허버트 자일스의 ≪중국문학사≫와 藍鼎元

Abstract

This paper is written to examine H.A.Giles(1845-1935)’s description of LanDingyuan in History of Chinese Literature and the background of Giles’s interest in him. Giles published History of Chinese Literature(1901) for the first time in the English-speaking world. Volume 8 of this book dealed with Qing Dynasty literature. However, in Chapter 3, which dealed with poetry and scholarship, the person who was treated with the most importance was LanDingyuan(1680-1733). He was from Zhangpu, Fujian Province, and served in the 5th year of Yongzheng’s reign(1727) as the governor of Puning and Chaoyang County, Guangdong Province. Despite his unremarkable career as a bureaucrat, he was also recorded in Draft History of Qing, and his several works were also included in Sikuquanshu. Searching Giles’s works, he first expressed his interest of LanDingyuan in Historic China and Other Sketches(1882) in earnest. In this book, he translated 12 works in Lan’s Luzhougong’an along with a preface. Next, Giles described Lan’s major activities in general in A Chinese Biographical Dictionary(1898) and especially mentioned Luzhougong’an, records of criminal cases, Nüxue on women’s education, and Luzhouchuji, a collection of prose. Lastly, in the section on Qing literature in History of Chinese Literature(1901), Lan was heavily described. Here, Giles provided a brief introduction to Lan and translates some of Nüxue, Luzhougong’an, and Luzhouchuji. In particular, the translations regarding Luzhougong’an account for half. In Luzhouchuji, writings on trade, diplomacy, and religion were translated. Coincidentally, the areas where Giles worked as a diplomat overlaped with Lan’s hometown and appointed area. That special connection might have been a factor in Giles’ interest in him. However, more directly, it was likely that the translation and introduction of Lan’s works by E.C.Bridgman and S.W.Williams in Chinese Repository(1837-1840) had an influence. In addition, Because Lan’s Luzhouquanji was published in Guangzhou or Zhangzhou, for those who were active in the southern coastal region, Lan’s book was easy to obtain at bookstores. Through this, we can conclude that information about Lan and his works was shared among Westerners active in coastal cities in southern China in the 19th century. This informations were mainly shared through translations published in magazines. If Bridgman translated and introduced Lan’s writings on trade and diplomacy, Williams expanded its scope to Chinese women and education, focusing on Nüxue. Giles, further again, extended its range to Chinese judicial system through the translation of Luzhougong’an, and these existing achievements were compressed in History of Chinese Literature.