丁戊奇荒前后华北乡村社会网络的重塑——以美国公理会在鲁西北的活动为个案

Remolding the Rural Social Network in North China around the Ding-Wu Disaster: A Case Study on the Activities of the North China Mission of the ABCFM in Northwest Shandong

美国公理会借助宗教宽容条款率先向华北地区延伸,恰逢鲁西北民间秘密教门因受清廷严厉打压而寻求生存策略之时,两者相遇为公理会在鲁西北的发展提供了契机。借助传统的乡村社会关系网络,传教士在鲁西北建立了布道点。丁戊奇荒期间,传教士凭借基督教会组织的制度性力量在鲁西北大力开展赈灾活动,由此开拓出一定的传教地域空间。赈灾过后,传教士利用乡村集市网络建设和拓展教会网络,同时塑造教会空间并对教会与外界进行区隔。

Taking advantage of treaty rights, the North China Mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions penetrated into North China in the 1860 s. During that time secret societies in Northwest Shandong struggled to survive while being suppressed by local governments under the Qing. The encounters between the North China Mission and the secret societies produced an opportunity for the Mission to develop in Northwest Shandong. Based on traditional rural social networks, missionaries were able to open preaching outposts in several villages. During the Ding-Wu Disaster, missionaries devoted themselves to famine relief work, hoping to win the peoples’ con?dence and to prepare the way for propagating Christianity. The Christian organization that sponsored the North China Mission strongly supported the relief work with its institutional power and thus enabled the missionaries to carry on their work in an orderly manner. After the relief work, missionaries were generally accepted by people, and so was Christianity. Then, missionaries exploited the fair network to build and develop church networks and to build a community that was distinguished from the outside world.