翻译的政治:马儒翰与第一次鸦片战争

鸦片战争期间,中英双方都存在语言沟通的难题.但是,英方由于聘用马儒翰等人担任翻译,有效解决了政治沟通和情报收集等问题.他们充分借助马儒翰等人的中文知识,作出了合理的战略决策和军事安排.而反观中方,林则徐之后的几个主帅,出于怀疑汉人、明哲保身等心理,竟将为数不多的几个译员拒之门外,倚赖英方的马儒翰居中翻译.在缺乏翻译的情况下,清军前线主帅根本无法摸清敌人的真实动向,更无法核对所签条约文本的准确性.结果,清政府不但丧失了战争主动权,也丧失了谈判主动权,造成了很多原本可避免的损失.

The Politics of Translation:J.R.Morrison and the First Opium War

During the First Opium War,both the generals of China and Britain were faced with barriers in language.However,the British side chose to appoint J.R.Morrison as translator,who was well versed in Chinese,so they successfully solved the problems in political communication and intelligence collection.And furthermore,with the aid of J.R.Morrison and the others,it made reasonable strategic decisions and military arrangements.In contrast,the generals of Qing Dynasty who succeeded Lin Zexu,refused to appoint the H...