Studio
et opera Pr osperi Jntorcet鼠， Christiani Herdtrich , Francisci Rougemo肘， Philippi
Couplet , Patrum 品cieta位a Jesu , Pa risiisApud D. Horthemels , 1687. Th ere are
18 copies in American libraries (see Union Catalog). Although the 且皇旦控立 was
actually the work of a third generation follower of Confucius , by the 血 irteenth
century, the Chinese aIr曲 dy viewed it as a part of the core Confucian canon.
57. In Ricci's 天主實義Vol. II, p. 肘， he criticized a saying in 草里也ius "Th ere are
位lree kinds of unfilial persons; the worst is the one who has no offspring." Sinβe
the Jesuits did not mar叮， they could not agree with 他 is opinion.
教學與研究第三期
262
Chu
H剖， to伊拉ler
with a large amount of European moral philosophy. Also added was a
paraphrase of a European devotional manual "Mirror of the So ul" referring to Aristotelean ethics , and
位leistic
to 也 e "s山nm山n bon山n" ("也 e
overtones.
highest good") , a Th omistic concept with
58
Th e European interpretations of the Confucian classics in the Confucius Sinarum
Ph i1osophus touched off the Chinese Rites Controversy in Europe. Th is controversy
gre啊
out of Ricci's policy that the Chinese should be allowed to continue to perform public and
private Confucian rites.
So me Jesuits , among them his successor Nicholas Longobardi ,
opposed Ri cci's liberal policies.
Th is controversy was further stirred by the general
debates among European intellectuals resulting from the La tin translations
just
mentioned.
b. Apologetical Interpretations of
Confuβian Classics
Aside from figuring in the introduction of Confucianism to Europe , Couplet was
responsible for the arrival of the epoch of great acti v. ity in French translations of
一=~._
_.
.59
Chinese. In 1684 , Couplet presented a young Chinese 沈帽宗(Shen Fu-tsung) 的 the
court of Lo uis XIV.
Couplet 也 en
induced
Lοuis XIV 切 send
some well-educated French
Jesuits to China. In 1687, five French Jesuits arrived in China. Th e following year they
were welcomed at court.
Of the twenty Jesuits who translated the Confucian classics
before 1687, none was French. All of the fourteen Jesuit translators following 1687 were
French
(See 也 e
appendix).
Although the average length of their
thirty-three years , their major concerns were
among 也 e
Europeans around 1700.
In世lis
扭曲e
s祖 y
in China was over
Rites Controversy ,
especially
period the great majority of their arguments
were published in French.
Lo uis Le Comte , one of the five French Jesuits sent by Louis XIV
court , arrived
inαlina
to 也 e
Chinese
in 1687. Due to the financial difficulties caused by the Portuguese ,
Le Comte was sent back 切Paris in 1692.
In 1696 , his Nouveaux memories sur I'€tat
58. Ru le , "Confuchts ," p.326.
59. Rule , "Confucius ," p.327. See also Shou-yi Chen , "Th e Influence of China on
English Culture during 也 e Eighteenth Century ," Di ss. Univ. of Chicago 1928 ,
p.24. Chen said , "In 1685 , Sh en Fo Chung (沈福宗) the first learned Chinese
traveller to England , found himself at Oxford as the guest of Th omas Hyde , noted
Orientalist and Bodley' s Librarian. "
263
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
60
present de la Chine was published.- -
'Th is book incited the Chinese Rites Controversy
among the French , the Portuguese , and the papal faction , together with a theological
debate between the Jesuits and the
the So rbonne.
heatedly
Jansenis胞，
and between the Missions Etrangeres and
'Th e Jesuits preaching in China and the representatives from Ro me were
de加ting
whether Chinese Christians should be allowed to include Confucian rites
in their worship , and how "God" should be translated into the Chinese language.
Due 切
the rivalry between orders and nationalities , the Franciscans and Dominicans denounced
61
various rites as idol worship.-- Among the Chinese , the Christian and non-Christian
forces were in conflict.
controversy.
Ev en various Chinese emperors became
involved in
Both in Europe and China , there were volumious writings both for_
the
and
against the Jesuit positions.
In Europe , these controversies led to the official condemnation of Chinese rites by
the So rbonne theologians in
62
1700~-
and a papal bull issued by Pope Clement XI in 1704.
63
Le Comte denied that he held the positions condemned.-- Besides , he predicted thatthe
condemnation of Chinese as atheists would furnish ammunition to the free thinkers:
60. Louis Da niel Le Comte , Nouveaux m6moires sur l' etat present de la Chine , 2
vols. , 14 letters (Pa ris , 1696). An English edition was published in London and
a German edition at Leipzig in 1699.
61. Antoine de sainte-Ma rie , O. F. M. (利安當， Li An-tang) , a Spaniard , published a
甘甜ti缸，天儒印 (T'ien Ju Yin. Christianitv and Confucianism Compared)in 1664
that has been reprinted with an introduction in T'ien-e hu -e hiao tunSl:' ch'uan wehsien su -p ien (Supplemen:個ry Volumes of Records of Christian Missionaries in
the Fa r Ea st) , II, 981-1043. Rule , in his thesis , examined Apoli Sl:ia pro Decreto
S. D. N. Alexandri VII... et Patrunm Do minicanorum et Franciscanorum Se riptis
Concimnals(Louvain, 1700) and reached the same conclusion that Domini胡ns
and Franciscans criticized the Jesuit tolerance of Chinese rites.
