By investigating the translations of the Western Learning in the early modern China, with the focus on the formation process of translation system, my dissertation probes into the buildings of ''modern translation'' and the prototype of the modern dis...
By investigating the translations of the Western Learning in the early modern China, with the focus on the formation process of translation system, my dissertation probes into the buildings of ''modern translation'' and the prototype of the modern discourse in the ''space of modern language.'' Especially, in the Chinese contexts after the Opium War, I investigate the linguisticcultural conflicts and the building of the modern hegemony. The detailed sources I refer to are the national educational institute for translation, Tongwenguan (同文館 ; the Imperial College of Languages), established by the Qing dynasty, and the translated examples excerpted from Elements of International Law, one of the representatives of the Western Learning at that time. My thesis is composed of five chapters.In the first chapter, I want to prove why the reexamination of the translation of the Western Learning in the early modern China is needed, and I suggest the hypothetical presumptions and methodologies in order to process the reexamination. The driving force to make changes in the existing linguistic system and discourse order in the East Asian countries goes in tandem with the rise of the Western Learning translation in the mid 19th century. However, the translation of the Western Learning after the Wuxubianfa (戊戌變法 ; the Reform Movement of 1898) mainly caught the attention of the current academia. In the light of the breakdown of the premodern linguistic and discourse orders which brought forth the formation of the modern linguistic and discourse order, the reexamination of the translation of the Western Learning in the late 19th century is meaningful as the preliminary stage. The translation of the Western Learning not only remained as the products of China but also it gave rise to the drastic changes in Korea and Japan. In this thesis, I raise the holistic vision in terms of the relationship between the East and the West, and I propose the 'language space' as an alternative plan. Plus, I suggest the two contrary forces in the translation of the Western Learning : one is the centripetal force for the linguistic and cultural hegemony of the West, and the other is the centrifugal force running away from the center. From the conflicts and contradictions of the two, I propose the need for double-valued prospect and methodology.In the second chapter, I try to explore the translation before the mid-19th century in the premodern linguistic space. In particular, as the preliminary preparation stage to form the modern translation protocol, the Western Christian missionary''s sporadic participation is noted. Different from the Western logo-centrism, Chinese focuses on the characters so this fact led Chinese to the disinterest in its colloquial practice. In addition, the linguisticcultural contacts with the neighboring barbarian countries were made not through the translation between distinctive characters and languages but through the classical written languages such as the Chinese and textual characters without considering the existence of native tongues. In the space of the premodern language, the classical language (classical Chinese) played as the meta-language and shared-language transcending each people''s native tongues and dialects, and the translation between each people''s characters did as a secondary role. In this Chinese translation history, as an exceptional translation project, there had been the translations of Buddhist texts and of Western Learning by the Christian missionary in the early Qing dynasty, but they were also well aware of the linguisticcultural hegemony of the traditional China and depended on the traditional Chinese discourse. Those translating methods such as ''Buru (補儒 ; the supplementary role for Confucian), '' ''Xiyizhongshu (西譯中述 ; interpreting from Western language and translating into classical Chinese), '' and ''Geyi (格義 ; adaptation to target context)'' show the Chinese linguistic and cultural hegemony in the premodern language space. The Western protestant missionary in the mid-19th century, however, began to prepare the formation of the standard protocol for the Western Learning translation, which led to the securing of the linguistic and cultural hegemony of the West. Because their activities were mainly made in the areas of the southern coasts, the frontier of China, the north part did not receive any influence from them. This limit resulted in the failure in recognizing the Western language and culture as the other.In the third chapter, the main idea is dealt with through the translation system and protocol, the formation process of modern hegemony, right before the Tianjin(天津) Treatment in the wake of the Second Opium War. The insertion of the sentences in the Tianjin Treatment document symbolizes the drastic changes in the linguisticcultural relationship between China and the West : 'All official communications addressed by the Diplomatic and Consular Agents of her Majesty the Queen to the Chinese Authorities shall, henceforth, be written in English. it is understood that, in the event of there being any difference of meaning between the English and Chinese text, the English Government will hold the sense as expressed in the English text to be the correct sense.' China privileged over the linguisticcultural hegemony, as is seen from the translations of the Buddhist texts, and from the translations of the Western Learning by the missionary of the Society of Jesus during the late Ming and early Qing, and by the protestant missionary before the Second Opium War. However, this hegemony was turned over to the West with the conclusion of the Tianjin Treatment. The establishment of the national educational institutes for translation is in line with the perceptional changes made by the upper class intellectuals, which further greatly influences on the activities of the Western missionary such as Mohaishuguan (墨海書館) and Guangxuehui (廣學會) along with the flourishing of the Western Learning translation with the translation system and protocol formation. Through the translation of the Western Learning, there were made the translation words and meaning changes in the existing vocabulary, which resulted in the ''break'' in the existing linguistic systems and discourse order. In this sense, the modern translation can be evaluated as the new verification of hegemony in the modern discourse.The fourth chapter goes into the detailed translation examples in Elements of International Law translated by William Martin who engaged as a missionary, delegate, and Tongwenguan teacher. By the examples of the practical translation, I try to look into the hybridity in the hegemony formation of the Western discourse along with the traditional discourse. The Western modern international law resulted from the Euro-centrism, and Orientalism replaced the East Asian traditional discourse order through the translation of Elements of International Law. I verify the import of the Western discourse and the securing of the hegemony by way of the translated terms newly made and created in the process. The double values contained in the translated texts divulge the distinctive facets in the ''travel'' to Japan.In the final chapter, I reexamine the double values contained in the 19th century Western Learning in translation, and I discuss the out-of-modern prospects and possibilities amongst the forces of centripetal and centrifugal. Following the continuous changes of language, translation also changes along with the historical meaning changes in the texts. Translation establishes the linguistic hegemony but it continuously breaks down the existing hegemony. Plus, translation disregards two different elements, which sheds the possibility to go beyond the binary oppositions. “Huzangqize(互藏其宅 ; mutual hiding of its dwelling), ” the concept from the Book of Changes, which means frequenting the divisions between th inside and outside, Yin(陰) and Yang(陽), the old and young, and the Orient and the Occident, would be a most suitable concept of translation disrupting the certainty and adherence of the modern.