新旧之间:近代中国的多个世界及“失语”群体

Between the Old and the New:the Multiple Worlds and Voiceless Social Groups in Modern China

近代中国新旧两极之间的过渡地带其实相当宽广,在新旧阵营里通常也还有进一步的新旧之分,对许多人来说亦新亦旧恐怕正是常态。但“不新不旧”的人与事以及新旧各自阵营中表现不那么极端或积极的群体则成为既存近代史研究中的失语者,包括医生群体、数量极大的缠足女性、废科举后逐渐被排除出乡村教育领域的塾师群体,以及民初的“前清遗老”和四川的“五老七贤”及其追随者等,他们似更多体现了近代中国不变的一面。弥补我们近代史画面上失语的部分,或者不失为今后史家的努力方向。

There was a wide“intermediate zone”between the old and the new in modern China.Academic circles formerly neglected those social groups and their identities of old or new were not quite distinct,for which did not present an obvious contest between the old and the new.They therefore became voiceless social groups in our academic discourse of modern China.This essay identifies a number of the social groups such as women with bound feet,traditional and modern physicians,old\|style school teachers in rural areas and old adherents of the Qing Dynasty in Republican China.Further studies on these voiceless groups could contribute to our comprehension of the continuity of modern China.