Chinese wills in Hong Kong: George Jamieson's translation of Qing inheritance law and the Hong Kong judiciary's understanding of Chinese wills

Abstract

ABSTRACT Viewing George Jamieson's translation of Qing inheritance law as both a research object and as a way to approach an unknown chapter in Hong Kong's judicial history, this article studies how Jamieson's translation motive was related to the extremely important issue of Chinese wills and how his work was received in the Hong Kong judiciary. As a work that found its way into the Probate Registry, Jamieson's translation facilitates the detection of the problematic way in which Chinese wills were addressed and reveals the registrars’ reluctance to admit their true import. The article delves into the underlying reasoning for this and finds that that the probate routine governed by the English legal mentality was the key factor that prevented the Hong Kong judiciary from recognising the meaning of Chinese wills, which was also the primary hindrance to the reception of Jamieson's opinions. As a work that combines analysis of translation motive and reception studies, this case study expands our understanding of the discrepancy between the two. It also unfolds a distinctive translation process characterised by a matching step, demonstrating the relevance of historiography to a deeper understanding of translation.