Статтю присвячено інтерпретації китайської філософської думки у спадщині випускника Київської духовної академії Конісі Масутаро (у хрещенні Даниїл Конісі). Розглянуто переклади конфуціанських
("Да сюе", "Чжун юн" та "Сяо цзін") і даоського ("Дао де цзін") канонічних текстів
російською
мовою, виконані Конісі у 1892–1896 рр., а також його статтю про філософію Лао-цзи,
написану в той самий період. Вперше зроблено спробу проаналізувати весь зазначений корпус текстів
як єдине ціле. Особливу увагу приділено питанню про вплив Л. М. Толстого на китаєзнавчі праці Конісі. Показано новаторський характер діяльності Конісі як перекладача та інтерпретатора китайської філософії, запропоновано нову оцінку його внеску в діалог філософських культур Заходу і Сходу.
The article considers the problems of interpretation of Chinese philosophical thought in the heritage of
Konishi Masutaro (in baptism Daniel Konishi), a graduate of Kyiv Theological Academy. His translations of
Confucian and Taoist canonical texts (Da Xue, Zhong Yong, Xiao Jing, and Dao De Jing) from classical
Chinese into Russian, as well as his article on the philosophy of Lao Tzu are taken as the proposed object of
analysis. All the above mentioned works were written in 1892–1896. The study is the first attempt to analyze
all the sinological works by Konishi as a whole.
The article shows the innovative character of Konishi’s activity as a translator and an interpreter of Chinese
philosophy. Some of his translations, namely Dao De Jing and Xiao Jing, were first published translations
of the relevant texts into Russian; in other cases, the previous translations, published a century before,
already became obsolete. It is also important that Konishi’s works were published in a reputable scientific
journal devoted to philosophy and psychology, rather than in a specialized Orientalistic edition, which
greatly expanded their audience, and thereby the Chinese classic was introduced to the general philosophical
discourse.
The article also proposes a new evaluation of Konishi’s contribution to the East–West philosophical dialogue.
Konishi compared the Chinese philosophy to ancient Greek and defended priorities of the former,
which was not typical for the Western thought of the 19th century. He also tried to defend some traditional
views, particularly on the authorship of texts. In the focus of Konishi’s studies were Lao Tzu and Confucius.
According to Konishi, the first made an innovative breakthrough in ethics and metaphysics, approaching
close to Christianity, the second preserved and developed the tradition of the ancient kings-sages, at the
same time preventing the spiritual development of China.
The article pays particular attention to the impact of Leo Tolstoy on sinological works of Konishi and
questions the established view on Konishi as a mere Tolstoy’s assistant in translating Chinese texts.
