“变质”的慈善:晚清沪北栖流公所初探

A “Metaphor” of Charity:Preliminary Study of the Sinza Refuge in the Late Qing Dynasty

以往对沪北栖流公所的研究,多将其视为慈善机构,而对会审公廨的研究,亦未注意到与其关系密切的栖流公所。本文通过对栖流公所的设立及职能的变化发展的考察,发现其最初虽然与清代大部分救助流民的栖流所无甚差异,然因地处租界,经费主要依赖官局拨发,实际操作中则成为公廨饬发各类人员的接收机构。为补救妇女发押官媒与善堂择配的弊端,栖流公所增建房屋接收公廨涉讼妇女,是为栖流女所。在工部局与会审公廨争夺女犯关押权的过程中,作为因应之策,栖流女所被正式确立为有别于传统女牢的女犯分所。同时,原囚禁于工部局西牢的男性案犯亦有部分改发栖流公所。这使得栖流公所在承担各种善举之外,亦具有近代监狱的职能。

The Sinza Refuge was established under the suggestion of Chen Fuxun, the first magistrate of the Mixed Court of Shanghai. Previous research has mostly regarded this institution as a charitable organization without noticing the tight link between the Sinza Refuge and the Mixed Court. At first, the Sinza Refuge was used as a settlement for poor Chinese, which made it no different than other refuges. However, because it was located in the International Settlement, and mainly depended on the Qing government and the Mixed Court for its expenditures, the Sinza Refuge became an institution that accepted all kinds of personnel sent by the Mixed Court, including helpless people and criminals. In order to save them from the abuses of official matchmakers and Shan-tang, the Sinza Refuge built rooms for the women who were involved in lawsuits. During the fight over the power to hold women prisoners between the Mixed Court and the Municipal Council, the women＇ s refuge was changed into a women＇ s prison. At the same time, some of the adult male criminals who were imprisoned in the western prison were imprisoned in the Sinza Refuge. These factors contributed to the Sinza Refuge not only playing the role of a charitable organization, but also that of a prison.