從誤讀到發現：以乾隆御製詩〈詠雞缸杯〉19世紀的兩個英譯本為例

From Misreading to Discovery: A Case Study of Two 19th Century English Translations of an Imperial Poem by Emperor Qianlong Inscribed on the Chicken Cup

乾隆皇帝為仿成化鬥彩雞缸杯所題寫的〈詠雞缸杯〉，曾在19世紀被譯介到英語世界。本文以斯蒂芬‧韋斯頓（Stephen Weston）1809年翻譯的《李唐，一首乾隆御製詩的翻譯及注釋》（Ly Tang, An Imperial Poem in Chinese）（Weston, 1809）與卜士禮（Stephen Wootton Bushell）1897年《東方陶瓷藝術》（Oriental Ceramic Art, Collection of W. T. Walters）（Bushell, 1897）一書收錄的〈詠雞缸杯〉譯本為研究對象，將文本細讀與歷史背景的探究相結合，思考19世紀中西文化交往中，西方對中國文化由誤讀到發現的演化過程，並從中管窺翻譯活動中所呈現的，中英文化交往早期英國漢學發展中「前漢學家模式」與「專業漢學研究」兩種知識類型。

In the 19th century, numerous imperial poems written by Emperor Qianlong were translated into English. One of these poems was an ode to the Chicken Cup, which is a famous product of official kiln porcelain in the Ming and Qing dynasties. This paper presents a study of two 19th century English translations of this ode, that is, Stephen Weston’s 1809 translation Ly Tang, An Imperial Poem in Chinese, and Stephen Wootton Bushell’s 1986 translation in Oriental Ceramic Art, Collection of W. T. Walters. The present study combines textual analysis with insight into the translational context to explore this 19th-century cultural encounter between China and the West in which the Western interest in and knowledge of Chinese culture evolved from misreading to discovery. This case study also provides an overview of the transition in knowledge from “pre-travelogue Sinology” to “professional Sinology” in the early years of Sino-British cultural interactions.