二十世纪初的茶馆与中国城市社会生活——以成都为例

Teahouse and Social Life of Chinese Cities in the Early Twentieth Century——Taking Chengdu as an Example

茶馆在中国城市社会生活中扮演着十分重要的角色 ,是非常理想的观察社会、经济、文化及地方政治变化的场所。 2 0世纪初 ,成都的茶馆是市民日常生活的重要舞台 ,它们既是娱乐消闲的场所 ,亦为从事商业以及社会政治活动的空间。长期以来 ,茶馆被误认为鼓励人们无所事事、孳生惰性 ,不利于社会健康发展 ,因此从专制政权到社会改良精英 ,都把控制和改造茶馆视为维持社会秩序安定的重要一环 ,然其努力都以失败告终。这既反映了社会对茶馆的需要 ,亦充分显示了其极为旺盛的生命力。

Teahouse played an important role in the social life of Chinese cities and was an ideal place to observe the changes in social, economic and cultural and political life. In Chengdu the teahouse was a vital stage of everyday life for the ordinary urban residents in the early 20 th century and served as both a place of entertainment and a space for commercial,social and political activities. For a long period of time teahouse was wrongly treated as a place for breeding idleness and indolence, harmful for social development and was therefore, condemned by both autocratic regimes and social elite. They tried to control and transform the teahouse as an important means for the stability of social order, but all their efforts were in vain. This is a testimony both to the need of the society for teahouse and to its vitality.