社會圖像的建構－－百年來明清社會史研究的透視

The Construction of Images of Society:A Literature Review on Ming-Qing Social History in the Past One Hundred Years

本文嘗試對百年來明清社會史的研究作一鳥瞰式的回顧，大致勾勒其演變之軌跡。回顧之重點不在全面性的介紹或評議，而是對其建構歷史圖像之骨架、輪廓，及背後之相關理念、理論，嘗試指示其要義與來由，並略加檢討。明清社會圖像的建構，相隨於不同的社會發展，不同的政治、經濟情勢，激發不同的現實與學術關懷，因而有不同的探究取徑與參考理論。粗略鳥瞰此過程可見：20 世紀初，嘗試突破傳統史學，廣泛試探各種可能議題；1920、30 年代，試用階級概念以建立架構；50 年代則意識形態掛帥，緊縮視野、議題與議論幅度，且多所僵固地套用理論；至80 年代後期，重新反思階級理論，開放探討面向，積極開發生活、文化議題；進入21 世紀，社會生活史、文化史已成一時之顯學。

This essay attempts to do a literature review on Ming-Qing social history in the past one hundred years with a bird's eye view and depicts pictures of research trends during different periods. Rather than to give an overall introduction or commentary, the main focus of this review is to understand and analyze how historians constructed images of history, and what kinds of ideas and theories had been applied into these researches. Echoing with diversified social developments, politics, and economic environments, the construction of images of Ming-Qing society revealed various realities and academic concerns. Therefore, there were a variety of approaches and theories utilized by scholars to discuss Ming-Qing social history. At the beginning of the 20th century, historians tried to break through traditional historiography and explored extensively many possible issues and topics. In the 1920s and 30s, the concept of class was applied to construct specific frames and discourses. During the 50s, the idea of ideology dominated historical researches, limited scopes and depth of issues and visions, and thus made scholars stiffly bring theories into their studies. Until the late 80s, historians started to rethink class theory, and open-mindedly and actively developed topics on life and culture. As the 21st century began, social history, history of everyday life and cultural history have already become popular issues.