地方菁英的經濟生活——以林維龍（1870-1942）私帳為例

Theeconomiclifeofthelocalelite-thecaseofLinWeilong's(1870-1942)accountbooks

本研究的主角林維龍，是梅鶴山莊第三代，為林萬德（1853-1895）之子，梅鶴林家開創者林登雲（1815-1888）之長孫，自幼飽讀四書五經，亦曾以塾師為業。日治後多任大溪地方要職，諸如保正、庄長、公學校學務委員等，堪稱當時大溪的地方菁英。
目前由林家後人提供，中研院所收藏的《梅鶴林家文書》中，有數本林維龍手記私帳，年代橫跨31年度（乙酉-乙卯1885-1915），主要內容為林維龍與妻子蕭氏及其子女的家庭收支及借還款紀錄，這筆私帳不僅保留了豐富經濟與社會活動訊息，且完整呈現了當時地方菁英的生活樣態。
透過帳簿內容的分析與梳理，可確實掌握林維龍的理財策略、生活嗜好及社交應酬，其所呈現的個人形象，是一位受過科舉教育的地方富紳，重視親友間的人際互動，理財方式傳統、循規蹈矩卻非沒有彈性。不過，在大家族生活下，其資產可能為家族共財，不得隨意支用。雖然日常飲食之供應不成問題，維龍若有其個人的嗜好或社交活動，就得尋求其他的收入來源。帳簿上所記錄的各項收入，比較傾向於維龍小家庭的日常開銷，其中買賣豬羊與放貸生息，應是林維龍主要的副業及金流來源。

The protagonist of this study, Lin Weilong, is the third generation of Meihe Villa（梅鶴山莊）, the son of Lin Wande（林萬德1853-1895）and the eldest grandson of Lin Dengyun (林登雲1815-1888), the founder of the Meihe Lin family（梅鶴林家）. During the Japanese Rule Period, he held public office in Daxi localities, such as Pao-cheng（保正）, Zhuang Chang（庄長）, and the student councillor（學務委員）of“Public Elementary School”, and he was known as the local elite of Daxi at that time.
In the ''Mei He Lin Family Documents''《梅鶴林家文書》provided by the descendants of the Lin family and collected by the National Academy of Taiwan, there are several account books written by Lin Weilong, spanning 31 years（Yiyou乙酉- Yimao乙卯1885-1915）, The main content is the family income and expenditure of Lin Weilong, his wife Xiao（蕭氏）and their children.These account books not only retains rich information on economic and social activities, but also fully presents the life style of the local elite at that time.
Through the analysis and sorting out of the account books, we can truly grasp Lin Weilong's financial management strategy, life hobbies and social entertainment. The personal image he presents is a local wealthy gentry who has received an imperial examination education. He attaches great importance to the interpersonal interaction between relatives and friends , and has a traditional way of managing money, following the rules but not without flexibility.However, in the life of a big family, his assets may belong to the family property and cannot be used at will. Although the supply of daily food is not a problem, when he has his personal hobbies or social activities, he must seek other sources of income. The various incomes recorded in the account books are more inclined to the daily expenses of Weilong's small family. Among them, buying and selling pigs and sheep and lending money for interest should be Lin Weilong's main sideline business and source of cash.