Newsletter No. 354

No. 354, 19.3.2010 下回〈十方吐露〉將訪問工商管理學院學生 Danie Katsande Danie Katsande, a student from the Faculty of Business Administration, will be featured in the next instalment of ‘TEN QUESTIONS FOR’. 預告 Coming 1 你何以會對鄉村社會感興趣？並採用人類學的田野 研究方法？ Why are you interested in rural society? And why do you apply anthropological fieldwork to its study? 中國社會的歷史，很大部分是鄉村的歷史。鄉村裏，很多 文字材料直至最近幾十年，仍沒有學者去收錄。更重要 的，鄉民大都不識字，留下的文字紀錄不多。所以，研究 中國社會的歷史，須在文字資料以外，配合非文字材料。 很多鄉村裏的文字材料，需要歷史學者自己在田野收錄； 很多非文字的材料，需要學者自己在田野觀察。 A large part of the history of Chinese society is the history of its rural society. Many written materials in rural society are still waiting for historians to collect. Since most people in rural China were illiterate, written records are scarce. So, if you want to study the history of Chinese society, you have to find non-written materials to complement written records. By carrying out fieldwork, historians can not only collect written materials, but also obtain non-written information through observation. 2 你沿用人類學者Maurice Freedman的觀點，指宗族 是有共同祖先、管理財產的法人團體。宗族在現代社 會會否消亡？ Taking the view of anthropologist Maurice Freedman, you see Chinese lineages as corporations with mutual ancestors that manage property. Will lineages fade out in modern society? 宗族沒有消亡。在很多地方，宗族的勢力還是很大，也有 參與財產管理。但是，現在組織法人團體，不一定需要應 用宗族的模式，例如，公司就可以是法人。所以，現在的局 面，宗族需要與其他控產的制度競爭。 Lineages are not fading out. In many places, they still hold enormous power and manage property. But in the present world, lineages are not the only corporations. For example, a company is a corporation. So, lineages have to compete with other property-management institutions. 3 地方史研究的意義在哪裏？ What is the significance of studies of local histories? 中國是非常龐大的國家。國家之下是地方，在國家歷史的 大前提下，地方有不同的經歷，對國家歷史的感受不一 樣。所以，理解地方史的首要理由，就是必須在國家的歷 史上，注意到不同地方的角色，不然的話，國家歷史只有 變成一種地方感受不到的條文。當然，地方既參與在國 家裏面，地方的歷史也鞏固了國家的歷史，使之更豐富多 彩。除此之外，正如理解一個國家的歷史，是對國家尊重 的表現，理解地方的歷史，也是對地方尊重的表現。我們 最後的目的是了解人類的歷史，這個是我們對自己尊重的 表現。 China is a huge country made up of numerous local societies, which have different experiences in the course of the history of a country. So, the foremost reason of studying local histories is that you have to pay attention to the roles of different local societies in the history of a country. Otherwise, national history is just a meaningless tale that cannot be shared by local societies. Of course, national history is consolidated by the histories of local societies. Besides, to understand the history of a country is a way to respect that country. To understand the history of a local society is also a way to respect that place. Our ultimate goal is to understand the history of humanity and that is a way to respect ourselves. 4 有人稱你為華南學派，你對此有何看法？ What do you feel about being called the ‘South China School’? 我常常反對。搞學派是最愚蠢的事，因為學術是要公開 的，要有新人加入，並對新的問題感興趣。弄個圈在這 裏，就把題目規定了，把那幫人也規定了，這是自討滅亡。 I vehemently oppose such labeling. It’s a most stupid thing to form a school. Academia should have open border. We need new blood to join us and we should develop interest in new topics. Restricting your research topics and partners is the best way to commit academic suicide. 5 告別華南以後，現階段你的研究重點在哪裏？ What are your intellectual foci after bidding farewell to South China? 好幾個。前幾年，研究資助局給我一個協作研究金項目去 研究西南的歷史。剛拿到大學教育資助委員會卓越學科 領域計劃（AoE）的「中國社會的歷史人類學研究」，會考 察多個地方，包括湖南、江西、山西、安徽。因為我對禮 儀在中國社會的作用有興趣，所以除了明清時代的禮儀 發展，我也有興趣研究二十世紀的演變。我叫這個研究 「中國近代普通人的歷史」。 