62. 世間'Theological Faculty of Pa ris censured three works favorable to the Chinese:
Le Comte's Nouveaux memoires(1969); P~re Ie Gobien's His切ire de I' 6dit de
I' empereur de la Chine (1698) and the Lettres des ceremonies de la Chine anonymously published in Pa ris in 1700. See also J. r:地vy， "La Condemnation en
So rbonne des Nouveaux memoires sur la Chine du P. Le Comte ," in Recherches
de~i!lIlQe_Religieuse， 37 (1950) ,. 370-372.
63. Lo uis Le Comte ,Ec laircissements sur la d~nonciation鼠ite N. S. P. Ie Pa pe des
"Nouv倒ux m~moires de la Chine' , (Pa ris , 1700).
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1gljl AIdaap os 田aljl uo 自p! aljl passa.I d田! P叫“nl'8N 19q1 llU!n1l.I它
‘ saIdoad n g JO wamaa .I llg aljl u.o UA\.g.rp aAglj ‘p.0D JO aauals!x:a
aljl aAo.I d 01 ‘ OljA也可 ωn可:) aql JO s品ljlga: aql JO llU!UOSga.:r aljl
JO a 田oaaq IUM 'ualjl ‘ 1官司N\. 'pallpaIMoU}[ a '8 uaaq 品 Aau s 官司 Al!U!A!P
aljl ‘ Sl .I g aljl n g lSO 田 Ig JO uO !luaAU! aql U! .10 旬開明 !qg 耶I! s l! JO
.Iaqrunu aql u! 泊 ljWljM 咱U!ljspnoU os PUg 心IPnos os pa可snq'8l sa
'paua刊llnua os ‘ lS '8A os a占 !dma Ug u! 19ljl ‘回aljl 01 paluasa .Id s! 1問A
JO all 回U '8Apg 叫~s胡平I!ljl a a.:r J aljllou m M .l oa: 'sls!aqlg a .I g 心叩
alll JO asoljl Sg 'asau!耳。 wa!aug aqllgqlllU!AgS Aq ‘ }[ooq Am
aun aql u田apuoa 01 sno .I allu -ep a .I O血可抽血 aq lOU l! PInoN\.
開asa.I d
u!
Utl}[~
1' 9(;
臨 '=m~正值協商草書
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
265
1693 granted the Jesuits permission.to build a house in Peking. In 1700 , Emperor K'anghsi prQmulgated another edict
stating 也at
there was no conflict in a Chinese individual 's
68
practising both Confucian and Christian rituals.-- However , a year after coming 怕也e
throne , K'ang-hsi's son ,
Macao ,
with 也 e
Yung -<J her嗯，
issued an edict expelling all the missionaries to
69
exception of some "useful" missionary sciemists.-- Nevertheless , the
Jesuit missionaries tried their best to preach and teach in China , and actually increased
the quantity of their reports and correspondence back to Europe. Most of these letters
70
were recorded in thirty-four volumes of Lettres 臼ifiantes et curieuses(1702-1776).
Th e Chinese Rites Controversy , meanwhile , only increased European interest in
71
Du Halde , the editor of the Lettres edifiantes from 1711 to 1743 , '-J published a
72
work of his own entitled Description. . . de l'empire de la Chine , .- even though he had
China.
68. Ro sso , Apostolic Legations , pp. 138 .i.145 , and A Sh ort Account of 血 e Declaration
~iven by the Chinese Emperor Kam Hi , in the year 1700 , London , 1 而 3. Rul e ,
"Confucius ," pp. 349-350. Th e Chinese emperor concurred that Confucius was
honored as a teacher only.
69. Decree of January 12 , 1724 , in Fu , Documentary Chronicle , p.138. Voltaire
praised Yung-cheng's expelling of the Jes q.its. See his History of the 風lssian
E且昆虫， p.72.
70.Lettres edifiantes et curieuses , ecrites des missions ~trang~rs per quelques
missionaires de compagne de Jesus (Pa ris: Chez N. Ie Clerc , 1702-1776) , 34 vols.
Collected by C. Le Gobien , J.B. du Halde , N. 封面arechal and L. Pa touillet of vols
1-11 , vols 12-26 , vols 29-33 , and vols 27-鉤， 34 respectively. In addition to the
original edition of 34 vols. (Pa ris , 1702-1776) , there were editions of 1743
(London) , a translation of 回 rly letter edited by Le Gobien , 1810-1811 (Toulouse) ,
1819 (Lyon) , 1829-1932 (Pa ris) and 1838-1843 (again Pa ris). See also. A. Re tif ,
"Breve histoire des 'Lettres 吾difiantes et curieuses'" in Neue Zeitschrift fur
Missionswissenschaft , 107 , No.1 (1951) , pp.37-50. See also 質Ie National Union
Catalo~ Pre-1956 Im prints , vol. 280 , p.197.
71. Jean- Ba ptiste Du Halde , ed. ， Lettres 吾difiantes et curieuses , Vols. 9-26.
72. Du Halde , Description ~eo~raphique， historique , chronolo~ique ， politique de
l'empire de la Chine... (paris: Chez P. G. Lemereier 1735 , 4 vols. in folio. A
second edition was published at La Haye , 1736. Th e English translation by Brooks
appeared the same year in London , and the was a second translation published
by Edward Cave in 1738-174 1. A German translation was published in 1747-1749
and a partial Russian translation in 1774 -1 777.
73. Fran~ois No i:H, trans.Sinensis Imperii Libri Classics Sex... e Sinico Idiomate
in La tinum Traducti (Prague , 1711). The French translation by Abb已 Pluqu帥，
Ssu Sh u: Les livres classiques de l' empire de la Chine , recueillis par Ie Pere
F. No包 pr臼 edes d'observations sur l'ori~ine， la nature & les effets de la
philosophie morale & politique dans cet empire (Pa ris: Chez de Brue , 1784-86).
