市鎮文化背景與中國早期近代智識群體──論清乾隆嘉慶時期吳皖之學之興起及其影響

Urban Cultural Background and the Intellectual Groups of Early Modern China: A Study on the Rise and Impact of Suzhou and Huizhou Schools in Mid-Qing Times

作為參與社會關係網絡建構之廣義之「智識份子」，或業已階層化之「智識階層」，如何以可運作之樣態或方式，進行其活動，並產生影響，於文化之不同個體，及不同之歷史階段，皆可能存在因歷史條件差異從而塑造之特殊性。對於明清社會而言，此一特殊性之理解，係與觀察與定位明清社會所處於中國歷史發展之階段為何之議題相關。本文所嘗試提出之一種見解，在於主張：中國之進入「早期近代」，或當以「明帝國之確立」作為一斷代之起始點，其發展具有中國之特殊性。依據於此，本文選擇具有中國「早期近代」特質之江南地區，作為研究清中乾嘉時期市鎮文化與智識群體間關係之對象，以探討中國此一時期智識階層活動之樣貌與特性，並以之作為詮釋當時若干學術現象之依據。其具體之分析焦點，集中於所謂吳學與皖學之興起，及其影響。

The discussion of the intellectuals from the sociological perspective has long occupied a prominent position in the study of Chinese cultural history. Especially for those who share Karl Max's point of view as a historical determinism, the interpretation of the intellectual history is basically related to that of the social history. But ever since the methodology of Max Weber's sociology was applied to the subject, the content of these discussions has gained a broader vision than what it was before. The study of this thesis is based on the author's assumption that at the very beginning of the Ming Empire, China has commenced in her own way a journey to enter the early modern era, and there were a lot of social changes and phenomena which could only be interpreted from this angle. Among them, urban cultural background was sometimes a key factor to the emergence of some particular intellectual groups at that time. Hence the author tries to restart a survey which could associate this factor to the analysis of two well-known schools, namely Suzhou and Huizhou, in Qianlong and Jiaqing times. And wish to restructure a new interpretation of their rise and impact.