关键词: 晚清, 传教士, 粤方言小说, 稀见本

Abstract: Under a strict genre differentiation, there are only 7 existing novels in Cantonese dialect written or translated by protestant missionaries in the late Qing Dynasty, nevertheless, most of which are long-length works, of no less importance compared with other categories of novels in Cantonese in the same era dominated by short stories. The publication year of Repentance of the Prodigal Son(《浪子悔改》)and Unscathed in the Furnace(《落炉不烧》), the earliest novels in Cantonese, can be determined in no earlier than 1848. The Pilgrim's Progress in Canton Dialect(《天路历程土话》), the earliest existing long-length novel in Cantonese, of better translation quality than the Mandarin version, performs a high level of Cantonese language; while The Holy War in Canton Dialect(《人灵战纪土话》) is a rare sample of the real ability of foreign missionaries’ written Cantonese of the time. “英为霖”, the translator with byline of The Adventures of Crusoe(《辜苏历程》), one of the earliest Cantonese translation of Robinson Crusoe, should refer to William Bridie; and the paraphrase strategy of this work was not to lay stress on religious principles. In this paper, the author tries to give further clarifications and corrections to the relevant literature issues to ensure the necessary basis for follow-up researches.

Key words: late Qing Dynasty, missionary, Cantonese novel, rare copies