總理衙門譯印《萬國公法》以吸取西方外交經驗

The Publication of International Law's Chinese Translation by Zongli Yamen (Office for the Management of the Business of All Foreign Countries) with the Purpose of Acquiring Western Diplomatic Experie

10.6243/BHR.2007.037.119

王爾敏(Erh-Min Wang)

總理各國事務衙門 ； 同文館 ； 丁韙良 ； 萬國公法 ； Zongli Yamen Office for the Management of the Business of All Foreign

臺灣師大歷史學報

37期（2007 / 06 / 01）

119 - 140

繁體中文

總理各國事務衙門於1861年奏明設立，1862年開辦同文館，以培育外語人才及傳播西方外交知識為宗旨，1863年，丁韙良繙譯《萬國公法》，隔年由總理衙門付梓刊印，1865年正月進呈御覽，同年，丁韙良被聘為為同文館教習，《萬國公法》成為同文館生徒修習的重要課目。丁韙良繙譯《萬國公法》出發點在幫助中國認識西方外交制度與慣例，譯成之始即對於當時士大夫有所影響。1863年端午日，中國學者張斯桂最早讀其書並撰序，即已對中國所處之列強競逐之世局有全面認識，將其與古之春秋相提並論。要之，無論朝野，其書對提示外交知識，啟悟國人之作用，有重大影響。

Zongli Yamen (Office for the Management of the Business of All Foreign Countries 總理各國事務衙門) was established in 1861. In the following year, 1862, Tongwen Guang (College of Foreign Languages 同文館) was also established to train students in translating foreign languages. In 1863, the Chinese translation of International Law (《萬國公法》) was translated by Ding, Wei-liang (丁韙良) and was published by Zongli Yamen in the following year. In Feb. of 1865, the Chinese translation of International Law was submitted to the Emperor Tongzhi, and in the same year, Ding, Wei-liang was employed as a lecturer of Tongwen Guang. Hence, the study of International Law became a major course for the students of Tongwen Guang. For Ding, the purpose to translate International Law was to help Chinese people understanding western diplomatic institutions and customs. Once the Chinese translation was published, international Law did cast its major influence upon the intellectuals at that time. On Dragon Boat Festival of 1863, Chinese scholar-official Zhong Sikuei (張斯桂), wrote a preface for this book. In his preface, Zhang revealed the Chinese critical and dangerous situations under the pressure of western powers. At the same time, he highly recommended this book and esteemed it as important as the ancient classical Spring-Autumn (《春秋》). In brief, International Law opened a door for Chinese intellectuals to acquire western diplomatic knowledge and also had significant influence upon their contemporaries.

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