清乾隆末年扑毁去思德政碑考

A Study on Destroying “Qusi and Dezheng Stela” at the End of Qianlong's Reign of the Qing Dynasty

地方绅民为离任的地方官员筹资兴建去思碑、德政碑,是唐宋就有的一种现象,由于其常常存在着沽名钓誉、名实不副的弊端而一直被禁止。清承前制,亦明令禁止官员立碑,但皇帝特别是康熙帝对官员立碑之事并非一味反对,故禁律效力不彰,形同虚设。乾隆朝,吏治废弛以及与此紧密相关的敝风陋习引起了乾隆帝的警觉,为整顿吏治,乾隆帝对官场相沿成风的陋习进行了全国性的清理和查禁,其中一项重要措施就是乾隆末年在全国范围内开展的扑毁"去思德政碑"行动。在乾隆帝的督促下,各地督抚用一年时间就基本完成了这一专项行动,此后十年则是循例奏闻。此次行动各地共扑毁此类碑匾一万五千余块,表面上看成绩显著,维护了皇权专制,但并没有真正扭转清朝日益腐败的吏治。

Building Pretifying stele for discharged local officials by local people arose since the Tang and Song dynasties.This behavior,which usually went along with corrupt practices such as＂angling for undeserved fame＂and＂doing more in name than reality＂,was prohibited by law.The prohibition continued in the Qing dynasty,but without the emperors＇ full supports,it was ineffective.By the times of Qianlong,the official corruption and the related corrupt customs caused the emperor＇s attention.To redress the officialdom,he carried out some methods to clean up and prohibit the rife bad customs.One of the important measures was destroying ＂Qusi and Dezheng stela＂nationwide during the last years of his reign.Local governors completed the mission in one year,and more than 15000 stela were ruined.This action,which looks remarkable,maintained the imperial autocracy,but didn＇t reverse the increasingly corrupt official custom.