| 摘要: | 左秉隆（1850-1924），字子興，別署「炎洲冷宦」，係清廷直接派遣的駐新加坡首任正式領事。左氏為清季中國首批於國內接受新式教育的知識分子之一，曾歷任京師同文館英語兼數學副教習、駐英使署翻譯官、駐新加坡領事官、廣東洋務處總辦等職。惟畢生功業基本奠基於出使南洋那十餘年的歲月之上，與「南洋」這一場域緣分甚深。其著大多散佚，今獨存《勤勉堂詩鈔》七卷傳世，存詩610首，其中作於南洋的詩作佔總數四成，為數甚多。左氏的出使南洋詩不僅抒發了他久駐他鄉的各種情思，更描繪出其南洋體驗的地域書寫，對研究馬華傳統文學最初的文學播遷現象具指標性的意義，這亦是本文立題宗旨所在。
筆者擬就詩家研究這一進路展開論述，以左秉隆《勤勉堂詩鈔》為中心，探討其出使南洋期間的各類詩作。全文共分六章，除緒論與結論外皆以專題方式論左氏其人其詩。本文從不同視野出發，包括：生平背景考述、離散華人社群中的文學交流與文壇角色扮演及其影響、南洋地域書寫、詩風及其情緒抒發等角度，觀察及剖析左氏在文學實踐與社會層面上其詩的特質表現與象徵意涵。最後根據前述論析所得，總結左秉隆其出使南洋詩對馬華傳統文學史建構的意義和啟示。
;Zuo Bing-long (1850-1924), with the courtesy name ‘Zi-xing’ and the art name ‘Yan Zhou Leng Huan’, was the first official Chinese Consul of Singapore directly appointed by the Qing Empire. Zuo was one of the first intellectuals who received a new style education in China near the end of the Qing Dynasty. He worked as an assistant instructor in English and Mathematics at the Tongwen Guan in Beijing, a translator at the Chinese embassy in the U.K., a Chinese consul in Singapore, and the General Director of what was then called Guangdong Western Affairs Office, one of the many titles he held. Nevertheless, his achievements in life can mainly be attributed to the decade or so that he spent as a Chinese ambassador in Nanyang (Southeast Asia). His legacy is closely tied with that region. Most of his works had been lost, and the only ones passed on to later generations were 610 poems found in the seven volumes of ‘Qinmiantang shichao’ (‘A Representative Poetry Collection from the Dwelling for Diligence’), 40% of which were written in Nanyang. These poems not only describe his thoughts and emotions while being stationed in a foreign country; they also serve as regional writings on his experiences in Nanyang. Hence, they were of significance in relation to the research on the phenomenon of the literary migration that took place at the birth of traditional Malaysian Chinese literature. This is also the tenor of this paper.
This paper investigates the poetry in ‘Qinmiantang shichao’, which was written by Zuo during his time as an ambassador to Nanyang. There are six chapters in this paper, all of which, except the introduction and the conclusion, are dedicated to discussing Zuo and his poems. This paper approaches this subject—Zuo and his poems—from various perspectives: the perspective of Zuo’s biographical sketch and background, the roles and influence of literary exchanges, the literary circle of the Chinese diaspora, his writings about the Nanyang region, and his poetic style and expression of emotions. This paper then observes and analyses the characteristics of and symbolism in Zuo’s poems in terms of literacy practices and social aspects. Lastly, based on the above discussions, this paper offers certain conclusions concerning the significance and implications of Zuo’s Nanyang poems in the development of traditional Malaysian Chinese literary history. |