教學與研究第三期
266
De scription was based on missionary sources , and was a
summaryof 也 e scholarly work of twenty-seven China authorities. of these twenty-seven ,
Ne have already mentioned Louis Le Comte , Philiope Couplet , and Ferdinand Verbiest ,
!l
ever been to China.
His
:md we shall shortly discuss the Figurists: Joachim Bouvet , Jean-Francois Foucquet ,
:md Joseph Henri de Pr已mare.
Franyois
No缸 's
translation
Before doing so , however , it would be best to discuss
of 也 e
Confucian classics , which was one of the major works
included in Du Halde's Description.
Noel , the first Jesuit to translate all of the Confucian Four Books , also wrote a
work entitled Philosophia Sinica.Although Noel translated six Confuβian classics into
73
La tin in 1711 , -- his translations were banned by the authorities both in Rome and in
Germany.
Because of Du Halde's laudatory acknowledgment of Noel's work in the
Description , Noelexerted a great influence on German scholars such as Christian Wolff ,
74
Leibnitz - - and later Goethe and Sc hiller in the eighteen也 century. Du Halde not only
adopted
Noel旭 translations
of the Four Books , but also gave a summaryand a com-
mentary for each of the Confucian Five Classics as representing the primary body
75
Chinese classical canon. -- About 也 e principles in th!'l互接盟且已 he said.
of 也 e
• • • II par8it que Ie but de la doctrine des Livres Classiques a 缸6de
maintenir lapaix & la tranquilite de l' Etat , par Ie reglement des
moeurs & l'exacte observation des Loix; & que , pour y 戶可venir，
les premiers Chinois jugerent que deux choses etoient n已cessaires
observer , scavoir , les devoirs de la Religion , & les regles du
bon gouvernement. • • 76
a
世le
goal of Confucian books is to provide the people practical instructions intead of
77
abstract 也eology. -.
His respect for Confucius was great than 值的 for the
Greek
philosophers:
74. Do nald F. Lach , "Th e Sinophilism of Christian Wolff (1679-1754)， "Journalof 也e
Histοry of Id倒s ， 14 (1 953) , 561-574. Se e also his "Leibnitz and China , "色旦旦l
of 位le History of Ideas.6 (1945) , 436 -4 55.
75. Du Halde considered the Five Classics as "Livres canonioues'du Premier ordre."
76. Du Halde ,Description , III, 2.
77. 'Du Halde , Description , II , 33.
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經申譯
267
Confucius naquit. • .55 1. ans avant l' Ere Chretienne , deux ans avant
,
la mort de Thales. n etoit
contemporain du fameux Pythagore , &
Soc rate parut peu de terns apres la perte que la Chine fit de son
Philosophe. Mail弓 Confucius eut cent avantage sur ces trois sages ,
que sa gloire s'est accrue de plus en plus avec la suite des ann~es，
& qu'elle est paryenue au plus haut point , ou la sagesse humaine
puisse pretend~e.78
Th en he went on to honor Confucius and his humanitarian maxims:
Confucius , sans se mettre en peine de sonder les secrets impene ttrables de la nature , & sans trop subtiliser sur les points de la
creance commune , ecueil dangereux ~ la curiosi話， se borne
parler du principe de tous les Etres; d'inspirer pour lui du respect ,
de lacrainte , & de la reconnoissance; de publier que rien ne lui
est cach~， pas m~me les pensees les plus secrettes; qu'il ne laisse
jamais la vertu sans recompense , ni Ie vice sans ch~time瓜， dans
quelque condition que se trouve 1' W1 ou l' autre. Ce sont la les
maximes repandues dans ses ouvrages; & c'est sur ces principes
qu'il se regloit , & qu'il ~choit de reformer les moeurs. 79
a
Besides being the most comprehensive and systematic introduction to Confucianism ,
Du Halde'sDesc ription also included the first translations of Chinese drama， Tchao~hi­
80
couell-ell: Le Petit orphelin de la maison de Tchao t凹的die chinoise.- - of the various
translations and adaptations of 也is work , Voltaire viewed 也 is playas a "Confucian
81
sermon in five acts. W - Th omas Percy , the first translator of the Chinese novel Hau
Kiou Chaom.also included Du Halde's
"甘le
Little Or phan
Miscellaneous Pieces Relatinl:1: to the Chinese.
82
frequently cited Du I旭 Ide's De sc ription.
of 也 e
House of Chao" in his
Percy's other various works on China
Du Halde's Description served as the main depository of 也 e Jesuit interpretations
78.
79.
80.
8 1.
Du Halde , Description , II , 319.
Du Halde ,De scription , II , 320.
Du Halde , Desc ription , II, 341-378.
Voltaire ,L' Orphelin de la Chine , Preface of 也 is work.
See also Theodore
Besterman , ed. , VolJa ire's Correspondence , 107 vols. (Geneva , 1953 -6 5) , Letter
5859.
82. Sh ou-yi Chen , "Th omas Percy and His Chinese Studies ," Chinese Social and
Politi豆豆l Science Review , 20 (July1936) , 212.
明明
教學與研究第于三期
268
of Confucianism up to the early nineteenth
83
century.~~
"No single work on the Far East ,
before or since , "ssaid Rowbotham , ''has had such a profound influence on European
84 ....
. ~ ~~.. ..
.•
_.
