陳瀚

1966年，擅長(zhǎng)撰寫外國人在華經(jīng)歷的英國歷史學(xué)家查爾斯·德雷格（Charles H·Drage）出版了一部傳記《龍廷洋大臣》（Servants of the Dragon Throne），這部傳記的主人名叫包臘（Edward Charles Bowra）。4月初，這部書的中文版終由廣西師范大學(xué)推出。通讀這本書籍，不禁發(fā)現(xiàn)包臘和寧波竟有一段如此深厚的緣分。

包臘是誰，怎么會(huì)在寧波生活

1863年，當(dāng)時(shí)已被外國人控制的清海關(guān)在英國招聘雇員。此時(shí)的包臘不過22歲，作為倫敦海關(guān)的雇員，剛剛作為意大利獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)英國遠(yuǎn)征軍的一員歸國?；蛟S是在意大利的經(jīng)歷，讓包臘不滿足于手頭繁瑣的工作。這一年，他在一場(chǎng)宴會(huì)上偶遇了大清海關(guān)的招聘官，機(jī)緣巧合之下，他決定應(yīng)征，去中國這個(gè)神秘國度看一看。

抵達(dá)中國后的包臘，第一站是天津，不久就調(diào)到了上海。1866年，包臘又遠(yuǎn)調(diào)廣州粵海關(guān)，在任上，他被任命為中國首次訪歐使團(tuán)斌椿使團(tuán)的秘書，實(shí)際負(fù)責(zé)使團(tuán)的日常生活和常規(guī)工作。這個(gè)使團(tuán)在歐洲民間受到了空前的爭(zhēng)議，也領(lǐng)略了不少新鮮事物，包臘都一一在他的日記中予以記錄。相比于斌椿等人的日記，包臘或許為我們提供了一個(gè)新的視角。

1867年，包臘接到了清海關(guān)總負(fù)責(zé)人赫德的調(diào)令，被派往寧波，出任浙海關(guān)寧波稅務(wù)司的頭等供事。在寧波，包臘待了四年，直至1871年才被調(diào)回廣州，出任粵海關(guān)的負(fù)責(zé)人，并于1874年回英國休養(yǎng)時(shí)去世，終年33歲。

1867年的寧波，用包臘的話說可謂“風(fēng)平浪靜”。當(dāng)時(shí)的寧波已開埠23年之久，是“五口通商”中的一個(gè)通商口岸，英國人對(duì)寧波寄予厚望，故而在江北岸形成了外國人居留地，并在此設(shè)立了領(lǐng)館，不遠(yuǎn)處就是浙海關(guān)。但事實(shí)出乎預(yù)料，上海港迅速崛起，寧波港的貨物貿(mào)易量只能用平淡二字形容，江北岸相比于上海的租界，也是遜色得多。

在抵達(dá)寧波時(shí)，赫德為包臘提供了每月325兩餉銀的酬勞，并再三叮囑包臘要牢記“你是中國官員，而不是外國官員”，“你的職責(zé)是在你服務(wù)的口岸內(nèi)，與各級(jí)官員維持親密友好的關(guān)系”，同時(shí)還要“盡你所能，為商業(yè)發(fā)展提供各種便利，助合法經(jīng)營者一臂之力”。赫德的考慮不無道理，包臘的前任林納（J·K·Leonard）并沒有很好地履行這一職責(zé)，在寧波的工作不盡如人意。

初到寧波的包臘心情并不好，在寧波的第一年，他沒有被選為蒲安臣使團(tuán)的成員（清政府1868年向海外派遣了中國近代第一個(gè)正式外交使團(tuán)，可是這個(gè)使團(tuán)卻是由一個(gè)外國人——前美國駐華公使蒲安臣率領(lǐng)的，故稱作蒲安臣使團(tuán)），這讓他感到忿忿不平。這種情緒一直到他的第一個(gè)孩子艾賽爾（Ethel Bowra）出生，才煙消云散。

在寧波的幾年，對(duì)包臘的家庭生活來說是極其重要的。因?yàn)樗暮⒆影悹柡腿鳡枺–ecil Bowra）相繼出生，這讓包臘欣喜不已，他還在給赫德的信函中提到了這些事情。1869年，清廷嘉獎(jiǎng)包臘，勉勵(lì)其在清海關(guān)的工作崗位上兢兢業(yè)業(yè)。包臘的工作得到了“雇傭方”的最高肯定。至于他的兒子塞西爾，在日后的中國海關(guān)史上，有個(gè)更為人所知的名字叫做包羅，在赫德的提攜下，包羅在北京見證了自日俄戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)直至袁世凱稱帝的歷史，從而成為清海關(guān)、民國海關(guān)最為重要的官員之一。

將《紅樓夢(mèng)》作為文學(xué)作品進(jìn)行翻譯

包臘在寧波的工作并不繁重，因而有不少的閑暇功夫。包臘把精力都花在了讀書和攝影上。在寧波的頭兩年，包臘在江北岸參加了當(dāng)?shù)氐男⌒妥x書會(huì)，在德雷格的傳記中提到包臘主講了兩次，一次是主講“與加里波第并肩戰(zhàn)斗”的故事，另一次的主題則是談?wù)撘d會(huì)的創(chuàng)始人依納爵·羅耀拉（Ignatius Loyola）。

