明代士大夫与轿子文化

Gentry Culture and the Sedan Chair in Ming China

交通工具的消费与使用的变化，不仅说明了技术方面的改进，也反映了社会变动与社会结构的变迁。本文即以明代的乘轿风气爲例作探讨，全文分爲三个部分：一讨论北宋末年出现的轿子，作爲一种交通工具，如何在明代中期以後渐渐普及，并成爲一种流行的趋势，取代原有隋唐以来的骑马风尚。其次，乘轿的流行的原因除了地理、技术、社会、经济等外部的因素之外，是不是还有内部的文化因素？尤其是明代官方赋予轿子什麽样的意涵，致使影响到社会进而改变交通工具的使用形态？第三是分析轿子在明代又发展出什麽样的象徵意义呢？本文将尝试揭櫫轿子在政治权力、社会身分或政治文化等三方面所具有的象徵意义。

The transformation in the consumption and use of modes of transportation reflected not only technological developments but also social changes that amounted to a shift in social structure. This paper is a case study of the use of the sedan chair in Ming China and is divided into three parts. The first part investigates the process by which the sedan chair as a mode of transportation gradually replaced the horse, the main mode of transportation since the Sui and Tang dynasties. The sedan chair became a new fashion from the late period of North Sung dynasty. The second part discusses the causes of this new trend, looking at both ”exterior” fators such as geographical, technological, social and economic developments, and also the ”inner” cultural causes of the phenomenon. In particular, what was the social significance of official use of sedan chairs in the Ming and how might this have influenced changes in general modes of transportation? Finally, the third part of this paper explores the symbolic meanings of the sedan chaire in terms of political hegemony, social status and political culture.