Global Civilization Studies
GCS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp. 87-101
Print ISSN: 3106-0978; Online ISSN: 3106-0986
Journal homepage: https://www.gcsjournal.com
DOI： https://doi.org/10.64058/gcs260106gclks
地方知识的全球建构：卫三畏与十九世纪北美汉学范式的初创
张颖（Zhang Ying）
摘 要：本研究聚焦于19世纪美国汉学家卫三畏针对广州方言开展的学术探究，从全球史与知识社会史的视角出发，运用微观史学方法，揭示地方知识如何通过个体实践完成采集、转译，并最终被系统地纳入异质文化知识体系，以此探寻中华文化向北美传播的核心机制。研究表明，19世纪中华文化的海外传播，是基于特定时空场域与微观实践的知识生产及互动流转过程，卫三畏的汉学研究实践初步构建了美国汉学“实用主义与现场传统”的学术范式。该研究不仅为深入理解中美早期文化交流提供了典型案例，也为构建当代中华文化海外传播机制提供了重要的历史镜鉴。
关键词：卫三畏；《英华分韵撮要》；广州方言；中华文化传播；北美汉学
作者简介：张颖，仲恺农业工程学院马克思主义学院教授，硕士生导师，研究方向为中西文化交流史和中美关系史,电邮: juliezhangy@163.com。
Title: The Global Construction of Local Knowledge: Samuel Wells Williams and the Emergence of North American Sinology in the Nineteenth Century
Abstract: This study focuses on the academic inquiry into Cantonese conducted by Samuel Wells Williams, a 19th-century American sinologist. Drawing on perspectives from global history and the social history of knowledge, and adopting micro-historical methodology, this paper reveals how local knowledge was collected, translated through individual practice, and ultimately systematically integrated into the heterogeneous cultural knowledge system, so as to explore the core mechanism of the spread of Chinese culture to North America. The study finds that the overseas spread of Chinese culture in the 19th century was a process of knowledge production, interaction and circulation based on specific spatio-temporal contexts and micro-practices, and Samuel Wells Williams' sinological research practice initially established the academic paradigm of "pragmatism and on-site tradition" for American sinology. This research not only provides a typical case for in-depth understanding of early Sino-American cultural exchanges, but also offers important historical references for constructing the contemporary mechanism for the overseas spread of Chinese culture.
Keywords: Samuel Wells Williams; A Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Canton Dialect; Cantonese Dialect; Dissemination of Chinese Culture; North American Sinology
Author Biography: Zhang Ying, Professor at the School of Marxism, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering. Research area: History of cultural communications between China and West, history of Sino-American Relations. E-mail: juliezhangy@163.com.
