國葬: 民國初年的政治角力與國家死亡儀式的建構

國家利用偉人的遺體，進行國葬儀式，是伴隨辛亥革命而出現的新式政治及死亡文化。早於 1912 年，革命黨人即開始為革命烈士公開舉行 追悼會，一方面以此宣告皇朝的滅亡，另一方面嘉許烈士為革命犧牲的 情操，並確立自身作為革命派的政治身分。烈士的靈柩，被展示於追悼會的場地，他們的遺體成為塑造革命記憶最強而有力的道具。圍繞烈士 及偉人遺體的現代國家死亡儀式文化，包括新式的祭祀儀式、墓園及紀念碑，亦陸續出現。本文追溯二十世紀中國「國葬禮」出現的政治背景及其儀式特徵，以說明新式國家死亡儀式的制訂與空間的營造，一方面標誌著與皇權時代決裂的意圖，另一方面也是政權挑戰者對北洋政府的 一場力量與理念的宣示。文章重點分析被授予國葬榮典的首兩名民國偉 人—蔡鍔和黃興—於 1917 年 4 月舉行的葬禮與陵墓，指出在民國初年不同的政治理念及政治團體互相衝突與角力的時期，國葬禮成為政權與反對者較量的角力場域。反袁世凱的勢力藉著爭取國葬蔡鍔及黃興，通過死亡儀式及紀念空間以延續反袁的政治力量，蔡鍔及黃興的陵墓，成為捍衛共和政體的紀念碑。蔡鍔及黃興的國葬禮，讓他們從「叛亂者」過渡成為國家偉人，而中華民國亦通過此死亡儀式，樹立新的偉人典範

Book review : Faiths on display : religion, tourism, and the Chinese state

This article reviews the book Faiths on display : religion, tourism, and the Chinese state edited by Tim Oakes and Donald S. Sutton

民國時期廣州的糞穢處理與城市生活

本文以1920、1930年代的廣州作為例子，探討政府如何利用現代衛生概念，把糞溺與廁所納入由政府主導的公共衛生管理範疇，因而為城市生活帶來三方面的變化：一是物質文化，二是城市管理結構，三是社會關係及身分認同。政府介入糞溺及公廁的管理，為廣州城帶來物質層次的變化：水廁及女廁開始於廣州的城市空間出現。而在城市管理結構方面，作為民間團體的糞溺業商會，因市政府權力的擴大而瓦解。而新的如廁文化，如不可隨處便溺的新規條，成為文明城市及文明城市人的指標，這亦凸顯了城鄉的差別：隨處便溺者，便被視為是沒有教養的「鄉愚」。本文亦指出，經過民國時期的市政改革，雖然城市廁所的改變是有限的，對廣州人來說，政權介入糞溺管理後，廁所與以往一樣的髒，一樣的臭，但政府成功地塑造了一套對廁所及如廁文化的新準則，以及改變了人們對城市文化和城市生活方式的構想。現代政權對於城市文明的想像，已改變了城市人對其周遭環境的理解及對政府施政的期望

Refashioning festivals in Republican Guangzhou

Influenced by the concept of evolution, the Republican regime branded popular religious beliefs and practices as superstition, believing that the eradication of superstition was crucial to the making of modern citizens. Government policies not only affected the development of popular religion but also reshaped the relationship between the state and the common people. Tracing the changes of the Double Seven Festival and the Ghost Festival in Republican Guangzhou, this article aims to show the complexities of the contestations between the state and the common people in actual religious settings, particularly the interaction between official culture and traditional festivals. It argues that although new national symbols successfully found their way into common people\u27s religious lives, helping to give a nationalistic outlook to traditional festivals, underneath the expansion of an official culture, a rich variety of local traditions persisted. By appropriating official symbols, the common people refashioned and preserved their religious traditions

Thriving under an anti-superstition regime : the dragon mother cult in Yuecheng, Guangdong, during the 1930s

China’s quest for modernity since the early twentieth century has put popular religion in a vulnerable situation. A large number of temples were demolished or converted for other purposes in the Republican period as a result of the campaigns against superstition. Interestingly, during the 1930s, the popularity of the ancestral temple of the Dragon Mother (Longmu) located on the northern bank of the West River in Guangdong did not merely continue but flourished. This article explains the various factors that helped promote the expansion of the Dragon Mother cult, including the inconsistencies in government policies towards popular religion, the importance of the annual pilgrimage to the Dragon Mother for the regional economy and government revenue, and the development of the modern means of transportation. The concluding part examines the importance of this case study in rethinking the issue of rural-urban divide in Republican China

Between religion and superstition : Buddhism and Daoism in Guangzhou, China, 1900-1937

This paper illustrates how Buddhist and Daoist monasteries in Guangzhou, with their legal religious status, situated themselves within the new concept of the modern nation-state, and how the distinction between religion and superstition affected ordinary people\u27s religious lives. There were inherent tensions between religion and the modern nation-state, and the survival of Buddhism and Daoism was determined by their subordination to the state ideology and to political authorities’ regulation. However, the government did not regulate the form of worship in government-approved religious sites. Due to the syncretic nature of Chinese religion, the select few of the Buddhist and Daoist monasteries in Guangzhou, with government recognition as symbols of “true religions,” paradoxically served as a protective umbrella for the people to carry on with their “superstitious” practices. At the level of praxis, the line between religion and superstition was not as distinguishable as the government had envisioned

Negotiating religion in modern China : state and common people in Guangzhou, 1900-1937

Negotiating Religion in Modern China traces the history of the Chinese state\u27s relationship with religion from 1900 to 1937. The revolutionary regime condemned religious practice in the early twentieth century, suppressing superstitious belief in favor of a secular, more enlightened society. Drawing on newspapers and unpublished official documents, this book focuses on the case of Guangzhou, largely because of the city\u27s sustained involvement in the revolutionary quest for a new China. The author pays particular attention to the implementation of policy and citizens\u27 attempts at adaptation and resistance