<Articles>Strategies in the Chinese Translation of International Law Primers during the Yangwu Period: An Analysis Focusing on the Concept of “Non-Discriminating War”

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  • ｢洋務」期の漢譯國際法槪說書における翻譯方針 --いわゆる「無差別戰爭觀」を手掛かりに--
  • 「 ヨウム 」 キ ノ カンヤク コクサイホウガイ說ショ ニ オケル ホンヤク ホウシン : イワユル 「 ムサベツ センソウカン 」 オ テガカリ ニ

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Abstract

Translated into Chinese by William Alexander Parsons Martin and associates, the 1864 publication of Wanguo Gongfa 萬國公法, the Chinese translation of Henry Wheatonʼs Elements of International Law, constituted the first full-fledged translation of an international law textbook into the Chinese language. For years, scholars have debated whether or not this Chinese translation placed excess emphasis on natural law over that of the original, but a convincing answer to this debate has yet to emerge. This paper presents new evidence to support the validity of this claim. To do this, the paper specifically analyses how the notion of “Non-Discriminating War Theory” was rendered in Chinese translation; a theory which posits that no distinction should be made in the application of international law in wartime to all belligerent countries regardless of the reason or purpose of the war. However, the paperʼs purview extends beyond the Wanguo Gongfa, offering additional analysis on how this notion was dealt with in other international law texts produced during the so-called Yangwu, or “Self-Stregthening” era of the late Qing (1861 to 1895). Specifically, in addition to the Wanguo Gongfa, it examines how this concept was dealt with in the Gongfa Bianlan公法便覽, Gongfa Huitong 公法會通, and Geguo Jiaoshe Gongfa Lun 各國交涉公法論. By comparing how this notion was rendered in Chinese translation with that of the source texts, and by analyzing the strategies used to complete these translations, this paper argues that additional emphasis was indeed placed upon natural law when rendering these texts into Chinese.

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  • 東方學報

    東方學報 98 45-95, 2023-12-25

    Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University

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