从静观其变到绅主官辅:聂缉椝对湖州海岛教案的因应(1903—1905)

From Laissez-faire to a Strategy of Cooperation Between Officials and the Gentry with the Gentry as the Major Force:Nie Jigui’s Response to Haidao Missionary Case(1903-1905)

浙江巡抚聂缉椝办理海岛教案交涉期间,起初遵奉清廷“持平办理”的既定教案处理策略,通过派员查勘教士多占地亩,并与教会方面展开交涉,密订合同以求速结,贯彻了清廷教案处理“地方化”的基本精神。在密订合同不仅遭到民众反对且未得到美国领事认可的情势下,聂氏转以安抚民情为主,对外态度逐渐转向强硬,最终与士绅形成“绅主官辅”的合作局面,突破了清政府教案处置的一般思路,此策略也为继任浙抚所沿用。透过聂缉椝因应海岛教案的策略取向及其变动,可以观察清末省域层面教案处理的诸多复杂面相。

Nie Jigui,governor of Zhejiang Province,presided over the negotiation of the Haidao missionary case.At the beginning,he followed the“impartial handling”policy made by the Qing government to solvemissionary cases.He sent officials to investigate the land illegally occupied by the missionaries,negotiated with the church,and signed a secret contract for a quick settlement,which implemented the basic spirit of“localization”strategy of solving missionary cases by the Qing government.Now that the secret contract was opposed by the local people and was not recognized by the U.S.consul,Nie turned to comfortthe people’s sentiments,and his attitude towards the missionary side gradually turned to be tough.In the end,appeared a strategy of cooperation between officialsand the gentry in which the gentry was the major force,breaking through the general policy of handling the missionary casesby theQing government.This strategy continued to be adopted by the successor governors of Zhejiang province.Through Nie Jigui’s strategic orientation and changes in response to the Haidao missionary case,we can observe various complex aspects of solving missionary cases at the provincial level in the late Qing Dynasty.