晚清老年官员生活感受初探——以翁心存为个案的考察

Exploratory Research on the Lives of the Elderly Officials in the Late Qing Dynasty:A Case Study on Weng Xincun

晚清重臣翁心存在70岁被清廷重新启用。在日记中,他详细地记录了这一时期的生活感受。此时的翁心存疾病缠身,痛苦万分。在内外交困的情况下,时时担忧亲人,提心吊胆。为应对繁重公务,抱病支撑的他时时感到疲惫不堪。他的这种生活感受,在晚清高级官员群体中不是特例,而是有一定的普遍意义。我们以翁心存为个案探讨晚清高级官员的生活感受,可以窥见晚清老年官员生活质量的一些侧面,也可以使人们从这个侧面更好地了解晚清社会生活中丰富多彩的内容。

At the old age of 70 when serving as a senior official,Weng Xincun was reappointed to an important position by the Qing Dynasty.His diary gives a detailed and vivid description about his life experience during that period of time.Living in the context of tribulations and trials,Weng suffered from serious illness and endured painful worries on his families and friends.Great anxiety and heavy workload left him weak and exhausted.In fact,his life experience proves no exception among the elderly officials in the late Qing Dynasty.Instead,it presents a global picture about their lives at that time.Taking Weng Xincun,an elderly senior official as a case study in particular,this research intends to explore the life qualities of the whole class in general.Hopefully,this exploratory research will give some insightful perspectives to help people to better understand the rich and colorful contents of social life in the late Qing Dynasty.