摘要
The Chinese legal system was a long-standing and influential legal system reflecting the legal wisdom of the Chinese nation concerning national governance.The legal classics,as the carrier of Chinese legal culture,provide a critical path for understanding Chinese legal culture.The westerners’first contact with Chinese legal culture can be traced back to the late 16th Century while the output translation of traditional legal classics started from 1810 when Sir George Thomas Staunton published the first English version of the Great Qing Legal Code.So far,the output translation of traditional Chinese legal classics has gone through over 200 years,during which the western sinologists firmly seized the initiative in translation of traditional Chinese legal classics and shaped rigid images of the Chinese legal system in the international community.As an integral part of traditional Chinese culture,the Chinese legal system is a precious fortune for the construction of the socialist rule-of-law system with Chinese characteristics and socialist country under rule of law.On one hand,the legal classics translation is conductive to seizing the initiative in output translation of Chinese legal classics,solving the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of foreign translators,enhancing the acceptance and recognition of Chinese legal culture in the international community,and laying a solid foundation for the rejuvenation of the Chinese legal system.On the other hand,the legal classics translation is also beneficial for changing the international community’s prejudiced and rigid impression of the Chinese legal system,spreading the core values of Chinese legal culture,promoting the equal communication between the Chinese legal system and other legal systems,realizing‘westward transmission of Chinese legal culture’,enhancing China’s discourse power in international rule-of-law construction,and contributing Chinese wisdom to the formation of the global rule-of-law community of shared future.
中华法系源远流长,是中国数千年国家治理的法律智慧结晶。作为中国法律智慧的载体,法律典籍是认识和探索中华法律文化的重要途径。西方世界对中华法文化的体认可以追溯到16世纪后期,而中国传统法律典籍的外译则始于1810年小斯当东的英译《大清律例》。至今,法律典籍的外译已经走过200余年的历史,西方汉学家和学者牢牢掌握了法律典籍译介的主动权,塑造了国际社会对中华法系和中国法律文化的片面、刻板印象。作为中华优秀传统文化重要组成部分的中华法系,不仅是中国文明的象征,更是当前建设中国特色社会主义法治体系、建设社会主义法治国家的宝贵财富。积极开展法律典籍翻译和研究有助于牢牢把握法律典籍译介的主动权,改善外国译者在翻译过程中出现的文化误解误读等问題,客观地还原中华法律典籍的真实面貌,促进国际社会形成对中华法律文化的接受和认同,为中华法系复兴营造良好的环境并奠定坚实的思想基础。
基金
The paper is sponsored by National Social Science Fund Key Program of 2020,entitled Research on Chinese Rule-of-law Terminology with Chinese Characteristics Translation and International Rule-of-law Discourse Ability Construction(20AYY008)。
