Translations of early Sino-British treaties and the masked western legal concepts

Abstract

AbstractFrom 1844 to 1845, the translation problems with the Supplementary Treaty (aka Treaty of the Bogue) and the Treaty of Nanking were revealed through successive back translations by Walter Henry Medhurst in the Chinese Repository. A comparison of the official Chinese and English language versions of the two treaties shows noteworthy problems of addition, omission, and misinterpretation. These translation problems can be understood and interpreted in the light of the fact that the Qing side had relinquished the right to employ its own translators and knew little about the principles of international law. Researchers into the history of Sino-foreign treaties and Sino-foreigner relations should give careful attention to the role of translation in the history of this period.