As the first person to "open his eyes to the world", Lin Zexu used a lot of translated materials to understand the outside world before the Opium War. The English newspaper articles of the "Bombay Times", "Zhonghua Cong", "Singapore Free Press", and "Guangzhou Chronicle" that he ordered to be translated were collected into a volume and turned into "Macao Newsprint", which became Lin Zexu's desk reference for spying on the enemy's situation. However, he may not know that what he sees is heavily filtered. This allows him to end up with only a distorted Western world.
Mishandling of professional terms
First of all, it should be affirmed that as for the direct cause of the Sino-British war, as well as in the transmission of the British motives, several translations have basically correctly translated the real purpose of the British maritime expansion, including the war against China, that is: to find a new way to produce goods. The original text of the British is:
“Our object is trade, not conquest, not the getting into our possession so many provinces or departments of the Celestial Empire but to open new market to British enterprise, and find new vents for our redundant manufactures.”
However, in the handling and translation of many details, several translators made mistakes, large and small, which greatly affected Lin Zexu and the Qing court's high-level understanding of the development of the situation and the positioning of the nature of the Sino-British war.
First of all, there is the problem of translating some historical names and words, due to the lack of understanding of historical and humanistic knowledge in translation, there is a serious semantic loss in the translation process.
Guan Tianpei
For example, on October 12, 1839, the Guangzhou News reprinted a short message about Guan Tianpei's family history in the "Zhonghua Cong Lun", in which Guan Tianpei had his identity and official notices translated into English, in which he proudly mentioned that he was born in Hedong and was a descendant of the martial saint Guan Yu.
After reading it, British media people said that some European aristocrats may be envious. In England, many noble families can only go back hundreds of years, and the oldest noble lineage is probably in Italy, where parchment genealogies can trace the origins of some nobles back to ancient Roman heroes and emperors. The translator translates Rome directly as Rome, which is very unprofessional and fails to reflect the historical and cultural weight of the noun itself.
In fact, the Chinese world already knew the existence and glory of Greco-Roman classical history as early as the end of the Ming Dynasty, for example, the "Outer Records of the Staff" at the end of the Ming Dynasty described the history and grandeur of the city of Rome in this way:
“...... Romer, in ancient times, was the capital of the kings, and all the kingdoms of Europa were subservient. One hundred and fifty miles around the city there is a large canal, called the Tevere River, which runs out of the city for a hundred miles to enter the sea. The merchants of the Quartet have lost treasures and gathered in this canal, and there are many famous and virtuous people here since ancient times.
Once built a big hall round shape is large, magnificent, the top is the dome with masonry, the masonry is added to the lead plate as a tile, the middle of the top is hollowed out more than two zhang, to show its ingenuity (Roman Pantheon) with the light through the sky. Dedicated to the gods, this temple has been in existence for more than 2,000 years. After the ascension of Jesus, the saints went to the four corners to preach, and two of them, one Peter and one Paula, both went to the city of Roman, and preached on the affairs of God, and many people believed in it. (Constantine the Great converted to Christianity)
For more than 1,600 years since the reign of Peter, the bishops have been unceasing, and the popes have never married, and there will never be anything in the world, but by virtue of the great virtue, the ministers of the auxiliaries have elected one of them, and the kings of the countries of Europa, although they are not his ministers, have paid homage to them, and are called the Holy Fathers and Priests, and think that on behalf of the king of the Catholic Church, whenever there is a major matter, he will ask for his life...... There are seven mountains in the city, the largest of which is called the most densely populated mountain......"
At least at the end of the Ming Dynasty, a small number of enlightened scholars in the Chinese-speaking world came into contact with accurate information about the city of Rome as the political and religious center of ancient Europe, the papal residence, and the city of the Seven Hills. However, when dealing with other articles on Rome, these translators also translate Rome as Luo Wen, and they do not understand the purpose of the analogy made by the original author when referring to Rome.
Qing Dynasty's garrison troops on the Inner Asian frontier
and on October 12, 1839, the "Treatise on the Chinese Series" , the British discussed the military strategy against China, whether it was an expedition to China from the interior of Inner Asia, or from Indochina to the north of southern China, or to build small island fortresses along the coast, combined with the British fleet for island chain blockade, the British believed that the combination of island chain blockade was the most practical, when discussing the attack on China by land, the British believed that the expedition route from India - Kabul - Kashmir - Shache - Southern Xinjiang - Gansu - Han would pass through a large number of mountains and deserts, if the British and Indian troops were going to take this route, then the Israelis out of Egypt was nothing compared to them wandering of the Children of Isreal in the desert would be nothing of theirs), but the Chinese translator omitted the allusion represented by the word because it only recognized Children, so it directly processed this sentence as "This is the thought of a child, the thought of a fool." ”
The ancient city of Shache written by Western explorers
The translator made a mistake with the information of the country
It is understandable that translators do not know the historical and geographical terms of the West, but they are not familiar with Chinese history. For example, in the treatment of Kublai Khan, the translators did not recognize Kubilai Khan as Kublai Khan, so in an article about ancient Chinese civilization published in the Canton Chronicle on December 14, 1839, the word was transliterated as Gumalikan, and in the article describing the history of the Chinese navy and Chinese navigation on April 4, 1840, the original author meant that Yuan Taizu sent a fleet to Japan, but the translator directly misinterpreted this sentence as "Yuan Taizu sent his general Gu Bulekan to expedition to Japan".
