未竟之业:民国时期江苏无锡县修志活动新探

Unfinished Mission:New Exploration of the Compilation of the Local Chronicle in Wuxi County During thePeriod of the Republic of China

民国时期,江苏省无锡县先后于1918年、1929年、1948年三次修纂县志,皆以失败告终,不过缘由却各不相同。1918年,钱基博受聘总纂,由于当时钱氏资历尚浅,加之修志主张触犯他人利益,由此受到时人非难,钱基博辞职后,修志无果而终。1929年,修志工作重启后,无锡县志局人事变动颇为频繁,修志进度缓慢,反映了无锡县士绅对修志的消极,此后在国民党江苏省第二区党部干涉下,此次修志也不了了之。1947年,无锡县从倡修县志到终止,历时半年之久,期间无锡县修志委员会就县志体例进行多次磋商,然而修志工作终因经费无着而被迫终止。

During the period of the Republic of China,Wuxi County of Jiangsu Province attempted to compile the local chronicle three times in 1918,1929,and 1948,all of which ended in failure for different reasons.In 1918,Qian Jibo was hired as the chief compiler.However,due to his insufficient qualifications and experience in this aspect and the fact that his views on the compilation damaged the interests of others,Mr.Qian was heavily criticized.After he resigned,the compila⁃tion ended fruitlessly.In 1929,the compilation restarted,but the process was very slow due to the frequent personnel chan⁃ges in Wuxi County Chronicle Bureau.The gentry in Wuxi County showed little interest in compiling the local chronicle.Later,with the interference of the Second District Party Department of Jiangsu Province of the Kuomintang,the compilation also came to nothing.In 1947,it lasted for half a year from the initiation to the termination of the compilation work.During this period,the Wuxi County Chronicle Compilation Committee had many consultations on the style of the local chronicle.However,the compilation was finally forced to terminate due to lack of funds.