地方宗教傳統與「去中心化」的地方政治：重探溫州金錢會事件（1850-1862）

Communal Religious Tradition and “De-centralized” Local Politics: Reconsidering the Wenzhou Jinqianhui Incident (1850-1862)

發生在咸豐十一年夏（1861）的金錢會事件，可說是溫州歷史上最重要的群眾運動。這場被官方定位為叛亂的金錢會事件，乃是溫州府南部平陽縣錢倉江畔經營飯鋪的趙起所組的金錢會，與瑞安縣在籍京官孫鏘鳴所組成的白布會之間的武裝衝突。以往學者看待此一「集體行動」，多半是將它與太平天國運動直接劃上等號，不然就是以「農民起義」目之。事實上，金錢會是源自宋以來即流行於東南沿海的「齋教傳統」而建立的大眾組織。本文論證：此一長期以來被帝國政府邊緣化的地方宗教傳統及其所建立的民間組織，搭上晚清「地方軍事化」的順風車，從而成為地方政治舞台要角。透過本文的討論，將可看到「地方宗教傳統」在溫州乃至整體晚清政局中所發揮的關鍵影響力，並可重新思考「宗教」在現代中國政治「去中心化」發展過程中所扮演的關鍵角色。

The Wenzhou Jinqianhui (Golden coin association) Incident of the late Qing period marked the largest collective action in Wenzhou history. Scholars have long considered it to have been a peasant rebellion influenced by Taiping rebellion (1850-1864) or a conflict between local elites and officials. Based on local materials, however, this article argues that the Jinqianhui was not a rebellious cult organization or secret society, but rather a popular organization based on the local vegetarian cult tradition, which had flourished along the southeastern coast of China since the Song dynasty (960-1279). Caught up in the development of ”local militarization” since the early 1850s, this popular religious organization became a licensed ”local militia,” and this allowed it to become a major political power in Wenzhou. The Jinqianhui Incident was actually an armed conflict between two local militia organized respectively by local gentry and the religious organization. Through its discussion of this ”collective action,” this article also sheds light on the rise of ”the politics of the excluded” and the ”de-centralization” of local politics in late Qing Wenzhou.