清代村寨代笔中的“笔银”——基于黔东南文斗寨的研究

Scribe's Fees in a Qing Village: Evidence from Wendou

代笔人是契约文书书写中几乎最为重要的群体,而作为其报酬的"笔银"是描述代笔场景及代笔人形象的关键环节。以黔东南文斗寨的材料为中心,益以多方佐证,可以大致梳理清楚笔银的制度面向。从笔银的记载、支付与否,到其具体数额、交易中双方关于代笔费用的负担及笔银的支付方式等,围绕笔银的多重问题均得以文斗寨为例证而被详细讨论。并且,通过笔银与"中人钱"的比较,亦可以求证中人、代笔二者在社会环境及契约文书书写中的对照关系。

Scribes played a singularly important role in writing contracts,and the corresponding remuneration should be an essential element in describing this practice.Base on evidence from Wendou Village in southwestern Guizhou as well as other sources,this paper seeks to clarify the institutional aspect of the scribe’s fee.Questions concerning the scribe’s fee, including records,payment,the amount, and its distribution among parties,are discussed in detail.Further, by comparing the scribe’ s fee with the fee paid to the middleman,the contrast between the scribe and the middleman,both in the social environment and in the practice of writing contracts,becomes apparent.