美國《獨立宣言》在晚清中國

The American Declaration of Independence in Late Qing China

潘光哲(Kuang-Che Pan)

《近代史研究所集刊》 57期 (2007/09) Pp. 1-55

https://doi.org/10.6353/BIMHAS.200709.0001

摘要

本文述說了美國《獨立宣言》在晚清以降的中國流傳的整體脈絡。美國籍傳教士裨治文(Elijah Coleman Bridgman)於1838年刊印的《美理哥合省國志略》，首度刊布了美國《獨立宣言》文本的部份漢譯，從此開展了中國人認識美國《獨立宣言》的契機。可是，要到二十世紀反滿革命風潮勃興之後，美國《獨立宣言》楬櫫的「革命理由」，方始得到迴響與共鳴，依據美國的《獨立宣言》建構革命正當性(legitimacy)的政治語言，在歷史舞台上漸次出台問世。檢討美國《獨立宣言》在晚清中國流傳的歷程，應能對反思革命如何成為形塑近現代中國政治文化(political culture)不可或缺的關鍵詞之一，提供個案角度的理解。

關鍵字

獨立宣言 ； 革命 ； 政治文化 ； 晚清中國

並列摘要

This essay tells the story of the reception of the American Declaration of Independence in late Qing China. As the founding proclamation of a new nation written under unique historical circumstances, the Declaration of Independence presents special problems for those who would read it in different times and places. The first Chinese translation of the American Declaration of Independence was published in 1838 by the American missionary Elijah Coleman Bridgman (1801-1861), and I have discovered nine additional translations published after Bridgman but before 1912. This essay gives a detailed analysis of these texts, all published in late Qing China, and shows how the American Declaration of Independence was used by Chinese revolutionaries to find a formula for their proposed government and to strengthen the legitimacy of their revolution. These uses of the Declaration of Independence offer insights into the intellectual forces behind the revolutionary movement, and thus add to our knowledge of the history of political culture in modern China.

並列關鍵字

The US Declaration of Independence ； revolution ； political culture ； late Qing China

參考文獻

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