而影響最為深遠(yuǎn)的則是《紅樓夢(mèng)》的翻譯?！都t樓夢(mèng)》現(xiàn)在被認(rèn)為是中國古典小說的巔峰，可在清末，《紅樓夢(mèng)》才剛剛“解禁”并流行開來，很多在華的外國人把《紅樓夢(mèng)》的文字視為很好的漢語學(xué)習(xí)教材，于是出現(xiàn)了不少譯本，但這些譯本的宗旨是幫助學(xué)習(xí)漢語，因此翻譯水平并不高。包臘則不同，他決心將這部小說作為文學(xué)作品進(jìn)行翻譯。在寧波他翻譯了前八回，并在1868年發(fā)表于《中國雜志》（The China magazine）之上，這也是《紅樓夢(mèng)》第一個(gè)較為完整的文學(xué)性質(zhì)的英文選譯本。近幾年來，國內(nèi)外紅學(xué)界、文學(xué)界、翻譯學(xué)界都開始重視包臘譯本，像任顯楷、王鵬飛等學(xué)者就發(fā)表文章，稱包臘翻譯的《紅樓夢(mèng)》（包臘譯本作《The Dream of the Red Chamber， Hung Low Meng， a Chinese Novel Literally Transla-ted by E.C.Bowra》）在一些文字翻譯上極合韻腳，翻譯水準(zhǔn)很高。

留下201張關(guān)于寧波的老照片

而對(duì)于寧波地域文化研究來說，寧波是中國最早的開埠口岸之一，外國傳教士和在甬外國人留下了大量照片，包臘也不例外?，F(xiàn)在留下的包臘相冊(cè)共有兩本，早先存放于英國的一些公藏機(jī)構(gòu)，近年來被拍賣，流于私人之手。好在這批照片有一部分收錄于哲夫編的《寧波舊影》之中，英國、法國的兩所高校也都在數(shù)年前完成了這兩批相冊(cè)的數(shù)字化工作，才讓我們一睹包臘所拍攝的寧波風(fēng)情。這些照片總共有201張，其中有136張明確注明或被證明攝自寧波，另有12張疑似攝于寧波。以上“身份的證明”要?dú)w功于外國高校的一些學(xué)者和寧波本土圖像研究愛好者的共同努力。

包臘所拍攝的照片大致分為三類。最多的就是純景觀式照片，包臘的取景地相對(duì)比較集中，拍攝的是寧波老城、鎮(zhèn)海、鄞縣（集中于天童、育王、鄞江橋）一帶的城鄉(xiāng)景觀。當(dāng)時(shí)寧波老城中諸如城門、天封塔、天后宮、佑圣觀等一些地標(biāo)建筑和名勝古跡均在其中，這其中如佑圣觀、天后宮等早已因各種原因而不復(fù)存在，寧波老城的面貌也是今非昔比。

在老城的照片中有一張孩兒塔的照片。孩兒塔也叫寧波義塔，其實(shí)就是處理死去的孩子的尸體的“公共建筑”，寧波籍詩人白莽（他的另一個(gè)筆名殷夫更為人所知）的名詩《孩兒塔》就是以此為意象。這幀照片珍貴之處在于它清晰地反映了孩兒塔實(shí)體建筑的外觀，從而為近代寧波慈善史、衛(wèi)生史研究提供了幫助。

鎮(zhèn)海的照片大多集中于招寶山，鄞縣的照片則將鄞江橋周邊、天童育王周邊的景色反映得一覽無余。當(dāng)然一百五十多年前的鄞江橋、招寶山、阿育王塔和現(xiàn)在比是大不一樣的。

第二類是江北居留地的照片。這一類的照片主要以人物和建筑為主。建筑主要反映了浙海關(guān)以及整個(gè)江北岸沿岸的風(fēng)景。在包臘的鏡頭下，那些具有濃郁西方風(fēng)格的建筑、江北岸的帆輪都一一呈現(xiàn)在我們的眼前。寧波港雖說“風(fēng)平浪靜”，但也別有一番近代城市的景象，這和對(duì)岸的寧波老城截然不同。當(dāng)然包臘的照片中還有不少江北岸普通外國人、傳教士及其隨眷的肖像，或因年代久遠(yuǎn)，已不可詳考了。

最后是場(chǎng)景和人物特寫的照片。這類相片的數(shù)量非常少，不過寥寥幾張，大多是包臘在旅途中偶然所拍，譬如阿育王寺所照的香客和在招寶山寺院中所拍的當(dāng)?shù)剜l(xiāng)民。值得注意的是在鄞江一帶的相片中，包臘拍攝了幾張采石場(chǎng)工人工作和休息的場(chǎng)景。鄞江一帶素以產(chǎn)石聞名，所產(chǎn)梅園石等石料頗具盛名，至今在鄞江還有石宕舊跡。不過百余年前的人是如何采石的，大多只有文字的記敘，不過片鱗半爪，這幾張照片為我們留下了相當(dāng)珍貴的記錄。

