绅士、自治与近代湖南:大历史视野下的齐白石

Gentry,Autonomy and Modern Hu'nan:Interpreting Qi Baishi from a Grand Historical Perspective

齐白石以清末社会底层身份写入近现代艺术史,其身份进阶路径看似传奇,实际与近代湖南的发展趋势息息相关。晚清湘军崛起,使得之前在帝国行政疆域之中尚处边缘的湖南,一举成为国家权力话语的中心省份之一,并由此导致湖南绅士阶层的数量激增,齐白石正是依托湘潭绅士阶层完成了自我社会身份的第一次重要“进化”。“绅权”进一步扩张与民初共和制度的难产,使得湖南本省自治浪潮高涨,最终导致1920年湖南率先宣布独立并颁布省级“宪法”。齐白石却在南北势力胶着的夹缝之中,不得不于花甲之年北漂谋生。近代湖南的大历史,可谓一把双刃剑,既成就了齐白石,又裹挟了齐白石。

Qi Baishi appeared in the modern art history as one of those at the bottom of the society in the late Qing Dynasty.His efforts to climb up the social ladder seemed legendary,but was actually closely related to the development of the Hu'nan Province in the modern era.The rise of the Hu'nan Army in the late Qing Dynasty made Hu'nan,once a marginalized province in the administrative territory of the Qing Dynasty,one of the central provinces with a strong voice in state power,which significantly increased the number of gentry in Hu'nan.On this basis,Qi Baishi raised his social status for the first time.The further expansion of “gentry power” and the difficult development of the republican system in the early Republic of China led to a rise of autonomy in Hu'nan Province,as a result of which Hu'nan became the first to declare independence and issued a “Constitution” at the provincial level in 1920.But given equally matched northern and southern forces,Qi Baishi had no way but come to Beijing in his sixties to make a living.The grand history of the Hu'nan Province in the modern era can be considered a double-edged sword,which made Qi Baishi successful while engulfing him.