_. 85
thought. W - Although Du Halde himseU was not a Figurist ，~~ he accepted 也 e Figurist
86
theories that Confucius had prophesied the Messiah-~ and that the So ns of Noah had
87
founded the Chinese Empire.~· Like the Confucius Sinarum Philosophus of 1687 , Du
Halde'sDescription brought together Jesuit
interpre祖tions
of Confucianism and touched
off another school of interpretations.
c.
Mythological Interpretations
Despite the sanctions against the Jesuits in Europe , the Chinese emperor was still
acting as the patron of various Jesuits in their teaching of sciences and their relationship
to the Chinese classics.
Th e Jesuits , in turn , would use these studies to es個blish
commonalities between Chinese history and the Judeo-Christian tradition. Th eyattempted
to interpret the Chinese Five Classics along the lines of the
Pen個 teuch
of Moses.
Th ey
83. Boswell asked Johnson if he should read Du Halde's Chi曲. ''W旬， yes , (said he)
as one reads such a book ，位lat is to say , consult it." Boswell's Life of Johnson
(Oxford , 1934 , spring 1768) , II , 55. In addition 切也e two French editions (4 vols. ,
Pa ris 1735 , and Th e Hague 1736) , there were also two English translations one in
four volumes ,The General His個 rv of China...(London, 1736 and 1741) , rightly
descripted by Cordier as 'une edition fort mal soignee'(Bibliotheca Sinica , IV ,
col. 37) , and another folio edition in two volumes , A De scription of the Empire of
E且盟 (London， 1738-41). Some extracts from the Description , and from the
Lettres Edifiantes , were included in 官lOmaS Percy's Miscellaneous Pi eces relating to the Chinese (Lo ndon , 1762). Se e Cordier , Bibliotheca Sinica , cols. 926941 , for details.
84. Arnold H. Rowbotham , Missionary and 孔1andarin: Th e Jesuits at the Court of
旦控旦旦 (Berkeley: Univ. of California Pr ess , 1942) , p. 25 7.
85. According to the Dictionnaire de theologie catholique (V: 2 , Pa ris 1924; art.:
"Figurisme") , figurism is a system of interpretation of the Sc riptures basedon
the multiplicity of meanings presented by the Biblical texts. Th e chief exponent
of this system during the first half of the eighteenth century was the abbe
d'Eth~mare， a Jansenist priest in Pa ris who , accoring to Michaud (Biographie
universelle) , "saw everywhere figures of the defection of the Church , announced
them in his writings , his lectures and his conversations , and became the head of
a group which abandoned itself in this respect to extreme illusions , and it was
these illusions which prepared and fomented the deplorable scenes of the convulsionnaires." Wh en Freret and others，也erefore， looked for a term to applyto
出is group of Chinese scholars , it was not hard to find.
86. Du Halde , Description.II, 387.
87. Du Halde ,De scription , III , 2.
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
269
arrived at the conclusion that the mysteries of Christianity could be found , albeit
88
concealed , in the Chinese classics.
Ricci , with the majority of Jesuits in China , did not want to discuss the metaphy-
89
sical or mythological elements in the Chinese classics ,-- while the Figurists were
interested in the correspondence between the "figures" of the Chinese Classics: and the
Old Testament.
Among these Figurists , Bouvet was the most significant. His first
publication , the Portrait historique de l'empereur de la Chine (1697) , was imbued with
90
the sentiment that the Chinese empire was blessed by Go d.-- Bouvet received support
91
from the Chinese emperor and Louis XIV， v~ as well as from Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz.
In the same year , 1697 , Leibnitz published Novissima Sinica( Th e Most
Rβcent
News from China) , which advanced the theory that the binary system found in the Chinese
92
I-C控旦且 (Classic of Changes) was a universallanguage.-- Bouvet also stated that the£空間
93
_. .._... ..9
K盟(h exagrams) of the l二旦控旦g contained 他 e id曲 of the "Creation w - and the "Tr inity.w
Fang Hao , a modern Chinese Catholic scholar
Bouvet's 旦旦
were fourteen manuscripts about the I-C坐盟
95
written by missionaries in the Vatican Library.- - Bouvet wrote 古今敬天鑒任旦2型
Generalis Doctrinae Libri
ching t'ien chien ,
a啞 the
I-Ki峙，
, noted that in addition to
there
Worship of Heaven in Ancient and Modern Ti mes) in Chinese
first to allege that the Chinese in their classics respected and practised
"敬天"
88. Ru le , "Confucius ," p.408.
89. For example , Couplet in the "Proemialis Declaration" to Confucius Sinarum
Philosophus refers 切主旦旦旦旦 (Classic of Changes) as the source of the errors of
the modern interpretors (p. xxxviii).
90. See Bouvet' s letter of 24 Oc tober 1697, in which he tells Guibert , the French
Assistant , that he wishes to refute Ma igrot by giving public testimony to "the
belief of this Prince in the divinity" a report of which his long and frequent
access to the emperor qualified him to mention.
91. Bouvet dedicated Histoire de l'empereur de la Chine tοLouis XIV.
92. See also Leibnitz , "Concerning the Characters which Fohi , Founder of the Chinese
Empi凹， used in His Writings and Binary Arithmetic , " in Leibniz , Discourse on
也 e Natural Th eology of the Chinese , trans. Henry Ro semont and D:主riiel J. Cook
但onolulu: Th e Dniv. Press of Hawaii , 1977) , pp. 157-165.
93. Bouvet to Le Gobien, 8 November 1700 , in Leibnitz ,Opera Omnia , ed. Dutens IV
149.
