十九世紀中國邊境社會的暴力－－以清嘉道時期川西涼山地區為例

History of Violence in China: On Ethnic Conflicts in Western Sichuan Province during the Jiaqing and Daoguang Periods (1796-1850) of the Qing Dynasty

十九世紀的中國社會儼然有一股「結群」與「暴力」的社會趨勢，而邊境社會的集體暴力是其重要組成。本文以四川省西部涼山地區持續一百多年的人群衝突與暴力為案例，對此社會現象進行探討，以暴力史的觀點，重新詮釋清朝嘉道時期涼山地區的暴力形式由日常生活中的個體暴力，透過團練、家支等形式進行社會動員，演變為集體暴力，與長期的集體暴力對抗的結構；尤其是團練暴力導致更為嚴重的社區集體暴力化，基於集體恐懼與追求集體安全，處處結群對抗。當中人群更以暴力情境為資源，利用「暴力」、煽動暴力，書寫暴力、合理化暴力，社會中充斥著濃重的暴力心態與暴力文化。透過一系列暴力問題的探討，說明此一集體暴力的社會情境，並非是涼山地區的獨特表現，而是十九世紀中國西南邊境社會，甚至是整體晚清中國社會集體暴力現象的縮影。

This paper examines violence and ethnic conflict in one particular region of China—Liangshan, located in western Sichuan province—during a well-defined period—between 1796 and 1850. My study of the Liangshan regions shows that violence there began at the level between individuals. It quickly spread and entangled their extended families. Finally, entire communities were trained and mobilized, to be pitted against other large communities, similarly trained and mobilized. Violence gave birth to more violence, in a seemingly never-ending cycle. This study argues that the phenomena it describes are not limited to Liangshan—but that our evidence shows that ethnic conflict and violence were in fact endemic to Chinese culture and society at the time.