School of Chinese Staff Seminar
新檔案史料：從十九世紀初期美國史看咖咑怎樣學習中國語言文化
New Archival Findings: Benjamin Bowen Carter’s Pursuit of Chinese Studies
in the Context of Early 19th Century American History
楊文信博士 Dr Yeung Man Shun
Date and Time: May 6, 2016 (Friday); 5:30-6:45pm
Venue: Room 730, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
Language: Putonghua
是次演講介紹美國布朗大學圖書館及羅德島歷史學會所藏咖咑（1771-1831）學習中國語言文化的史料。咖咑是十九世紀初期極少數曾在廣州學習中文的美國人，他的學習材料和筆記，與美國外交人員卡靈頓（1775-1843）、羅素（1771-1832）和法國學者雷慕沙（1788-1832）的往來書信等，都足以證明他具備一定程度的中文水平，可以協助外交翻譯工作，且對中國經典有所認識。這些珍貴史料的發現，可以將美國人學習中國語言文化的歷史由亨特（1821-1891）上推近二十年，對重塑早期中美文化關係有重要意義。
This talk introduces the archival documents housed in the Brown University Library and Rhode Island Historical Society on Benjamin Bowen Carter (1771-1831)’s Chinese studies. Carter was one of the few Americans to live in Canton and to have learnt Chinese at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Taken together, his learning materials, written notes, and correspondence with American diplomats Edward Carrington (1775-1843) and Jonathan Russell (1771-1832) and French scholar Jean Pierre Abel Rémusat (1788-1832) reveal that he had obtained a degree of Chinese proficiency that allowed him to assist in diplomatic translation work. They also show that he had some knowledge of the Chinese classics. The discovery of these invaluable archival materials proves that Carter was 20 years ahead of William C. Hunter (1821-1891) in studying Chinese language and culture, thereby reshaping our understanding of early Sino-American cultural relations and its place in American history.
楊文信博士，1997年開始在香港大學中文學院執教，現為中國歷史文化助理教授。楊博士曾任美國國會圖書館克魯格研究員、京都大學文學部短期研究員，目前的主要研究課題是美國國會圖書館的中文善本珍品。
Dr Yeung Man Shun joined the School of Chinese at the University of Hong Kong in 1997, and is now an assistant professor in Chinese history and culture. He carried out post-doctoral research at the John W. Kluge Center at the US Library of Congress in 2002-2003 and at Kyoto University in 2005. He is currently engaged in research on the Chinese Rare Book collection in the US Library of Congress.
ALL ARE WELCOME!