94. Bouvet 切 Leibnitz， 4 November 1701 , Pa ris: B. N. Fr. 17240，也 81-82 (三才)
"Th ree stocks in 上旦旦旦旦， " and "three supremes" (三極)， i. e. .. a trinity in the
supreme being.
95. Fang Hao, Fang Hao Liu-shih Tsu-ting 】也0 ， I, 192.
‘
教學與研究第三期
270
(''Worship of Heaven").
:J 6
At Bouvet's recommendation , the Emperor K'ang Hsi called Jean-Francois Foucquet
to Peking in
1711 如飢dy
the I-Ching.
Foucquet asserted that the 1二旦且g， was the keyto
understanding the Chinese classics. In his study , he also mentioned the
tations of Confucianism.
Focquet also
maintained 曲的
Confucius
τhoist interpre-
taught an esoteric
d∞ trine
that went unrecorded as a result of its loss during the f卸nous burning of the
97
books during the Ch'in dynasty (221-206 B. C. ).-' Foucquet's only work printed during
his lifetime ,
/
a letter published in the Lettres edifiantes in 1705 , was the
98
Chronological Ta ble of Chinese History published in Rοme in 1729.-- Both Voltaire and
apa 吋
Montesquieu met
from
Foucqu帥，
and were interested not so much in his mythological interpre-
tations of Confucianism as in his discussion of the use of reason and law in Confucian
99
governmental administration.
Another Figurist , Joseph Henri Prtimare , also accepted the basic premis E: of a
primitive revelation transmitted through the Chinese classics , the 'vestiges' of which
100
were to be found there by those who knew what to look for.--- He attempted to reconcile
sinology and theology by the ancient universal mythology. P. de Premare , who lived in
China from 1698 to his death in 1735 , attracted wider attention than most his colleaSeveral of his works were published in Europe , notably his Re cherches sur les
101
tems anterieurs 孟 ceux dont parle Ie "Chou-King",--- which appeared as an introduction
gues.
96. Fang Hao , I, 236-237.
97. Borgia，旦控堡包 pp. 235-236.
98. It was re -p ublished in English translation in the Philosophical Transactions of 也e
Ro yal Soc iety(London) , 36 (1929-1930) , 397 -4 24.
99. Rowbo位lam ， "Figurists ," p.480. He states 也at "Foucquet was in Paris from
1721 to June , 1723 and Vol個 ire was in the capi個1 during at least part of 也 is
period. We have 也e latter' sword 曲的 the two men were acquainted. In his
Essai sur les moeurs{旦旦旦旦) ed. Moland , 11 , 160) , Voltaire says 'Le P~re
Foucquet.. .m'a dit plusieurs fois qu' i1 y avait it la Chine tres peu de ph i1osophes
athees. '宜his suggests 也at Voltaire , like Montesquieu , may have been on several
occasions 也e willing victim of the ex-missionary' s loq回city." Vol個 ire seems 切
be guilty of inconsistency since he elsewhere used the argument 曲的也e Chinese
were in the main atheists.
100. Rule , "Confucius ," p.462.
101, Joseph Henri Pr emare , "Recherches sur les tems anterieurs ceux dont parle Ie
'Chou-King' et sur 旭 mythologie chinoise", in Confucius. comp.Le "Chou King , "
un des livres sacres des Chinois , traduit et enrichi do notes par P. Ga ubil..
(Pa ris: N. M. Til1iard , 17τ帥， pp. xliv-xcccviii. Se e also Abel-Remus帥，
Nouveaux Melanges Asiatiques (Pa ris: Sc hubart et Heidelo缸， 1829) , II, 268.
a
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
271
to De Gu ignes' edition of his fellow Jesuit Gaubil's translation of the Sh u Ching 也挂盟 ic
102
of Records) , which is one of the Five Classics.--- Th ese significant studies of the 芷江豆
豆捏監控~
were generally neglected during the European Enlightenment.
In
eighteen也­
century Europe , only a few European scholars , including Leibnitz and Ma tthew Ti ndal ,
103
paid any attention to their mythological studies.
To avoid entanglement in the Confucian Ri tes Controversy , Premare would only
discuss the ancient Chinese classics. In addition , he studied Chinese belles -lettres and
translated the Le Petit orphelin de la maison de Tchao trag~die chinoise include:! in Du
Halde's Description.
It was Premare's translation of this latter work that various
European authors adopted.
However , his voluminous writings in
Chinese，經傳議論
(Di scourse on Classics)were never published , and were reserved only for the study of
the emperors.
According to Fang Ha o's study, the Di scourse on Classics comprised
twelve columes , dealing
wi也 different
旦控笠些豆，
Han and
together
wi也
aspects of the Confucian Four/Books and F且呈
104 _ ,
品ng commentaries. -- ~
Premare's other Chinese
compendium，儒教實義(四e True Doctrine of Confucianism) , was published. in 油 ipei
in 1970.
105
Although the Figurists wrote
voluminous旬，
little of their work on the Chinese
classics was allowed to be published either in Europe or in
China.τhere was
,
however ,
one exception , the work of Alexandre de la Charme , who stayed in China from 1728 to
1767.
In 1733 , he published his Hsing-li chen-ch回n( 性理員銓，True Explanation of
Principles of Nature) , which stood as the cumulative work of Jesuit metaphysical interpre祖tions
of Neo-Confucianism. He followed Ricci's distinction between the classics and
their commentaries:
What did the earlier Confucians say?Believe 扭曲e classics , and
do not believe 扭曲e commentary; discuss the classics , and do not
discuss the small print (of the commentary). And what do the later
Confucians say? Believe in the classics and also believe in the
102.Chou-King is another French romanization of Sh u Ching(Classic of Rec ords) .