包臘在調(diào)離寧波后，似乎對(duì)這個(gè)港口還念念不忘。1870年維也納世博會(huì)，包臘奉命為中國館組織展品，他想到了寧波。不過德雷格的傳記中是這么寫的：“唯有曾經(jīng)任職的寧波港讓他感到意外，在那里收集到的展品很糟糕，且沒有代表性。他自作主張，增加了選送物品種類，如家具、珠寶、銀器、瓷秞器皿和漆器，還有帽盒、寧波塔（義塔）模型……”或許在包臘的眼中，這座城市有許多值得回憶的地方吧。

In 1966， Charles H. Drage published ， which describes foreigners who served as Chinese government employees in the Qing Dynasty （1644-19111）. The lead heroes in the story related by the modern UK historian specialized in the studies of foreigners in China is Edward Charles Bowra （1841-1874） and his son Cecil Bowra （1869–1947）. The Chinese version of this book was published in early April 2018 by Guangxi Normal University Press.

Edward Charles Bowra and Ningbo

In 1863， Bowra was employed at age 22 in England. Back then， he had come back from an expedition he fought for the independence of Italy and was working as an employee for London Customs. He happened to run into a Qing Government official at a banquet in London. The Chinese official was recruiting foreigners for the Chinese Maritime Customs. Bowra decided to get employed and take a look at the mysterious country in the east.

Bowra worked in Tianjin for a while before he was transferred to Shanghai. In 1866， he was transferred to Guangzhou. He organized the 1866 tour for the Chinese Secretary of Customs Pin Chun. This group of Chinese officials in Europe caused some controversies and saw some fresh things. Bowra jotted down what he experienced with the Chinese delegation. In comparison with the European travelogues written by Pin Chun and other officials， Bowras diary about this overseas visit may provide a different perspective.

In 1867， he was appointed by the Inspector-General Sir Robert Hart to a key position in the customs service in Ningbo. Bowra considered Ningbo as a backwater place. Back then， Ningbo had been operating as an international trade port for 23 years and there was a foreign community in the city and a UK consulate. But Shanghai boomed exponentially as a trade port whereas Ningbo saw mediocre trade transactions. He was very unhappy as he wasnt chosen when the Chinese government appointed Burlingame envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to head a Chinese diplomatic mission to the United States and the principal European nations.

But the births of his daughter Ethel Bowra and his son Cecil Bowra in Ningbo brought immense happiness to the father. He mentioned his happiness in letters to Inspector-General Sir Robert Hart. In 1869 the Chinese Government commended Bowra for his outstanding work at his position in the customs service.

In the first two years of his stay in Ningbo， Bowra had a lot of time. He enjoyed reading and taking photographs. He translated ， a classical novel of the Qing Dynasty. It was in Ningbo that he translated the first eight chapters， which was published in The China Magazine in 1868. In recent years， Bowras translation of this novel has been receiving new interest of Chinese scholars.

In the history of Chinese Maritime Customs Service that started operation as of 1854 in China and was staffed mostly by foreigners， Bowra is considered a noteworthy sinologist and linguist. His son Cecil Bowra grew up to be a key official of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service in the years of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China （1911-1949）.

Old Photos of Ningbo

Ningbo was one of Chinas earliest ports open to international trade in the 19th century. Foreign missionaries and other foreigners in Ningbo took a lot of photographs， leaving a rich visual record of Ningbo in these years. Edward Charles Bowra left 201 photos in two albums. The photos were originally in collections of some public institutions in UK， but they are now in private collections through auctions in recent years. Some of the Bowra photos are reprinted in? compiled by Zhe Fu. A few years ago， the 201 photos were digitalized by a university in UK and a university in France， and the digital photos have been made available to the world.

Of the 201， 136 were definitely taken in Ningbo： some have captions that specify they were taken in Ningbo and some were identified and proven to have been taken in Ningbo. Experts are not 100 percent sure about 12 photos but they have reason to assume that they were taken in Ningbo. The identifications of these 136 photos are attributed to the scholars in foreign universities as well as researchers in Ningbo specialized in old time photos and images.

The Bowra photos can be roughly classified into three groups. The biggest section features landscapes of what is known as the old-town of Ningbo， Zhenhai and Yinxian County. Some objects in the photos are landmarks of the old-time Ningbo. Many landmark buildings seen in the photos are long gone.

The second group records the scenes of the foreign settlement in whats known today as Jiangbei District. In these photos one can see the office building of the Zhejiang Customs， some buildings in foreign architectural styles， and some foreigners， missionaries and their family members.

The third group is the smallest： no more than ten in this group. Bowra took these photos while traveling around. In the photos are some pilgrims at Ashoka Temple in Ningbo and some local rural residents at a Zhaobaoshan Temple. A few photos were taken at a stone quarry in Yinjiang. Historically， stone quarries in Yinjiang produced fine quality stone materials as building blocks. Historical records about the stone quarries in Ningbo are largely in texts. Thats why the few photos taken by Bowra are very valuable.