What's even more ridiculous is that these people also mistook the names of the emperors of this dynasty, for example, in 1840, the Canton News reprinted an assessment of the Qing Dynasty's military strength in the Bombay Times, in which the original author wrote:
The late emperor Dziazzin issued a proclamation, in 1800, in which he recalled to the memory of the Mandjours, their ancient exploits.
The original meaning of this sentence is that around 1800, the first emperor Jiaqing recalled the great achievements of the Manchurian ancestors in an edict. But when it comes to the Chinese translation, the Jiaqing Emperor (Dziazzin) has inexplicably become "the recent Emperor of Russia, Desia, in 1800 years, once had an edict to awaken the courage of the Manchurians", translating the Qing Dynasty Son of Heaven into the Russian Tsar, if it were not for Lin Zexu's tolerance and the general ignorance of the Chinese bureaucracy about English, these translators would have been imprisoned.
In addition to the errors in professional terms, when introducing their own economic strength, military combat strength and system, etc., the translators will naturally "please" Lin Zexu, even if there are obvious preambles in some contents.
For example, in an article about ancient Chinese civilization published in the Canton Chronicle on December 14, 1839, the author mentioned:
They were famous for weaving of the silk and manufacture of porcelain, and probably also the making of sugar even at the time of the Roman Republic and that samples of their industry even reached the empress of the western world.
This sentence refers to the ancient Chinese who were famous for their silk and porcelain industries, and they may have had sugar making techniques in the era equivalent of the Roman Republic, and samples of their handicrafts even passed down to the queens of the Western world at that time.
However, the Chinese translator misunderstands the tense expressed in this passage, and directly describes the ancient story as the current grand occasion: "There has been a long history of Chinese writings, the most important of which are weaving, firing porcelain and making all kinds of sugar, which are not as good as foreign countries, and now they have also spread to the western countries." ”
What are the problems caused by the wrong translation?
For example, in the translation of the proposal for the Sino-British conflict in the Singapore Free Press on July 4, 1839, the British said: If Britain can suspend the tea tax for a period of time, if the middle and upper classes can endure a period of tea-free life without large-scale protests, then we have an excellent opportunity to teach China a lesson:
If the revenue arising form tea could be dispensed for a brief period, if the upper and the middle rank of the society could be put on a short allowance for tea for a while ,here is a golden opportunity for giving the Chinese a lesson .
But the translated text is: "If Britain can temporarily stop collecting tea taxes, people in the upper and middle classes can also use tea for the time being, and China will not be in chaos, even if it is the best opportunity to theorize with China." This directly distorts the dependency between China and Britain and the determination of the British.
Because of the wrong translation, the translated information smoothed out the huge generational gap between China and Britain in weapons: for example, in a brief commentary describing the history of the Chinese navy and the history of Chinese navigation on April 4, 1840, the original text of the British is:
As there is good reason to suppose that the coasts of China will soon be subjected to attack, It may not be uninteresting to enquire what means the Chinese possess to repel such attack, or whether they are likely to render themselves formidable as a naval power to an assailant from the seaside.
However, in the pen of the Chinese translator, it became "an enemy who invaded China from the coast, which is very rare in the history books; China has brave sailors", which directly distorted the author's original intention, and seemed to be deliberately aimed at currying favor with officials.
In addition, when translating the article "Chinese Military Strength" in the Macao newsprint of April 18, 1840, the original English text gave the following description of Chinese artillery:
The Chinese managed to cast immense pieces, which could match our 48 Ponders.
The original author meant that the Chinese could also make cannons that fired 48-pound shells. However, after being processed by the translation, it became "China has another cannon, and one cannon can rival ours with forty-eight cannons." "Translated China's homemade cannon into an invincible artifact that terrifies the Yingyi.
But then, the translator's translation changed his words, saying that China's artillery casting technology was rough, the barrel of the cannon was often blown up, and the artillery had no arithmetic training, so the cannon was not accurate; and the Chinese liked to install stones and pieces of iron into the barrel to fire, so it was difficult for Chinese artillery to endanger people. The translation of the second half of the paragraph is roughly correct, but when you look at it with the previous text, you will find that the two are completely incoherent.
Other translations are very strange, such as the translation mentions that "once Chinese become soldiers, it is like marrying out of their mother-in-law's family, and they regard being a soldier as an insult." Although there have been many proverbs that stigmatize soldiers since the Song Dynasty, such metaphors are really unheard of. In the original text, the author writes that most of the soldiers are recruited from the descendants of the soldiers, and most of the enlisted have wives:
“The army is raised from the offsprings of the soldiers, who are almost all married”.
Some even completely distort the gist of the original text: for example, in the following paragraph, the original author writes:
”Chinese soldiers don't march in closed ranks, nor wheel around or draw up like our soldiers, in fact they walk as they best can ,without putting themselves to any inconvenience."
