巫术、技术与污名:晚清教案中“挖眼用于照相”谣言的形成与传播

Magic, Technology and Giving Bad Names: The Forming and Disseminating Rumors of “Digging Eyes for Photography” in Late Qing Dynasty Case Involving Foreign Missionaries

晚清西方基督宗教进入中国,因与外来势力的入侵结合在一起,激起了中国民众及士绅的抵制。中国人在反洋教的过程中,对外来宗教进行了"污名化"处理,因此社会上关于外来宗教的谣言层出不穷。晚清以降的诸多教案不少就是因这些谣言而起,其中流传最广的谣言就是传教士会对中国人进行挖眼剖心。挖眼剖心类似于中国古代的采生折割巫术,因其主要实施的对象是妇女儿童等弱势群体,从而在民众中产生了极大的恐慌和愤怒情绪。在这些谣言中,关于挖眼用途的说法有炼金、制药等,后来逐渐把挖眼与成像的功能结合起来,慢慢形成了一种新的流行说法,即挖眼是为了制作照相药水。照相术发明之后,人们普遍认为其有摄魂的神秘功能。而在照相术传入中国后,中国人也多以妖术视之。中国人普遍认为照相药水乃是由传教士所"挖"中国人的眼珠化合而成。把"挖眼"和照相术联系起来,在某种意义上反映了当时中国民众对于外来宗教以及与之相关的新技术的恐惧与排拒。

During the late Qing Dynasty, the Christian church entered China together with the foreign invasion, resulting in the resistance from Chinese civilians and scholar-gentlemen. In this process, the foreign religion was given bad names by rumors. Several cases were caused by such rumors as the foreign missionaries would dig out eyeballs and hearts of the Chinese people, just like the ancient magic of cutting living bodies, especially to women and children. Then panic and anger were greatly aroused among the masses. One of the rumors was that the use of dig-out eyeballs was for making developing agent. Photography was considered a mystic function that can grab away people＇s soul. For this reason, photography was seen as witchcraft, and there was a saying that the photographic developing agent was made by the eyeballs digging out by the foreign missionaries. This fact reflects the then Chinese masses were afraid of and resisting the foreign religion and the related new technology.