地志書寫與家國想像——民初《大中華地理志》的地方與國家認同

Rewriting Local and Imagining Nationhood: The Compilation of Great China Geography as Case Study of Local / National Identity in Early Republican China

本文以民國初年中國地學會成員林傳甲（1877-1922）編寫的《大中華地理志》系列叢書為中心，探討近代以來地志書寫和知識轉型的關係，並分析這套具有教科書性質的地理志如何在民初競爭劇烈的教科書市場中爭得一席之地，以及這些描摹家國想像的地理知識背後所寓涵的地方與國家認同。
表面看來《大中華地理志》以省、縣為單位，延續清末以來鄉土志「愛國必先愛鄉」的思維，是一套從地方認識出發的地理教科書。然而細究其內容，可發現均質化（homogenization）的書寫框架，以及國家凌駕於地方的特色，在在顯示出從地方概念入手的《大中華地理志》仍然包裹在強烈的國家認同之下，而歐戰危機帶來的國亡種滅之憂，更強化了林傳甲以國家為主體的意識。因此《大中華地理志》在某種程度上雖然可以視為清末鄉土志的遺緒，但長期以來對地方缺乏深入了解的讀書人要如何重新建構一種從地方出發的知識，顯然需要更多摸索。

This article examines the relations between local geography narratives and knowledge transformation in modern China based on the Great China Geography (GCG) documented by Lin Chuanjia, a member of the Association of Chinese Geography; and analyzes how this documentation won recognition in the highly competitive textbook market of early Republican China. It also examines the local and national identity connotations behind the narration of imagined nationhood through geographical knowledge.Ostensibly, GCG was a textbook attempting to develop local awareness, a framework that derives from the notion of 'love your hometown before love your country' of local gazettes in the late Qing. However, despite the complicated spatial divergence in various regions, there is a homogenization of national supremacy (over local identities) underscoring the narration of GCG. The sense of existential crisis triggered by WWI reinforced this strong national identity cultivation underneath GCG's seeming local awareness development.GCG can be treated as a legacy of late-Qing local gazettes, yet Chinese intelligentsia who lacked appreciation of local spirit still had a long way to go to construct a genuine local identity.