歷史敘述與社會事實－珠江三角洲族譜的歷史解讀

本文以作者利用明清時期珠江三角洲地區族譜研究地方社會歷史的經驗為基礎，討論如何把族譜文本置於其形成的歷史脈絡下解讀，並通過族譜的歷史敘述去重構地方社會歷史的事實。文章認為，對族譜的史料價值的質疑，不應該總是糾纏在族譜所記載之事實的真實性和可信性上，其實，我們在利用族譜文獻時，更應該從族譜編撰本文的用意出發，結合具體的社會歷史過程去研究，族譜作為一種有意識歷史敘述，使得我們得以視其為一種無意識史料而去解讀其社會文化意義。明清時期珠江三角洲地區族譜中關於祖先歷史的敘事結構，所表達的就是明代以來形成的社會秩序及其衍變過程的結構。

關鍵字

史料；族譜；宗族；珠江三角洲；明清時期

並列摘要

Based on his previous studies of the Ming-Qing Pearl River Delta region, the author attempts to demonstrate in this paper how to interpret genealogies by appreciating the historical process and context in which the document is compiled; and to show the possibility of reconstructing the local history through a critical reading of the historical narratives of genealogies. This paper suggests that whether the ”facts” presented in a genealogy are ”authentic” or not is not the major concern of researchers. Rather, researchers should ask under what social and historical circumstances a genealogy is compiled, and what latent message can be derived from a genealogy. The author will further show that the narrative structure of the stories of ancestors as presented in genealogies produced in the Pearl River Dealt region in the Ming-Qing times is a reflection of the structural transformation of local society which took root since the fifteenth century.