The Image of the Interpreter in the First Sino-Spanish Contacts (16th Century)

Abstract

在16世纪时期，最早一批从菲律宾旅行至 中国的西班牙旅人因无法与中国人交流，必 须仰赖口译员翻译，但往往出于各种原因， 这些口译员并不常能以预期的忠诚态度来执 行他们的工作。这些口译除了身为翻译者， 也身兼向导、当地信息的提供者、最重要的 是也同时身为双方文化调解者。在第一批关 于中国与西班牙接触的文件中，尤其是拉 达、罗阿尔卡、多尔德西雅思和桑切丝写于 1575年至1583年之间的游记，让人们可以一 瞥口译员的身份、社会和地理来源、语言和 文化技能，以及他们在调解各种任务状况中 所遇到的困难。也因此，这些文件让第一批 传教士意识到需要学习中文的必要性，而他 们也成为最早系统学习中文的西班牙人。 The earliest Spanish travelers in China coming from the Philippines (16th century), not being able to communicate in Chinese, have to trust interpreters who, very often and for the most diverse reasons, do not always carry out their work with the expected fidelity. These interpreters, beyond being mere translators, also function as guides, as informants about the territory and, above all, as cultural mediators. The first documents on Sino-Spanish contacts, especially Rada’s, Loarca’s, Tordesillas’, and Sánchez’ travel accounts, written between 1575 and 1583, allow to catch a glimpse of the interpreters’ identity, their social and geographical origin, their linguistic and cultural skills, their various tasks in mediation as well as the difficulties they have to deal with in their work. The documents also allow to perceive the need for the first missionaries to learn Chinese and their very first attempts to do so.