商人社群與地方社會的交融－－從清代蘇州版畫看地方商業文化

Interaction between the Mercantile Community and Local Society: Commercial Culture Portrayed in Qing Suzhou Prints

本文從清代蘇州版畫所描繪的四個地標－－閶門、虎丘、萬年橋與普濟橋旁的普濟堂－－來推斷地方作坊所設定的主要買主，為在當地經商的中層商人，觀眾群也包括同樣浸淫於蘇州商業文化的城市居民。相較於明代以來文人所主導的蘇州秀麗城郊景致，十八世紀版畫作坊則運用西方圖繪技巧，及拼貼真實與想像的山水園林，來呈現與當地社會議題相呼應的地標。本文突破過去學界視蘇州版畫為「西方影響」的論述框架，轉而關注當地社會何以會接受西方技法。藉由構圖與母題等視覺分析，本文得以進一步探討版畫所呈現出的商人社群與地方社會之交融，包括商人對其生活所在地的地方認同、對世俗財富與休閒於蘇州名勝的想望、對地方政府權威的倚賴，以及對當地慈善組織的複雜心態。

By analyzing four Suzhou 蘇州 sites－Chang Gate 閶門, Tiger Hill 虎丘, Ten-Thousand-Year Bridge 萬年橋, and the Institution of Universal Salvation 普濟堂 next to the Puji Bridge 普濟橋－depicted in eighteenth-century local prints, this article argues that the targeted audience of these prints was primarily middle-level merchants residing and running businesses in Suzhou, as well as urban dwellers immersed in the local commercial culture. Compared to the Ming literati-dominated painting repertoire of scenic suburbs, Suzhou prints featured innovative cityscapes that employed both Western pictorial techniques and an unconventional collage of realistic landscapes and imaginative scenes which referred to local concerns. This article rejects the discourse of “Western influence” that was traditionally applied to Suzhou prints and instead asks why local society accepted Western pictorial techniques. By using visual analysis, this article further investigates how Suzhou prints projected interactions between the mercantile community and local society. Issues include how merchants identified with the places they lived, how merchants projected their worldly desire for wealth and for the leisure time to go sightseeing at local scenic sites, how merchants depended on the authority of the local government, and mercantile attitudes toward local charitable institutions.