清末东北鼠疫防控与交通遮断

The Prevention and Control of Plague and the Shut-Down of Transportation in Northeast China in the Late Qing Dynasty

1910年,东北爆发鼠疫。为应对东北鼠疫,清政府采取交通遮断的措施。东北地区交通状况决定了交通遮断必须从铁路、陆路和海路三方面着手。该地区大量外来苦工成为交通遮断的主要对象。清政府停运铁路后,为防止苦工徒步流动,中俄之间、中央与地方、各省之间以及各地之间展开复杂的交涉。最初,由于担心苦工入关会导致疫情蔓延以及增加地方压力,直隶、山东两省督抚禁止苦工入关。农历大年过后,直隶、山东两省苦工纷纷出发返回东北谋生,因此交通遮断的主要内容演变为东三省总督防止苦工出关。东北各地政府之间为截留和留养苦工亦展开利益交涉。在各国压力下,安东、营口两港遮断海路交通。交通遮断虽具有某种程度的现代性,但从政治运作角度来看,实质上是从中央到地方各种政治势力之间既合作又斗争的过程,展现了清政府应对突发事件的能力。

Plague broke out in Northeast China in 1910.To cope with the emergency,the Qing government shut down transport links with the affected region.The transport conditions in Northeast China meant that this measure was initially implemented for rail,land and sea transport.Those most affected were the large numbers of laborers who had come to the Northeast from other parts of China.After the Qing government halted railway transport,complex negotiations were undertaken between China and Russia,between the center and local governments,and among provinces and localities to prevent the laborers from making the journey by foot.At first,fearing that their movement into the hinterland of China might spread the plague and increase the pressure on the regions,the governors of Zhili and Shandong forbade them to travel southward through the Shanhaiguan Pass.After the Spring Festival,the laborers from Zhili and Shandong came back to Northeast China to gain work;the major content of the transport interdiction thus turned out to be the ban imposed by the governor of the three Northeastern provinces on laborers’travelling northeast via the pass.The Northeastern provinces also negotiated with each other over holding the laborers back and providing for them.In response to foreign pressure,marine transport was blocked at the two ports of Andong and Yingkou.The transport ban showed a certain modernity,but in terms of political operations,it was essentially aprocess of cooperation and competition among various political forces ranging from the central government to the regions.The process displayed the Qing government’s ability to respond to emergencies.