識別金石：美國礦物學在晚清的傳播與再生

Abstract

在中國近代學術史上，1871年（同治十年）出版的《金石識別》是研究者不時提及的里程碑。目前研究認為此書是中國第一部介紹西方礦物學的著作，且受到梁啟超（1873-1929）、魯迅（1881-1936）等知識分子的重視。然本論文挑戰前述觀點隱含的國族主義與擴散史觀，呼應晚近科學史之全球轉向，將知識的旅行與傳播視為再生的過程，而非僅僅是物的搬運，並吸收書籍史的視野，強調傳播媒介之物質性對知識旅行造成的影響。本論文先回到《金石識別》的翻譯底本，即十九世紀美國礦物學家丹納（James Dwight Dana，1813-1895）的《礦物學手冊》（Manual of Mineralogy，1848），爬梳其在美國的知識脈絡，再說明《礦物學手冊》後來在江南製造局如何由美國醫療傳教士瑪高溫（Daniel Jerome MacGowan，1815-1893）口譯，中國算學家華蘅芳（1833-1902）筆述，出版為《金石識別》。緊接著，本論文詳細對照原文與譯文的差別，論證瑪高溫與華蘅芳的作品，不只是翻譯，更是一部改編本。他們大量刪節《礦物學手冊》中關於美國地層的內容，加入分析化學的原理與方法。經此改寫，原本撰寫目的是讓美國讀者走向野外觀察的《礦物學手冊》，轉變為指引中國讀者在室內操作實驗的《金石識別》。就當時對西學感興趣的讀者而言，此改寫至關重要。「金石」再也不只是本草的一個藥品類別，也是可經實驗方法分析、識別的「礦物」。由於對礦物知識的需求與日俱增，民間書局遂推出了《金石識別》的石印本。石印本相較於最早的木刻本體積更小，重量更輕，且價格更便宜，易於讀者攜帶與流通。不料，此物質性的改變反倒限縮了《金石識別》的影響力。原本《礦物學手冊》的另一大重點是結晶學，因此結晶插圖的精細度就成為此書傳播的必要條件。木刻本印刷精美，可滿足此條件，但石印本印刷粗略，使得讀者對《金石識別》的內容產生困惑。除此之外，清末民初的中國知識分子也越來越重視中國礦產、地層的相關知識，被改寫為實驗手冊的《金石識別》，不免被視為不合時宜的作品。即便如此，瑪高溫與華蘅芳編譯《金石識別》時新創的譯詞，以及此書引介的分析化學概念，卻持續發揮影響力，甚至在今日的中文礦物學研究中，仍可見其遺緒。

Published in 1871, Identification of Metals and Stones (Jinshi shibie, hereafter Identification), is often cited as a milestone in modern Chinese intellectual history. Researchers have so far considered Identification the first book to introduce Western mineralogy into China and was thus highly valued by intellectuals such as Liang Qichao (1873-1929) and Lu Xun (1881-1936). However, this thesis challenges the nationalist and diffusionist narratives implied in this view. Echoing the current global turn in the history of science, this study analyzes the travel and dissemination of knowledge not merely as the transportation of objects but as a process of reproduction, and adopts the perspective of book history to emphasize how the materiality of media influences the travel of knowledge. The thesis first draws attention to the nineteenth-century American mineralogist, James Dwight Dana (1813-1895), and his Manual of Mineralogy (1848, hereafter Manual), the source text of Identification, to scrutinize the Manual in the intellectual climate of the United States. Next, it explains how the Manual was interpreted by American medical missionary Daniel Jerome MacGowan (1815-1893), transcribed by Chinese mathematician Hua Hengfang (1833-1902), and published as Identification in Jiangnan Arsenal, Shanghai. The thesis then compares the source text and the target text in detail and argues that MacGowan and Hua’s work was not only a translation but also an adaption. They removed most contents about geological strata in the United States while adding principles and methods of analytical chemistry to the book. After this adaption, the Manual which originally aimed to encourage American readers to partake field observation was transformed into Identification, an instruction book for Chinese readers doing indoor experiments. For readers interested in western knowledge, this adaption was crucial: the term “Jinshi” was no longer just “metals and stones”, a category in traditional Chinese medicine, but “minerals” which people could analyze and identify through scientific experiments. Due to the growing demand for knowledge about minerals, private bookshops started printing Identification by lithography. These lithograph editions were smaller, lighter, and cheaper than earlier woodblock-printing editions, and were therefore easier to carry and circulate. Unexpectedly, this change of material ironically limited the influence of Identification. Since one key feature of the Manual was its contents about crystallography, finely-made crystal illustrations became a necessary condition to communicate its knowledge. The original woodblock-printing Identification was exquisitely prepared, but the lithograph edition was cruder and often confused its readers. Besides, toward the end of the Qing dynasty, Chinese intellectuals put more emphasis on the knowledge about Chinese mineral resources and strata, which made Identification, an adapted experiment manual, out-of-date. Nevertheless, the book remained influential through the terms MacGowan and Hua translated and the concepts of analytical chemistry it introduced, and such impacts still exist even in contemporary Chinese mineralogical research.