略论晚清长江上游地区的慈善事业——置于近代化视野下的审视

Charities in the Areas of Upper Yangtze River in Late Qing Dynasty: A Survey under Modern View

晚清长江上游地区的慈善事业在清前期的基础上有了长足发展,虽然旧有的善会善堂仍是传统的延续,但由于受戊戌维新与清末新政的冲击,新式慈善机构亦纷纷诞生,从而开启了该地慈善事业的近代转型。检视该地晚清慈善事业不难发现:尽管其近代化发展的广度和深度明显滞后于沿海等地,但二者近代转型的趋势却是一致的,区别在于,沿海等地慈善事业近代转型来源于社会力量自发推动,而长江上游地区的新式慈善事业几乎皆得益于政治力量的推动,其慈善事业近代转型中凸现出强烈的政治因素。

The charities in the areas of upper Yangtze River had made great progress in the late Qing Dynas- ty. There were still traditional ＂Shanhui＂ （ charity association） and ＂Shantang＂ （benevolent society for the elder- ly）, new charity organizations appeared because of the Constitutional Reform and Modernization of 1898. Compared with the costal areas, the development of charities in the area of upper Yangtze River was relatively lagging behind. However, there is the trend of transformation as well. The transformation of charities in the coastal areas was resul- ted from social forces; while the transformation of charities in the area of the upper Yangtze River was strongly pro-moted by political forces.