明代的四夷館與譯字生

四夷館可以說是在元代譯學基礎下，配合明太宗的野心而設立的學校。它有別於以往漢人王朝的制度，也有別於元代的譯學教育與譯官體系，是一個混合前代譯學，並結合明代學校養士、科舉取士的政策，進而形成的新制度。始於永樂朝廷的四夷館，首先選取監生、舉人擔任譯字生，並依照科舉取士的原則，給予投考科舉、比照正途出身的優典。然而，優典卻引起中葉以來私學譯字的奔競風氣，甚至造成賄選，打擊館生的素質。致使晚明朝廷只能改以嚴格考課，謀求譯字世業化，將譯字生固定於九品序班，以辦事名義安排於內閣、史館、四夷館，擔任謄錄與譯字的工作。館生素質與授官品級，導致四夷館逐漸淪為陰陽、醫學之流，被描述為譯字不彰、無用的機構。官員們一方面強調四夷館的重要性，一方面又以正途自居，難免輕譯的傳統。由此可見，四夷館的興衰反映了征服王朝底下的多元譯學，在進入漢人王朝之後，隨著明代政局的轉化，逐漸混合並趨近於成熟。選取譯字生的部分，說明了朝廷選材用人制度的轉變，可在另一方面，四夷館館員與館生們所編寫的《華夷譯語》，當中由漢人譯字官員譯寫的漢文，卻刻意沿用元代的蒙人譯寫漢文的直譯口說文體，不但留下元朝的遺風，也透露出明代中國在對域外交流方面，其文字的呈現風格顯然內外有別。透過四夷館制度周邊的人事、底下的譯字生，以及它所採用的譯寫規則，可說明元明文化的交替與明代制度的特色。

關鍵字

四夷館；譯字生；譯字教育；華夷譯語；制度變遷

並列摘要

The siyi guan, or “translation bureaus” of the Ming dynasty was an institution established on the foundation of translation study, which had existed since the Yuan dynasty as well as under Emperor Yungle ambition. Its existence not only distinguished itself from traditional organizations in Chinese government, but was similar to translation educational and the bureaucratic establishment of the Yuan dynasty, which showed a new face that mixed translation study and school education of the previous dynasty. The students of the imperial college and the first-degree scholars selected by the court are qualified as translation students and are allowed to attend the imperial examination according to the principle of admissions and receive a special, courteous treatment as an formal official. However, this special, courteous treatment raised morale due to the desire for fame and fortune available in private translating school. Further, it caused bribery and reduced the qualities of students. Responding to a decay of translating affairs, the court made a change of policies, such as adapting strict evolution, limiting the translation career inherited within families, fixing translating students at the 9th rank, and the arranging of their transcribing and translating work at “the grand secretariat” (neige),” historial hall” (shiguan), and siyi guan as a title of “clerk” (banshi). Due to the students’ quality and the official rank, the siyi guan was described as a useless institution, similar to naturalistic and medical school. Ironically, the officials emphasized the importance of the siyi guan on the one hand, but on the other hand, they could not escape the tradition of regarding translation with contempt. The rise and fall of the siyi guan reflected the multi-translations studies in a conquering empire. More clearly speaking, the siyi guan developed its specific characteristics after the Chinese retook control over it across the Chinese territory. Interestingly, the Chinese characters in the “sino-babarian lexicon” (huayi yiyu) compiled by the siyi guan was expected to be re-written by Chinese officials but the Yuan dynasty turned out to continue using the Mongolian version. All of these things are revealing how the translation of words was transformed from the Yuan to the Ming dynasty. Through the personnel of the siyi guan, the affiliated students, and the adoption of translative principles, it revealed a turn and transformation between the Yuan and Ming dynasties.