從供物到貢物——鰣魚水陸兩運晉京攷

Fish in Time: From Sacrificial Object to Tribute Item in Ming-Qing China

在中國飲食史上足以牽動國計民生的物種，當非鰣魚莫屬。鰣魚(Tenualosa reevesii)，或作時魚，乃一迴游性的魚種，每年春夏之際成魚溯江產卵，幼魚再順江復歸大海，形成一生命週期。鰣魚自明代開始，因作為皇室寢廟薦先的必備「供物」，而成為每年晉京的例行「貢物」。價值不菲的鰣魚並非一般百姓負擔得起的美食，但從採捕到運輸的過程中，卻動員了極大的人力與物力。其牽連之廣、影響之鉅，恐怕再無他魚能出其右。
本文先從釐清清代罷貢的曲折歷程入手，指出罷貢的決策不宜化約而歸功於聖主的體恤民情，其中實有權衡利弊得失的現實考量。復次回溯明代鰣貢制度的形成，指證鰣魚因作為皇室寢廟祭祀的供物，而獲得供需朝廷的正當性，永樂朝遷都北京以後，即成為每年輸往京城的貢物。輸貢過程中採取陸運與水運兩路並行的方式，前者講究時效，後者供需大宗，兩者都需要沿途地方人力物力的配應與支援。輸運過程中的各個環節極易產生人謀不臧的流弊，督運的璫官與接應的地方吏員遂得上下其手。本文特別耙梳相關史料，並彌補《明會典》之後相關紀錄之不足，指證萬曆年間需索無度的朝廷不斷加碼調增鰣魚進貢的總量，造成制度運作上的種種隙漏與鬆動：載運「貢物」的同時亦挾帶「伴貢之物」，商賈甚至攀搭貢船以為護航，而沿途更以「折乾」取代更換用冰，處處可見夤緣關節的蠹病。鰣魚作為薦先祭祖的供物初衷與御食八方的貢物本意，終至扭曲。
這條鰣魚，原祇是迴游江洋間的生物，卻因作為寢廟的供物，搖身成為至關輕重的朝廷貢物，透過驛站的飛騎與運河的快船，猶如穿梭國家水陸交通經濟的兩條動脈中，每條在蒸熱酷暑中晉京的鰣魚，盡皆沾滿驛遞中上千民夫馬匹無價而難償的滾滾風塵與斑斑血汗，最後更壅塞在國家的命脈裡積鬱成患。

Seasonal shad (Tenualosa reevesii; shiyu鰣魚, lit.“fish of the time”) is a species of fish that migrates yearly up the Yangtze River to spawn at the turn of spring to summer. The fish exercised a strikingly profound influence on the political and social economy of late imperial China. Since the establishment of the Ming dynasty, seasonal shad served as an indispensable sacrifice in the imperial ancestral temple. Once the capital was moved to Beijing in the north, the sacrificial fish became an annual tribute item from the southern Yangtze Delta. Preservation and transportation of these perishable fish during the blistering summer challenged both central and local governments.
Two routes were adopted for the transportation of the shad tribute. One route was ground transportation by horse via dynastic relay stations and was used mainly for the express delivery of select shad to meet the urgent need for ancestral worship and imperial taste. The fish traveled approximately 1,250 km within 44 hours. The second route was delivery by boat via the Grand Canal, which took about one and half months to reach the capital. Both methods of delivery consumed conspicuous manpower and financial resources, as well as depending on local cooperation, such as maintaining the smooth flow of traffic, reserving horses for replacement, and supplying new ice to retain the freshness of the fish. This paper argues that various kinds of malpractice related to the transportation system aggravated tensions between state and society. This was especially true when government demands for shad multiplied from the reign of the Wanli Emperor (r. 1572–1620) of the Ming dynasty onward. The shad tribute was first replaced with fish levies commuted to fees in silver in the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722) of the Qing dynasty. Later, the fish levies on shad were abolished completely by the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735–1796). Delivery of seasonal shad to the capital eventually lapsed and made no further waves in Chinese history.