自觉与自信:近现代侨乡民众的“现代化”观念

The“Modern”Concepts of the Populace in the Qiaoxiang Regions

在近现代的中国乡村现代化探索中,侨乡民众形成了具有自身特点的“现代化”观念,尊崇历史、对标世界、追求文明、向往科技、维护集体、富强家国等认知意识,透过乡村建设文献和建筑装饰得以记录和表达;乡村制度和村落场景化的建构,贴近基层民众的生活实践,并影响其思想、行为、价值取向和现代化探索实践,凝聚了他们对于鸦片战争以来大变局环境下中国乡村发展前景的基本认知和态度。这是不同于社会上层的基层民众对现代化的选择和反应,传统文化的浸润和西方文明的传入,使之坚守与吸纳并存,彰显了侨乡民众朴素的文化自觉和文化自信。

In the course of exploring rural modernization in modern China,the people of qiaoxiang regions have developed their own con-cepts of“modernization”with their own characteristics,such as venerating history,aligning with international practices,pursuing civilization,yearning for science and technology,maintaining the collective consciousness,etc.,and these have been recorded and expressed through rural construction documents and architectural decorations.The construction of grassroots self-governance system and village scenes has influ-enced the thoughts,behaviors,value orientation and modernization exploration practices of the populace,and condensed their basic knowl-edge of and attitude towards the prospects of China’s rural development in an age of great change since the Opium War.These are different from the choices and reaction of China’s upper classes.The influence of the traditional culture and the introduction of Western civilization have enabled the populace in the qiaoxiang areas to adhere to the traditional culture and to absorb western civilization and coexist with it,demonstrating the simple cultural consciousness and cultural confidence of the populace in the qiaoxiang regions.