从“行政映射”到“学术考证”再到“文化回归”：译者主体性视角下《大唐西域记》职官术语百年英译的范式更迭

From “Administrative Mapping” to “Academic Textual Research” to “Cultural Return”: Paradigm Shifts in the Century-Long English Translations of Official Titles in The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions from the Perspective of Translator Subjectivity

摘要: 《大唐西域记》作为记述中亚、南亚及中国西域史地信息的巅峰之作，其职官术语的翻译，不仅是跨语言的转换，更是不同时代学术规范、出版要求与目标读者接受度制约下文化交流与知识建构的缩影。本文以译者主体性为理论视角，在阐释的自主性、创造性重构、以及主体的受动性与能动性平衡三个维度下，对比分析了塞缪尔·比尔(Samuel Beal, 1884)、托马斯·沃特斯(Thomas Watters, 1904)与李荣熙(Li Rongxi, 1996)在职官术语英译中的策略差异。研究发现：比尔受19世纪维多利亚时代学术规范与出版要求的制约，通过行政映射进行功能性调适；沃特斯受当时实证主义学术思潮与汉学规范驱动，通过详尽考据进行学术操纵，试图构建科学的东方知识体系；李荣熙则在当代国际学术规范与全球化传播语境下，通过术语的规范化转换，实现了向学术本位的回归。职官术语译名的范式演变揭示了译者主体性在跨文化翻译中的运作机制，为中国典籍的国际传播提供了理论依据与实践镜鉴。

Abstract: As a monumental work documenting the historical and geographical information of Central Asia, South Asia, and the Western Regions of ancient China, the translation of official titles in The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions (Da Tang Xi Yu Ji) is not merely a cross-linguistic transformation, but also a microcosm of cultural exchange and knowledge construction constrained by academic norms, publishing requirements, and target readers’ receptivity across different eras. From the theoretical perspective of translator subjectivity and across the three dimensions of interpretative autonomy, creative reconstruction, and the balance between the translator’s passivity and agency, this paper comparatively analyzes the strategic differences among Samuel Beal (1884), Thomas Watters (1904), and Li Rongxi (1996) in translating official titles into English. The study reveals that Beal, constrained by the academic norms and publishing requirements of the Victorian era in the 19th century, made functional adjustments through administrative mapping; Watters, driven by the positivist academic trend and Sinological norms of his time, conducted academic operations via exhaustive textual research in an attempt to construct a scientific system of Oriental knowledge; whereas Li Rongxi, under the context of contemporary international academic norms and global communication, achieved a return to the academic standard through the standardized conversion of terminology. The paradigm evolution of translated names for official titles reveals the operational mechanism of translator subjectivity in cross-cultural translation, providing both theoretical grounds and practical references for the international communication of Chinese classics.