上海小刀会起义首领刘丽川下落考

The Whereabouts of Liu Lichuan,Head of Shanghai Small Swords Society Uprising

小刀会起义失败后,刘丽川的下落历来众说纷纭。总的来说,有被杀说和逃逸说两种说法。被杀说因被杀地点的不同又有多种观点,其中,虹桥说和小闸桥说是颇为流行的两种观点,前者出自清廷的征剿大吏,后者出自地方乡绅,但后者的被杀情节多采自前者。被杀说关系封建官场中人的生死功过,令人怀疑,特别是虹桥被杀说一开始就受到人们的质疑。逃逸说源于身在现场的外国传教士,他们没有利害关系,有一定的可信度。刘丽川本无大志,形象不佳,逃逸后隐姓埋名、淹没无闻是可能的,但这种结局也为被杀说提供了支撑。

After the fall of Small Swords Society Uprising, opinions vary on the whereabouts of Liu Lichuan. To sum up, there are two views on this ： Liu was killed or he fled. As regards the view that Liu was killed, people disagreed on where he was killed. Two popular views hold that he was killed in Hongqiao or Xiaojiaqiao. The former view came from the Qing generals sent to put down the uprising and the latter was from the local gentry. But the plot of the latter view was constructed from that of the former. People suspect the view that Liu was killed because it was connected to life and death, merits and demerits of the feudal officials. The view that Liu fled came from fcreign missionaries who were present at the time, which is believable to some extent as the matter was not related to their interest. As Liu had no lofty aspirations and had a poor image, he was likely to flee and conceal his identity and live a petty life, which in return supports the view that he was killed.