教化之外:明代毁淫祠的多重面相

Beyond Moral Education: The Multifacetedness of Ming's Endeavor to Destroy Illicit Cults

明代由地方官员实施的毁淫祠作为一项社会行动,其意义并非推广教化所能完全涵括,而是有着多元的丰富面相。对于地方官员而言,他们一方面可以通过捣毁淫祠,获取相关资财以补充地方经费的不足,在某些情况下毁淫祠所能带来的收益颇为可观,官员完全可以借此而在地方上有所作为,甚至中央财政对此亦曾有所觊觎;但另一方面,所谓淫祠与各方关系盘根错节,毁淫祠虽然能够带来实际收益,但也蕴藏着一定的风险,官员贸然毁之,往往得不偿失,所以大部分地方官员对此都持审慎的态度,很少主动发起的大规模毁淫祠运动,这也是他们权衡利害之后的必然结果。

Apart from the moral aspiration,the goal of Ming government’s crackdown on illicit cults was multiple.This endeavor was even conducive to the improvement of local government’s financial situation. But on the other hand,destroying illicit cults was not an easy job but a risky business due to their extremely complicated background. Exactly for this reason,the local officials was very cautious when taking action illicit cults.