The power relationship between local officials, literati, and monks : an analysis of the inscriptions in Puyang, Fujian in the Southern Song

Abstract

Many studies have shown that the local government of Song times sponsored and invested in local infrastructure. These studies rely mainly on local inscriptions that recorded the construction process of local infrastructure. This type of source material, however, never tells us which projects local governments did not or refused to invest in. Using inscriptions that detail how financial resources in a locality were mobilized for local projects, this article offers a new perspective on the power relationship between local administrators, literati, and Buddhist monks in Puyang, Fujian during the Southern Song. It argues that the local governments frequently expropriated the labor and financial resources of Buddhist monasteries for local projects, and local literati strove to use government resources for local construction. Therefore, the development of local infrastructure usually involved the appropriation of government sources for local purposes. In return, local literati wrote inscriptions in praise of the local officials’ support. These inscriptions were not only expressions of the literati’s gratitude to these administrators, but they also promoted a literati discourse that encouraged future administrators to invest more resources in local society. Accordingly, the discourse in these inscriptions painted a picture of close cooperation that concealed the tensions between monks, administrators, and literati in local society. 本文從反思碑記的史料性質入手，探索地方公共建設的碑記敘事，如何透露南宋官、士、僧三者間的權力關係。既有研究根據地方碑記，指出地方政府積極建設地方，然而，由於碑記皆是在建設完成後才寫作，因此碑記僅能說明地方官從事了哪些建設，而無法得知地方官沒有參與或拒絕投資哪些建設。碑記公開豎立於地方的特性，亦使碑記敘事傾向鋪陳建設過程各方勢力的合作無間，而掩蓋檯面下的相互角力。本文以福建莆陽，即興化軍為個案研究，首先比對碑記與書信兩種性質截然不同的史料，以揭示碑記敘事的特質與局限；其次，藉由分梳公共建設碑記中的遊說者、決策者、出資者、受益者、勞動者、書寫者等面向，拆解碑記敘事中的修辭，從而分析碑記敘事背後的權力結構。本文指出，在官僚體系的運作機制下，官員與地方士人之間，在公共建設中藉由一次次的資產挪動與聲望書寫，達成互惠的兩強地方勢力；僧侶雖高度參與建設，但在碑記敘事中僅被輕描淡寫，處於相對弱勢的地位。