103. Rowbotham , "Figurists ," p.480. See also Matthew Tindal , Christianity as Old
as the Creation (London , 1730).
104. Fang Hao ,Fang Ha o , pp. 198-199. "漠儒論" ("臼 Han Confucians"); Han
Dynasty(206 B.C.-A.D. 220); "宋儒論" (刊伽 su時 Confuc 詛ns"); 飢ng Dyna sty
(A. D. 960-1279).
105. "儒教實義"天主教東傳文獻續篇，III (Ta ipei: Hsueh Sheng 品u Chu , 1970).
差史學與研究第三期
272
commentary;
print. 106
西e
discuss 他 e
classics , and also
discuss 他 e
small
1742 prohibition of Chinese Christians from practising Confucian rituals made
it dangerous to follow Ri ccirs interpretation of the Confucian canons , or to use the terms
H 上帝，可旦旦旦-ti) or "天"也些!!) for God in Chinese.
problem by inventing yet another term ,
De la Charme sought 的 solve 曲 is
"上主刊(Shang -ehu ，
overtones of both the classical "Sh ang-ti" and the
Ca他olic
the Lord above) which had
"tien -c hu."
Wh ere
Ri cci
would have used "trien ," de la Charme used "shang -c hu." Apart from the translation of
of Changes) , de la Charme also prepared a translation of another
107
book included in the Five Classics，他e 晶晶 -Ching (Book of Poetry).- - - However , his
他 e I-C坐單 (Classic
translation dropped from sight, until two conturies later Ezra Pound reemphasized and
108
advocated Chinese Poetry.
Th e last cumulative work of the Peking Jesuit mission was the fifteen
volume
109
MilnlO ires concernant les Chinois ,--- which appeared in Pa ris between 1776 and 179 1. In
位lis
work , the authors placed a new emphasis on indigenous Chinese Interpretations. In
the preface 切也e M6moires , the editor said "La Chine seul peut faire connottre la
110
Chine. ,,--- Included in 他is work were translations of commentary on Confucian classics
such 的 Claude Visdelours "Not扭 e du livre chinois nomme 主主且g ou Li vre canonique
106. Cited in Ch'en Shou-i , "Ming-mo Ye-su-hui-shih te Je -e hiao-kuan Chi Ch'i
Fan回yi嗯， " in Ming Sh ih Lun-ts'ung.x(Ming...;
個 i Tsung -e hiao) , p.89.
107. Legge places this translation at around 1733 , five y曲 rs after de la Charme
arrived in China. See Legge悟 "Preface" 的The Chinese Classics I, v.
108. Ezra Pound , trans. ，四e Confucian Odes詩 (Book of Poetry J :四e Classic
Antholo的Defined by Confucius (Cambridge:
Harvard Dnlv. Press ,
1954).
Pound also edited Confucius to Cummings: An Antholo前 of Poetry(New York:
New Directions Publishing Corp. , 1964). Besides , his 色也正 (London: E.
Ma曲ews ， 1915) and Q且也呈 (London: Faber & Faber , 1954) , he also translated
three of the Four Books:1)Confucius: The Dnwobbling Pivot &Th e Great Digest
with notes and commen祖ry on the text and ideograms together with Chu Hsi's
"Pr eface" t。他e Chung Yung and Tseng's commentary on 他e Tes祖ment
(Bo mbay: Orient Longmans Ltd. , 1949) , first edition (n.p.) , 1947. 2) .1注且些.
四e Great L曲rning (Seattle: Dniv. of Washington Book Store , 1928).3) 旦旦二
fucian Analects (Lo ndon: P. Ow en , 1956).
109.M6moires concernant l'histoire , les sciences , les arts , les moeurs , les usages~
ete. des Chinois. Pa r les Missionaires de Pekin. 13 vols. (Pa ris , 1777-1791).
One additional volume was published in 1814.
110. M~moires， I , 23.
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
des changemens
111
...
~ ,= ._
__.
273
(Classl~ of Chan~s)，---and the 書經(Shu-King.
Although most of the Memoires dealt with
are in the twelfth and
Confucianism，也e
_.
_ _
_ . ••
Classic of Rec ords)."
112
major works on this subject
thirteen也 volumes，
and were written by Father Amiot (assigned to
113
China from 1750-1793). In his "Life of Confucius"--- and "Brief Lives of the Principal
114
Di sciples of Confuciu E>, ,,-- ~ Amiot sought to present Confucius and his disciples exactly
115
as 也 ey were depicted in the Chinese commentaries , and he used only Chinese sources:
However，也 ese
works came when European interests were shifting from those of the
116
Enlightenment to Ro manticism.--- Th ese Chinese works never caught the attention of
the European Englightenment.
d.
Jesuit Sh ortcomings
It was natural
that 也 e
Jesuits should strive to use the Confucian classics for their
own missionary activities and that the Jesuit interpretations should undergo the changes
described above.
translations of
It seems unusual ,
either 也 e
however ，也at
Confuc ian canon into any
也 ey
Europ目n
never prepared complete
language or of the Bible into
Chinese.
In their treatment of the
contemporary Neo-Confucian
canonical texts.
interpre祖tions
interpre祖tions ，
of Confucianism , they strove to avoid the
and tried to follow the ancient Chinese
It was p<?ssible for them to avoid 也 e intuitive interpretations of the
117
Wang Yang-ming (1472-1529) school ,--. because there was a reaction against 也 is school
118
among 也 e Chinese.--- As a r~sult ， Europe remained totally ignorant of this school until
111. M6moires.I , 23.
112.' Memoires , XII , 1786.
