清中叶省会书院院长的选任与学者的省际交流渠道

The Selection and Appointment of Provincial Academy Deans and Scholars'Cross-Regional Exchanges in the Mid-Qing Dynasty

明清易代以来,以书院讲会为纽带而形成的学者跨区域交流机制渐失活力。雍正十一年(1733),各省奉旨建立省会书院,使之成为一省文化教育中心。在政策的支持下,省会书院院长拥有优厚的经济待遇以及相应的奖叙制度,使各省会书院有条件在全国范围内选聘院长,进而在清中叶形成跨越省际的、机制性的学者交流新渠道。对于院长的选任,清代在制度上并未设置硬性资格条件,但各省在实践中,仍以功名、学术、籍贯、人脉等作为实际考量因素。院长应聘的驱动因素亦显多样。院长选任制度的实施,促进了乾嘉学术的省际扩散。然而,清代书院并未普遍推行固定聘期制度,使各书院院长的流动频率不一,地位难以稳定。且书院的自主性有限,选任院长的实权由地方督抚控制,影响院长职能的发挥。甚至院长之职本身也成为部分官员出卖人情的工具,造成书院难以根治的一大弊病。

After the Qing Dynasty replaced the Ming,the cross-regional exchange mechanism among scholars formed through lectures in academies was no longer popular.During the reigns of Emperors Yongzheng and Qianlong,the government took advantage of the opportunity to build provincial academies to establish a multi-level academy structure and a unique education system.Under the influence of this new system,scholars used academies to once again form a new cross-regional exchange,which became an important channel for the spread of the academic thoughts of the Qianjia School across various provinces.The basis for the existence of this exchange mechanism was the system of selecting and appointing deans of provincial academies.During the Qianlong period,the imperial court issued a number of decrees to regulate the selection and appointment of deans.With the support of these policies,the deans of provincial academies not only had generous incomes,but also enjoyed corresponding reward systems that provided political status.This prominence allowed the provincial academies to recruit nationwide.The imperial court did not formulate detailed laws on the selection criteria for deans;it advocated using knowledge,morality,behavior,and reputation as reference factors.However,provincial officials still placed significant importance on the dean's Imperial Examination achievements,academic background,native place,and interpersonal relationships during the recruitment process.In the context of the prevalence of textual research in the mid-Qing Dynasty,the academic background of the candidates was sometimes more important than other factors,highlighting the academic attributes of provincial academies.With the implementation of such a selection and appointment system,a new and systematic channel for academic exchange across provincial boundaries emerged in the mid-Qing Dynasty,leading to the establishment of a national academic exchange network centered on provincial academies.In this network,the Jiangnan area,as the center of academic and cultural development,was a major exporter of scholars.The academic culture prevalent in the local area during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods also spread abroad,and with the help of the intra-provincial mobility of students from provincial academies,it began to spread locally.Although Qing academies primarily taught courses for the imperial examinations,the deans were still able to retain limited teaching autonomy through methods such as answering questions,formal examinations,additional examinations,small examinations,writings,and formulating academy rules,allowing new academic disciplines to have space to spread.The government played a constructive role in the emergence of these phenomena,but the system for selecting and appointing deans under its leadership also had significant problems.Due to the trend of academies becoming official schools during the Qing Dynasty,the selection and appointment of academy deans were primarily controlled by the government.A clear example of this is that deans of provincial academies were selected and appointed by Provincial Governors and Education Intendants.As a result,provincial academies had limited independence and were unable to appoint deans based on their own educational and academic needs.This system led to at least two major negative consequences.First,officials used their power and the examinations they presided over in the academies to influence the academic development,making it difficult for deans to effectively manage teaching and academic affairs.Second,the lack of a fixed term for deans compromised their status and forced them to curry favor with powerful officials.This power structure not only restricted the performance of the deans'functions,but also turned the appointment of deans into a tool for officials to exchange favors.Despite repeated orders from the imperial court for rectification,addressing this structural defect proved challenging.