<Articles>The Reception of Modern Biography in East Asia: How Washington's Biographies were translated?

Abstract

This paper examines how biographies of Western great men were received in Japan andChina with a focus on Washington’s biographies. It is shown that even when the same original text wasused, the translation of Washington’s biography in Japan is significantly different from its translationin China. In Japan, biographies of Western great men were first introduced by Joyi-ron Jyusha, a groupof scholars who advocated “sea defense policy”. However, during the Meiji period, biographies ofWestern great men were translated under the influence of the “historic view of civilization”; as a result, these biographies were often treated as success stories in civilized societies and were translated intonovelistic writings. By contrast, in China biographies of Western great men were generally regarded ashistories of Western countries and were often translated by preeminent scholars of the day, who tendedto translate the original text precisely and with particular emphasis on historical facts and details. Inboth Japan and China, features that emerged in the early stage of the reception of modern biographyhad important effects on the establishment of the genre in these countries. Therefore, to understand theprocess by which modern biography in East Asia was established, it is important to examine its earlystages. The results obtained in this study help to understand this process; they may also contribute tothe research of an important subject: the establishment of modern historical scholarship in East Asia.