There are several. A few years ago I studied the history of South-West China with the Collaborative Research Fund from the Research Grants Council. And my research project ‘The Historical Anthropology of Chinese Society’ has been elected an Areas of Excellence (AoE) project by the University Grants Committee. We are going to study many different provinces in China. I’m also interested in the role of ritual traditions in Chinese society. In addition to the evolution of ritual traditions in Ming and Qing China, I’ll study their transformation in the twentieth century. I call it ‘history of ordinary people in modern China’. 6 你將如何開展「中國社會的歷史人類學研究」這個 AoE項目？ How will you start your AoE project ‘The Historical Anthropology of Chinese Society’? 這是個野心比較大的項目，由中文大學、香港科技大學、 廣州中山大學三所大學合作。在未來幾年，我們會去了解 不同地方的歷史，與中國眾多研究地方歷史的學者聯繫， 了解他們的發現，把近年很多地方上的發展引伸到比較 史的範疇去。 This is an aggressive project. CUHK has teamed up with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou to study the histories of different places in the next few years. We’ll contact Chinese scholars who have studied separate local histories and make use of their findings. We’ll use a perspective of comparative history to study the evolution of local societies. 7 你的項目是首個拿到AoE的人文學科研究，對後來者 有何啟示？ This is the first humanities project ever to be made an AoE. What inspiration does it provide to other scholars in this field? 以往人文學科很少申請AoE。原因之一是我們不知道該 如何申請，怎樣寫申請書，怎樣做簡報等等。我很感謝大 學的研究委員會在這方面給予我們很大幫助。有了我們 的首例，希望以後有更多人文學科的同事申請。 In the past, not many humanities researchers applied for the AoE scheme. One of the reasons is that we didn’t know how to apply, how to write the proposal, how to do presentation. I’m grateful to the University’s Research Committee for their help in this regard. With our example, I hope that more and more colleagues in the humanities field will apply for it. 8 人文學科的研究申請AoE有何困難？ What are the difficulties for a humanities project to apply for the AoE funding? AoE基本上是以理工科的標準來衡量我們的申請，評審 委員會裏沒有一個歷史學者。這等於我要令十多個理工 科學者知道我們的田野研究是怎麼一回事，說服他們值 得用二千多萬去做這件事。在英國，理工科有理工科的委 員會，人文學科另有自己的委員會。因為大家想達到的目 的不同，所用的標準也不同。 Basically, the AoE Committee uses the same criteria for scientific projects to judge humanities projects. There was not a single historian in the committee. That means I had to make a dozen science scholars understand what our fieldwork is about and convince them that it’s worthy to give us HK$20 million to do it. In England, they have separate committees for science and humanities projects. It’s because we have different objectives and should be judged by different criteria. 9 你對研究的興趣是否大於教書？ Do you like research more than teaching? 是。但教學能學到很多東西，將學問解釋給一群不懂的 人知道，其實是逼使你把所想的東西有系統地表達出 來。教學時，你面對很多懸而未決的問題，有很多東西可 能還沒有想得很清楚，不知道自己的想法是否正確。如 果學生可以指出你的錯處，那你就學得更快。 Yes. However, through teaching you can learn a lot. The need to explain knowledge to a group of people totally ignorant to it forces you to systemically articulate what you have in mind. When you teach, you may still have many problems that you have not solved. There may be issues that you have not sorted them out clearly. If your students can point out your mistakes, you’ll learn faster. 10 你希望學生從你身上學到甚麼？ What do you expect your students to learn from you? 我教學的主要目的，不是把一套資料講給學生知道，而是 讓他們看我怎樣學習，這才是最重要的。這不等於說我的 學習方法一定比較好，但起碼他們可以看到我怎樣學。 看過以後，可能會說這傢伙怎麼這麼笨，用一套這麼花時 間的學習方法。他們可以決定不這麼做。 When I teach, my main purpose is not to ram a set of knowledge down my students’ throat. Instead, I want to show them how I have learned. That doesn’t mean that my way of learning is necessarily better. But at least they can see how I learn. After knowing that, they might think: how come this guy is so stupid to use such a time- consuming learning method. It’s up to them to decide whether they should follow my way. 科大衛 Prof. David Faure