《望厦条约》订立前后中美往来照会及翻译活动研究

美国在19世纪中期开始将注意力聚焦在亚洲。近代中美外交关系的第一页由1844年美国派往中国的第一个外交使团“顾圣使团”掀开。美国公使顾圣在抵达澳门后,先后同护理两广总督程矞采、钦差大臣耆英展开了约半年之久的照会交涉与谈判。顾圣与程矞采间的照会往来主要围绕“北上进京”的主题,双方间发生过多次直接交锋,程矞采的态度坚决而强硬。在第二阶段,耆英主要采用了怀柔政策,顾圣在双方外交折冲中占据上风。以中美双方在《望厦条约》订立前后的照会交涉为中心,文章对顾圣使团的翻译活动作了梳理,伯驾承担的翻译任务最多,裨治文次之,然后是卫三畏;赫宁茨则主要是在徐亚满案中承担情报搜集翻译工作。使团译者不仅为使团展开照会交涉与谈判提供了优质的翻译服务,还提供了重要情报,为美国在华展开商业活动和建立外交关系立下了功劳。
Abstract：The United States of America started to pay more diplomatic attention to Asia during the first half of the nineteenth century, and the very first page of formal diplomatic relations between the United States and the Chinese Empire began in 1844 when Caleb Cushing's Mission was sent to China. The communications, or public dispatches, between Commissioner Caleb Cushing, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of United States to the Court of Taou Kuang, and Ching, acting Governor General of Kuang Tung and Kuang Se, focused on the Cushing's plan of proceeding to Peking. There was a war of words between Caleb Cushing and Ching, who declined the Mission's proposal and deliberately or negligently committed errors occasionally. Tsiyeng chose to tenderly cherish men from afar, and Caleb Cushing prevailed over Tsiyeng, who was the opposing side of the communications and conflicts. This research article provides an in-depth description of the translation activities based on the public dispatches between China and US before and after the signing of the Treaty of Wang-Hiya. The findings of the research show that Peter Parker, medical missionary and the Joint Chinese Secretary to Legation in Macau, did most of the translation jobs, Elijah Coleman Bridgman in the second place, and S. Wells Williams in the third place. Stanislas Herniss, an attaché and an interpreter, translated a few notices and supplied related information concerning the case of Sue Aman's death. The translation and interpreting services rendered by these missionaries, in particular, facilitated the communications and negotiations between the two sides, and promoted the development of trade in China and the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Chinese Empire.