The original intention was that the Chinese army would not march in a tight marching formation, nor would it turn around or assemble like the British soldiers. They can walk as much as they want while marching, and they will never let themselves feel uncomfortable in the slightest. But in the hands of a Chinese translator, it became "If the Chinese soldiers encounter a road that is not very easy to take, they will not do it." ”
Such a translation also led to the Qing Dynasty's various misjudgments of the enemy situation before the war, such as the Qing Dynasty's wishful thinking that Britain is a maritime power, the British navy is strong, so the British are not good at land warfare, once the war is unfavorable, then the Qing army can still win on land, the original text of the British is that the Qing army, like all hooligans, is essentially cowards, (the Chinese, like all the bullies are cowards) , but the translator translates this into the British who believe that "the Chinese soldiers are all majestic." ”
Another example is the translation of the Sino-British tea trade and the British analysis of Chinese tea, exaggerating the quality and merits of Chinese tea, and greatly belittling the British and Dutch in cultivating Chinese tea in the Asian colonies and recruiting Chinese tea farmers to grow tea, which made the Qing Dynasty overestimate the weight of Chinese tea in the Sino-British game.
It is also based on similar ideas, in the future Opium War, Yishan saw that the Qing army was fighting unfavorably near Guangzhou, and after paying the ransom fee, he claimed internally that the British only came because the Qing Dynasty did not allow the sale of goods, resulting in the purchase of goods, and now the war was to negotiate the cost of the purchase, and then implored the Qing Dynasty to switch to give a trade opportunity, and completely distorted the Sino-British relationship into a dispute within the traditional tributary trade system. Although this kind of bullying was not unrelated to the overall ecology of officialdom at that time, we must also note that when the Chinese first opened their eyes to the world, the first-hand information obtained by senior officials was also full of loopholes, still full of low-level grammatical errors, and the arrogance of the Celestial Empire.
Who is translating this world information related to the fortunes of the country for Lin Zexu?
The English vocabulary textbooks of the Qing Dynasty adopted the homophonic notation method
At that time, there were mainly 4 translators under Lin Zexu:
Originally from Sichuan, Yuan Dehui once lived in Nanyang, studied Latin at the De Yinghua College in Malacca, and translated the Latin vocabulary of the Bible into Chinese, an experience that made him one of the most important translators under Lin. However, because he was coerced into joining the local triad, he left Nanyang and returned to China when he was dissatisfied with the six-year school system. However, due to the lack of English learning environment, Yuan Dehui's English proficiency has deteriorated significantly;
In 1823, he met Alain, a young man from China, who was discovered by Smith, a missionary of the American Presbyterian Church, who founded the "Philadelphia Women's Association for Educating Pagans" in Philadelphia , to raise tuition and food for the two, and then sent the two to study at the foreign mission school in Cornwall, which is a church school for naturalized Indians, Asians and other non-Caucasian Americans, but in 1825, the peaceful study life of the two was interrupted by the love affair between the Indians in the mission school and the white girl outside the school, and the conservative New England region reacted greatly to the matter, so in 1826, the school was closed, and the two were expelled because of disorderly behavior or leaving the school without permission. After the retreat, the two wandered in the United States for four years, and finally returned to Guangzhou in 1830, where they were taken under Lin Zexu;
Liang Jinde's father Liang Fa was the first Christian in modern China, the first American missionary Richmond accepted Liang Jinde as an apprentice to help him learn English and Latin so that he could preach to the Chinese, with the tension between China and Britain in 1834, and Liang Jinde as a Christian also took the lead in distributing Christian leaflets, so he was forced to go into exile to Singapore to continue his studies, he studied Hebrew and English vocabulary, grammar and mathematics and other subjects. A few years later, Liang returned to Guangzhou, where in 1839 he was discovered by Lin Zexu due to tensions between China and Britain, and was asked by Lin Zexu to leave under Richmond and join Lin's staff in translating English newspapers and books. After joining Lin's staff group, he will no longer be willing to be a missionary, but hopes to return to the officialdom of his home country and be recommended by Lin Zexu and others. Of course, this also blocked the possibility of further learning about Western culture and language.
It can be seen that the translators recruited by Lin Zexu are first of all non-mainstream nomads in society, most of whom have been exiled overseas for various reasons, and after being discovered by missionaries, they have studied English for 1 to several years in church schools or missionaries, and their English proficiency can roughly meet the daily communication and read newspapers according to the memories of contemporaneous missionaries, but they can only grasp the general idea and cannot do accurate expressions。 At that time, when foreign language education was completely unimportant, the graduates of these church schools were the best translators Lin Zexu could find.
Of course, when they were serving Lin Zexu, they had overseas experience and adapted to the rules of Chinese officialdom. For example, when translating the documents submitted by the British fleet to the mouth of the White River in the north, they consciously translated the Chinese side's act of providing supplies for cattle and sheep as "reward".
Reference: The World as Seen by Lin Zexu: Original Text and Translation of Macao Newsprint
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