113. Le P. Amiot , "Vie de Confucius , " Memoires , XII , 1786.
114.Memoires , XIII.
115. He attempts to justify himself in his introduction (巨型世s ，妞， 5) by listing
the major sources and indicating 曲的 he is citing whenever he gives a quotation.
Moreover , this attitude towards his sources is compounded -by his remark ,
"since these books are of an almost equal authenticity." 'Th ese books' range
in date over at least 1500 years , and one wonders what Amiot's criteria for
'authenticity' could have been.
116. Ar位lUr O. Lovejoy , "Th e Chin'3 se Origin of a. Ro manticism , " Journal of English
and Germanic Philology(1930) , 1-20.
117. Rul e , "Confucius ," p.498.
118. :See the general introduction of 四庫全書 (Ssu去u Chuan-shu , Encyclopedia). In
the general preface , the editor said，刊Wang's school split off." For details of
也is reaction , see my discussion inthe next chapter.
可
教學與研究第三期
274
119
the twentieth century.--- Despite their desire to present the true meaning of the texts
uncolored by later interpretations , the pervasiveness of Chu Hsi's
interpre阻 tions
in the
contemporary Chinese intellectual milieu made it impossible for them to avoid NeoConfucian influences altogether.
We have already seen the influence of Chu Hsi on the
Jesuit translations discussed earlier.
C. R. Boxer has studied the partnership between the Europeans and the Chinese and
discovered some causes of the failure of the Catholic missionaries in China. Not only
were they prohibited from translating the La tin Bi ble into Chinese , but the Catholic
authorities also did not
es阻blish
an indigenous clergy in China. Boxer cites the Jesuit
Ro ugemon's case to prove his position.
Ro ugemon , who took charge
Confuc旭n F旦旦r 旦旦旦旦 in的Latin (Confucius 旦旦旦旦旦 Philosophus)，
of
translating
complained of the
problems of teaching La tin to the Chinese clergy and of using the La tin liturgy in the local
Chinese church. He refers to the following difficulties:
•. the impossibility of teaching La tin to Chinese boys of good
family because their parents would not allow it; the impracticality
of teaching La tin to boys of slaves or bondsmen because of the
universal contempt with which they would be regarded by their
compatriots on account of their origin. 120
119. In Japan , Wang's school was very popular. See Abe Yoshio. "Development of
Neo-Confucianism in Japan , Kor曲， and China，刊 (Tokyo， 1970) , p.32. Wang's
philosophy was enthusiastically advocated and studied in these two decades in the
West. Se e Julia Ching , trans. and annotator，百e Philosophical Letters of Wang
Yang-ming (Canberra: Australian National Univ. Press 1972). Al so her To
Acquire Wisdom: Th e Way of Wang Yang-ming (New York: Columbia Univ.
Press , 1976). See also Wing-tsit Chan , trans. & notes ,Instructions for Practical
Living , and Other Neo-Confucian Writings by Wang Yang-ming(New York:
Columbia Univ. Press 1963). On June 12-16 , 19 呃， a conference on "Wang
Yang-ming: A Comparative Study ," was neld at the University of Hawaii ,
in Honolulu. 宜be fruit is the 275 pages of Proceedings in Philosophy Ea stand
豆豆豆! (January-April , 1973).
120. Cited from C. R. Boxer , "European Missionaries and Chinese Clergy, " in 宜be
Age of Pa rtnership: Europeans in Asia before Dominion , ed. Blair B. Kling and
M. N. Pearson (Honolulu: Th e Univ. Press of Hawaii , 1979) , p.103. In his note
(p. 118 , note 3) , Boxer also s阻tes: "Tw o very useful articles on the indigenous
Chinese clergy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries , but which do not
claim to e油aust this subject , will be found in Johannes Beckmann , S. M. B. ,
'Die Bewahrungs-geschichte des Chinesischen Klerus im 17 und 18 Jahrhundert:
pp. 119-142 , and by Johannes Beckmann , S. M. B. , 'Di e La teinsche Bildung des
Chinesischen Klerus im 17 und 18 Jahrhundert ,' pp.163-187. I have avoided
repetition of these articles and approached the problem from another angle. "
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
275
In conclusion , none of the missionaries before the end of the eighteenth century had
translated all of the Chinese canonical texts into any European language. Likewise , they
had not translated their canonical works into any Chinese language. Indeed they had
translated some selected passages with their own comments from the Bible or from
Confucian canons. Th is neglect in the Jesuit transmission of both Christian and Confucian
canons left their work incomplete and incorrect. Th e Jesuits in facts only paved the way
for the Protestants to finish their work.
Th is deficiency in the extent of their translating activity was partially the result of
their emphasis on trying to convert individual emperors. Th eir missionary efforts might
have been better rewarded had they been able to provide potential converts with complete
translations of the Bible.
Instead , their missionary activities depended solely on their
relationship 切
emperors , rather than on widespread , popular
individual
support.
Similarly , since the Jesuits did not arrive at one body of translations of the Chinese
canon or one interpretation of the canon , the Popes vacillated greatly in their acceptance
and rejection of the Jesuit missionary activities.
百le
Protestants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries conducted their activities
in a much different manner.
c.
The Protestants
1. The First Chinese Bibles
Since the time of Ma rtin Luther's translation of the Bible into vernacular German in
121
1534 ,--- Protestants have emphasized the necessity for translating the Bible into vernacular languages.
