著者

マルティン アルベルト ミヤン Martin Alberto Millán

出版者

同志社大学一神教学際研究センター(CISMOR)

雑誌

一神教世界 (ISSN:21850380)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.2, pp.73-92, 2011-03-31

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明治維新政府の緊急な課題の一つは、国民の啓蒙であった。一例を挙げると、学制期(1872~1879年)に設けられた「修身」(道徳教育)の授業は、近代西洋倫理を導入する目的があった。このように初等教育の学校で採用された修身教科書の一つに、アメリカのバプテスト派牧師フランシス・ウェーランド(Francis Wayland,1796-1865)が著したElements of Moral Science 簡約版(1835年)の訳書『修身論』(阿部泰蔵訳、文部省編纂、明治7年刊)があった。もちろん、原典はキリスト教倫理を基軸とする。ほぼ同時に、同書の翻訳が何種類か出版されたが、各翻訳者の翻訳の方針は異なる。本論は、教育の近代化の枠組みの中で、明治初期の翻訳者が日本人に西洋倫理を伝えるため、キリスト教に関わる文節をどのように工夫して翻訳したのか、その一端を知る試みである。特に、キリスト教関連の部分を削除・省略・翻案した阿部泰蔵の『修身論』における「God」の翻訳「天」に焦点を当てる。一次資料として、ウェーランドの原書と代表的な3 種類の翻訳書を用い、該当箇所を比較検討しながら、上記の点を考察する。神学的な理論編の内容をさほど重視せず、実践倫理の編を優先した阿部の翻訳方針は、原書の真意から離れる翻訳書をもたらしたものの、それが日本人にとって最もわかりやすく、受け入れやすい翻訳書になったと考える。One of the most urgent tasks of the Meiji government was the enlightenment of the people. For instance, the teaching of Shūshin (moral education), a subject under the curriculum of the new educational system called gakusei (1872-1879), had the purpose of introducing Western modern ethics. Thus, several Shūshin textbooks were adopted for their use in primary schools. Among them was one published by the Ministry of Education in 1874: Taizō Abe's Shūshinron, a version of Elements of Moral Science (abridged version, 1835) by the American Baptist pastor Francis Wayland (1796-1865). The original book, of course, was conceived with Christian ethics as its cornerstone. Some other Japanese versions of the same book were published within the same decade, albeit the translation policies of every translator apparently differ. This article, within the framework of the modernization of education in Japan, intends to throw some light at one particular aspect of the circumstances under which translation projects were undertaken during the early Meiji period. Namely, it considers the devices that different translators tried to apply when translating some parts of the text concerning Christianity in order to transmit Western ethics to the Japanese people -i.e. literal translation attempting to use the Japanese rendering of appropriate Christian terms, or adaptation through the use of Confucian, Buddhist or Shinto terms. In particular, we focus on how Taizō Abe, who omitted or tampered with most parts regarding Christ, the Bible or Christian doctrine in his Shūshinron, rendered the concept of «God» as «Ten» (Heaven or Celestial Supreme Being in Confucianism). Through the study of the original text by Wayland and three of its most representative translations as primary source materials, we examine the abovementioned subjects while comparing relevant excerpts. We conclude that Abe's version -which focused on transmitting practical ethics and neglected or diluted theological ethics-, was the least faithful to Wayland's beliefs but also the most suitable to be understood and accepted in non-Christian Japan.