"It is Difficult to be Indifferent to One's Roots": Taizhou Sojourners and Flood Relief during the 1920s

民國9年（1920年）7月間，浙江省台州地區因為豪雨不斷，造成了嚴重的水災。住在上海的台州人為了救助家鄉的災難，組織了「旅滬台屬水災急賑會」。該組織的領導人物透過他們與國民政府、上海其他地方菁英的關係，募集賑災捐款、食物和衣服等物質，自民國9年夏至10年春，連續在台州推動救災工作。九年之後，台州地區又發生了嚴重天災，這些旅滬台州菁英分子再度發起募款和救災的工作。本文深入探討旅滬台州菁英分子如何推動上述救災工作，以及此項工作所涉及國家與社會的互動。同時，也探討這些工作所塑造、鞏固的同鄉認同。近年來，有不少學者研究浙江旅滬的人物和組織，主要討論浙江商人在上海的政治、經濟活動，以及其所創立的會館與同鄉會，而未曾探討這些人如何與他們家鄉維持聯繫。本文指出：組織或參與一種救災行動對於旅滬浙江菁英分子極為重要，一則他們可以透過這種救濟行動建立、或鞏固他們的權力網絡，二則救災工作也有助於建構他們的同鄉認同。

關鍵字

救災；同鄉認同；菁英分子；台州；上海

並列摘要

In July 1920, Taizhou prefecture in eastern Zhejiang was devastated by a series of catastrophic floods that killed thousands of men, women, and children, with tens of thousands more left homeless and facing imminent death from disease and malnutrition. In response, sojourning Taizhou elites in Shanghai formed the Association of Shanghai's Taizhou Natives [to Provide] Emergency Flood Relief, and worked with central government, provincial, and local officials, as well as other charitable organizations, to raise over 450,000 dollars and send shipments of rice and clothing to flood-stricken areas. When further calamities struck Taizhou in 1929, many of these elites gathered together a second time to form the Association for Emergency Relief of Taizhou's Disasters, raising over 60,000 dollars in a coordinated drive to save as many victims as possible. This paper's primary goal is to examine the extent to which modern Chinese charity shaped the relationship between state and society. In contrast to previous research on elite activism, which, being largely concerned with civil society and the public sphere, has argued that such activism operated autonomously outside the sphere of state influence, this paper clearly shows that Taizhou elites residing in Shanghai were not averse to cooperating with the state in order to provide rapid and effective relief. Another key issue involves the problem of change and continuity. While the technology of disaster relief changed dramatically during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many elites continued to feel a profound sense of native-place identity that prompted them to devote considerable time and resources to organizing disaster relief for their native places. Moreover, despite the prominence of Christian charity in disaster relief efforts, many Chinese elites continued to be motivated by faith in Buddhism.