| Abstract: | 本文以姚瑩於鴉片戰爭後著成的《康輶紀行》為主要分析的文本，並以戰前所作諸書，如：《東溟文集》、《後湘詩集》、《識小錄》等著作為參照，佐以奏牘、書簡等官私文書，觀察姚瑩在西力衝擊下之轉變與歷程。
嘉道時期的衰弱，促使知識份子更加關注社會問題並求改善之道。姚瑩曾長期仕游於閩、粵、江、浙等沿海地區，除了豐富其實務經驗外，並廣泛與各地之文人群體有交流。在學術與政事方面，皆曾提出其獨到之見解，他特重實效，主張「天下不能有常無變」，並深化了桐城派當中關於「經濟」的思想。
在鴉片戰爭後，其述論的材料，又加入許多域外見聞，從其肯定西方與反省中國的語氣當中，亦見得其夷夏觀念已有所動搖，其中又特別肯定西方人對於地理知識之重視。故戰後於貶謫西藏之際，他已著手《康輶紀行》一書之創作，書中除了記錄西藏事之外，並留心藏外西方勢力之動向，並以在臺審訊英人顛林所得資訊為基礎，參酌既有之輿圖與時人著作，繪成「今訂中外四海總圖」，賦予中國新的定位。
姚瑩雖能肯定西方之所長，然亦積極地從古籍中尋找例證，試圖從「古即有之」的角度自我解釋，一方面探索未知的西方，另一方面則將新世界納入舊有的架構當中。此亦體現出西力衝突之際，傳統知識份子應變與調適的過程。
;This study selected the “The Chronicles of the Traveling to Kang” written by Yao Ying after the Opium Wars as the text for main analysis, and referred to various books written before the wars, such as “Collection of Articles of Dong Ming,” “Hou Hsiang Poetry Collection,” and “Brief Record.” Moreover, this study also reviewed official and private letters, such as memorials to the throne and correspondences to observe the process how Yao Ying was changed under the impact of western culture.
The decline during the Jia-Dao period forced the intellectuals to pay more attention to social issues and seek improvement solutions. Yao Ying was a long-term government official stationed at coastal areas, such as Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, which enriched his practical experiences and enabled him to comprehensively exchange with literati groups in various places. Yao Ying proposed unique perspectives in both the academic and political aspects. He attached particular importance to practical effectiveness, suggested that “the world can never remain the same, and changes are necessary,” and deepened the idea about “Jing ji” (practical statesmanship) of Tongcheng School.
After the Opium Wars, Yao Ying included many overseas views into the materials he investigated and discussed. His affirmative attitude towards western culture and reflection on China also revealed his concept of disdaining the foreign culture had been shaken. In particular, he affirmed how the westerners attach importance to geographical knowledge. Therefore, after he was demoted to Tibet, he started to write the book “The Chronicles of the Traveling to Kang,” which recorded the events taking place in Tibet and paid attention to the development of western trends outside Tibet. Besides, based on the information obtained from the interrogation with the British man Denham in Taiwan, he referred to the existing atlas and writings of the people at the time to draw the “New Atlas of China and Four Oceans” to endow China with a new status.
Although Yao Ying affirmed the strengths of western culture, he also aggressively sought examples from ancient books in an attempt to find self-explanations from the perspective of “presence of similar examples in ancient times.” On the one hand, he explored the known western world; on the other hand, he included the new world into the existing framework, which also embodied how traditional intellectuals responded and adjusted to the conflicts against western culture. |
