夜航船:明清江南的内河航运网络及其公共场域

Night Vessel: The Inland Water Navigation and Its Public Space in Ming and Qing Dynasties

航船是一种通称,而夜航船仅是航船的一种。作为一种客货兼运的内河航运工具,夜航船的出现应该是在宋代。在元代,夜航船已成为江南颇为普及的交通工具。至明清两代,航船、夜航船达到了极盛。航船不但有日行或日夜兼行之别,而且有固定的线路,形成了江南独特的水乡航运网络。明清江南航船线路,大抵可以分为以下两类:一是省内航线,二是跨省航线。在明清时期的江南,夜航船是人们交流信息的重要场所,堪称一处流动的公共场域。清末民初以来,汽船、汽车开始出现,加之内河火轮的广泛使用,显然对传统的航船业造成了很大的冲击,最终导致航船业逐渐趋于衰落。

Vessel is a general term,among which night vessel is one sort.As a combination vessel,night vessel appeared in Song Dynasty and became a popular transportation tool in Yuan Dynasty,and Ming and Qing Dynasties witnessed its heyday.Vessels travel along fixed routes,some of them only travel by day while others travel day and night,which makes the special waterway network in Jiangnan.During Ming and Qing period,vessel routes in Jiangnan can be divided into two parts：Trans-provincial and intra-provincial routes.In Ming and Qing Dynasties,night vessel in Jiangnan is an important place for people to exchange information,which can be called a flowing public space.Since the late Qing Dynasty,steamships and automobiles began to appear,and the widespread use of inland steamship obviously influenced the traditional shipping industry,and eventually led to the decline of the latter.