Luther also advocated the use of Sc ripture without any commentary
appended. When he finished translating the Bible , he said:
Would that this one Book wer E. in every language , in every hand ,
before the eyes , and in the ears and hearts of all men! Sc ripture
withol!t any comment is the sun where· all teachers receive
light. 122
12 1. John Michael Rβu ， Luther's German Bible: A Historical Presentation To g-ether
with a Collection of So urces (Columbus: Th e Lutheran Book Concern , 1934) ,
p.21L
122. Quoted in Ma rshall Broomhall ,The Bi ble in China , p.48.
可
教學與研究第三期
276
Believing that the light of the Sc ripture might penetrate where the preacher couldnot
go , Joshua Ma rshman went to India in 01799 to translate the Bible into Chinese. With the
help of two Chinese and Johannes La ssar , an Armenian who had been born
entire Bible was translated into Chinese. ill Ma y ,
1823 ，即'la rshman's
in 即'lacao ，
"
、
the
son , John on behalf
of his father , 0presented a complete copy of the Bible in Chinese to the British and
Foreign Bible Society at their annual meeting.
In the following year a new and equally
complete translation was presented to the Society's annual meeting by the translator , Dr.
Robert Morrison , the first Protestant missionary to China , who had arrived in Canton in
123
1807.--- With the help of the British Museum manuscript of the Chinese New Testament ,
he re-translated the New Testament into Chinese in 1813. Another Protestant
Williani Milne , joined forces with Morrison , leading to the
124
of the Bible in Ma lacca in 1823.
According to Ga rnier's
study，他ere
publi曲tion
missionar只
of their translation
were sixty-eight editions of the Chinese Bible
in different dialects in use between 1823 and 1867.
Th e version of the Bible
used、 in
all
Chinese churches during the present century was published in 1919. ill contrast to these
many Protestant editions , the Catholics never published a Chinese translation of the
125
Bible until 1947.
2. The First English Chinese
Canoni臼 1
Texts
Marshman and Morrison also produced studies of Confucian classics.
Morrison's
publications included a Di ctionary of Chinese and Englishin six volumes , a grammar of
旦旦旦旦旦r (中國言法)， he translated the complete且二旦旦且(大學， Great Learnin的
in的
123. Ma rshall Broomhall，西e Bible in Chi咽， p.56. See also A.J. Garnier，旦控旦旦
Versions of the Bible (Shanghai , 1933) , p.20.
124. Ga rnier , Chinese Versions , p.20.
125. Fang Hao , a modern Catholic priest , said that it was a shame forthe Catholics
to use the Protestant translation elf the Bible , Fa旦旦旦旦Q ， II, 236 1.
126. Broomhall ,Th e Bible in China , p.6 1.
127. Broomhall ,Th e Bible in Chi咽， p.6 1.
4，困戶 γ、
the Chinese language and a work entitle Horae Sinicae , comprised of translations ·of
126
Chinese popular literature.--- Likewise , Ma rshman published his Clavis Sinica 巫 ~
127
Chinese La nguage) , or Grammar of the Chinese Language:~' ill his Elements of Chinese
論儒家經典西譯與基督教聖經中譯
English in
128
1814.~~u
in的 English
277
Th e most important contribution was his translation of
129
in 1809.
the 主旦控且呈
A later scholar , James Legge , who was also a Protestant missionary , was assisted
by the Chinese scholar , Wang T'ao , in translating the De legates' version of the Chinese
130
Bible. ~UV Legge's translation of the Four Books was the first complete translation in
131
any European languages. He also translated all the Five Classics.--- Legge's translations formed the basis of twentieth century sinological studies.
Th is activity contrasts
with that of the Jesuits , who , while producing thousands of books or manuscripts on
132
Confucianism in China and in Europe ,--- some of which were published , did not undertake
128. Joshua Marshman , Elements of Chinese Grammar (Serampore: Mission Press ,
1814).
129. J. Ma rshman ,The Works of Confucius; contains the "Lun Yu" in Chinese , with
romanized reading , and English translation , accompanied by commentary in
English. (Serampore: Mission Press , 1809). Ma rshman in the postscript of
the Works noted that the translation of "the Catholic Fathers is a free translation , and sometimes so diffuse , as to deserve the name of a paraphrase , "
p.727.
130. Pa ul A. Cohen , Between Tradition and Modernity: Wang T'ao and Rβform in
La te Ch 'ing China (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press , 1974) , p.20. For James
Legge's involvement , see Garnier's Chinese Versions , p.28.
13 1. James Legge , trans. ,Th e Chinese Classics (Hong Kong: London Missionary
Society's Printing Office , 1861-72) , 5 vols.Four Books:I.Confucian Analects ,
the Great Learning , and the Doctrine of the Mean , II. Mencius.Five Classics:
III.寧主旦主i盤， or the Book of Hi storical Documents.IV. Th e Sh e King. or 且呈
Book of Poetry. V.τbe Ch'un tsew , with the Tso chuen. As origina l! y projected
this collection was to embrace all the books in "the Th irteen Kings." The 6th
and 7th and the supplementary volumes were never published. Fortunately , an
English translation o.i:也e 且ι主1盟(易經) and Li 主.L<禮記) appeared respectively as vo l. 16 (1882) and vols. 27-28 (1885) of the series sacred Books of the
旦旦， edt Fr. Max Milller (Oxford: Clarendon Press). A translation of the 昆主
旦旦，The Religious Portions of 也e Sh ih King , Th e Hsiao King , appeared in vol.
3 (1879) of the saJIl e series. 百Ie Texts of Ta oism and the Writings ofKwang-Zze
was in vols. 39 -4 0 (1891).
132. See Ru le's "Bibliography," in his "Confucius ," pp. 487 -4 97. See also Du Halde"s
Description , II. 9.
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