檳城華人「公司」遺產化過程的主體想像

Subject Imaginary in the Process of Patrimonialization of Penang Chinese Kongsi

在2008年登錄為世界遺產地的馬來西亞檳城喬治市，華人公司這一性質獨特的社群組織，因為漫長而複雜的歷史淵源，名下持有古蹟區大量的不動產業：宗祠、宮廟、街屋。本文針對喬治市這一遺產化過程展開研究，嘗試探討這一「世界遺產」在特定的歷史脈絡與現實情境下，某些未得彰顯的重要意義。首先，我將通過一趟遺產漫步，了解喬治市公司遺產景觀的大致樣貌，以此回顧各大公司協同政府、NGO團體，因應入遺所展開的各種遺產行動。繼之，我將針對華人公司世遺化過程中，從理念敘事到經營管理，發生的一些事件與變化進行分析，釐清其遺產化動能中各種不同的主體想像，包括祖先、市民。然後追溯歷史，我將討論華人公司作為一種世界遺產，應該如何面對與之密切相關的苦力世界，並提出「公司／苦力」叢結的遺產主張，以理解這些艱難歷史中一般意義上的人的命運，及其留給我們的遺產價值。

The traditional Chinese Kongsi have been important historical actors in trade activities and powerful community organizations since the nineteenth century in Southeastern Asia. In George Town, Penang (Malaysia), a world heritage site listed since 2008, Chinese Kongsi own massive collective property in the historical quarters, such as ancestral halls, temples, and shop houses. This article will examine the particular process of Kongsi becoming heritage, and try to initiate a discussion of some meanings of world heritage that are not yet apparent, in a specific historical context and contemporary situation. We will explore the particular Kongsi heritagescape in George Town, first by walking through its core zone, and recalling different heritage actions led by these traditional Chinese Kongsi, along with governmental forces and NGOs, in response to UNESCO's initiative. Then we will analyze some events and changes that have occurred, from narratives to management, during this process, and bring out different subjects involved in this heritage dynamic, such as ancestors or citizens, are imagined. Going back in history, we ask how the Chinese Kongsi, as world heritage, should face the history of coolies that was inseparable from its own. We put forward the idea of a Kongsi-coolies complex heritage, in the hope of understanding the destiny of humans in general through this difficult history, and the legacy that it bequeaths to us.