以公共痰盂為傲？香港、紐約與上海的反吐痰運動

The Pride of Public Spittoons? Anti-Spitting Movements in Hong Kong, New York, and Shanghai

本文前部曲〈公共痰盂的誕生〉企圖回答一個素樸的問題：為什麼經過長達一個世紀的反吐痰運動後，中國人仍然需要痰盂？本文進一步追問：為何痰盂會持續地在中國與西方間引發強烈的惡感，從而提醒雙方，彼此是何等地不同？本文由華人社會中的第一個反吐痰爭議（香港，1907至1909年）出發，一方面追溯啟發它的源頭，紐約市衛生局自1890年代所發起的反吐痰運動，另一方面向下延伸至1930年代上海發起的反吐痰運動。透過跨越三地的比較架構，本文指出三地的反吐痰運動在追求抑制肺結核傳播的相同目標中，卻走上了反向的歷史道路：華人領袖開始擁抱衛生而要求在公共場所普設痰盂，西方人（尤其是美國人）卻開始採用「個人化的痰瓶」與「自我隱藏的痰盂」，而終於揮別公共痰盂。更重要的是，相較於美國反吐痰運動要求市民徹底戒絕吐痰的惡習，香港與上海的反吐痰運動卻在教導華人「吐痰入盂」時，重新肯定了吐痰的習慣與需要。令人意外地，正是由於反吐痰運動，華人開始以新近興起的公共廁所為模型來構想公共痰盂，採用機器大量製作白色搪瓷痰盂，並在代表進步意識的公共機構內（學校、醫院）普遍設置，以至於當人們將痰涎吐入這種新式痰盂時，竟能以自己實踐了衛生現代性而引以為傲。

This article explores two questions: Why did a century-long anti-spitting movement fail to lead Chinese people to abandon the use of spittoons? And, why does the spittoon continue to generate bad feelings between Chinese and Westerners, causing them to view each other as fundamentally different? By way of establishing a triangular framework of circulation and comparison among anti-spitting campaigns in Hong Kong, New York, and Shanghai, this article shows how two very different policies were developed from the shared objective of controlling the spread of tuberculosis. While the anti-spitting campaigns in Chinese communities shared with the campaign in New York the objective of teaching citizens to refrain from spitting on the floor, they did not aim to break the habit of spitting itself. On the contrary, they endeavored to teach citizens the new habit of spitting into predetermined places such as public spittoons. Paradoxically, while Chinese spitting habits have been viewed as the visual evidence of China's shameful deficiencies in hygiene and civilization, the practice of spitting into white enamel spittoons—and the country-wide implementation thereof—was one of the core endeavors of China's hygienic modernity.