明清时期孝行的文本解读——以江南方志记载为中心

Filial Behavior in the Ming and Qing Dynasties:A Textual Interpretation Based on Local Records in Jiangnan

本文以明清江南方志中内容丰富的"孝友传"为资料基础,在梳理呈现明清时期的孝行与家庭生活的同时,着力探讨了方志"孝友传"之类文本的限度,其背后所蕴涵的政治和社会文化意蕴与编纂者的意图、文本可能的形成过程,进而对如何认识这些文本以及这些文本所体现的历史经验进行了探讨。指出,明清特别是清代,孝行记录的大量增加主要体现当时国家政策、社会文化资源与记载原则等方面的变化,并不一定表示孝子数量的绝对增加。虽然这些孝行并非当时社会的主流,但它们仍体现出了当时社会可能更注意孝的时代特性。进而认为;一,只要尽可能地抱"理解之同情"的态度,那些即便初看起来愚昧可笑的现象也绝非是不可解释和理喻的,与其他一些"正常"的史料相比,或许承载着更多的社会文化变迁的信息。二,所谓的榜样,虽然不能说是虚构的。但他们的形成,几乎无一不受当时社会观念与书写者主观意图的"污染"。三,从时人对奇节、愚孝等事务的议论中,可以看到中国传统文化重整体而轻个人的特点。

Based on records in'biographies of filial people'in local records in Jiangnan,this article explores filial be- havior and family life in the Ming and Qing Dynasties in order to reveal textual limits of'biographies of filial people'in local records,their political and sociocultural implications and compilers intentions,possible process of their textual for- mation as well as how to understand those texts and their historical implications among them.It is argued that increasing amount of records of filial behaviors in the Ming and Qing dynasties,especially in the Qing Dynasty,shows changes of national policy,sociocultural resources and recording principle at that time rather than absolute increase of filial people in number.It can be seen that maybe it is a theme of the times to pay more attention to filial behavior even though filial be- havior might not be the master stream at that time.So,it is suggested that it is better to take a'understanding and sym- pathizing'attitude toward those filial behaviors even though they might sound ignorant and ridiculous at first glance but not un-interpretable and unreasonable and they might contain more information of sociocultural changes than other'nor- mal'records,that whenever a so-called model is established,even though it is not a fabrication,it is seldom not'paint- ed'by contemporary social idea and compilers'intentions and that the characteristics that traditional Chinese culture places collective above individual can be seen from contemporaries'arguments over strange and ignorant filial behaviors at that time.