Newsletter No. 544

祠堂示意圖（左）和祠堂（右）。在明代，只有官宦人家後代才能建宗祠 Sketch of an ancestral hall (left) and an ancestral hall (right). In the Ming dynasty, only the descendants of high-ranking officials were allowed to build ancestral halls 理財富、開展商業合作和鼓勵子孫生產。教 授強調，古人壽命平均三十上下，子女與父 母相處的時光不過十年左右，由是孝的傳 統理論主要關乎父母死後—而非生前— 如何表示孝心。關於死後盡孝，宋代以前， 長子會在父母墳邊搭建茅寮，守孝三年。其 後經宋儒提倡，人們以神主牌敬奉祖先，牌 位容許子孫安置家中供奉，同時建構宗族 網絡和歷史敘述。到明朝嘉靖年間，高級官 員開始興建祠堂，民間漸漸普及，拜祭祖先 成為宗族生活的重心。 「在中國，為『私』賺錢是壞事，但若然 如此，為何明清時代這樣繁榮？」教授謂， 這一切歸功朱熹的說法：累積田地、考取 功名並無不妥，因這皆為祖先而做。他續 稱：「把宗族這個理念推廣普及的理學家 朱熹，就等同中國的孟德維爾（Ber nard Mandeville）：宗族的自私自利，能夠為國 家與社會帶來公益。」孝在中國是一種宗教 的感召，祠堂就如西方的法人，負責管理財 富。當中饒有興味的，便是明人霍韜在家訓 提及的年度「報功最」儀式：祖先的牌位被 移至中堂（正廳），家長側立，眾兒子依長 幼站立兩旁，順序稟報該年賺得的田產和 銀貨，再由長輩論功行賞。這辦法後來被賬 簿取代，然而祠堂仍是財富管理或投資的 核心：祠堂負責分賬、投資買地；投資做生 意，人們多尋找宗親合資，每年拜祖先時輪 流管理。 孝 是傳統美德，一般人談論孝，多 會着眼其道德內涵和教化社會的 作用。中大偉倫歷史學研究教授 科大衛 卻憑歷史學家的銳眼，掀出孝道與 明清中國經濟密不可分的關係。他細閱文 獻族譜、考察宗族祠堂，終還原歷史和古人 生活的鮮活面貌。在9月9日第六場「智慧 的探索」公開講座上，科教授以「孝道與產 業：為甚麼『孝』有助商業發展？」為題分享 研究結果和心得，吸引近二百名師生和公眾 人士入場。一個半小時的演講和問答環節 反應熱烈，教授妙語如珠、三言兩語拆解複 雜問題的功力，令人拍案叫絕。 有子考無咎—孝為「存款保障」 為論證孝道推動商業發展，科教授在講座 中提出兩點。開首他引用研究中國商業史的 重要典籍、明人汪道昆所著《太函集》一篇 關於「休寧程長公」的墓誌銘，敘述長公父 親往揚州販鹽途中客死異鄉，他奉母命奔 喪，到埗後卻無法收回父親借出的貸款，回 鄉復給鄉人追討其父之債的事跡。堅持為 父還債的他鬻田賣簪還清貸款，守喪三年 後向十位鄉間宗賢共借三千緡到新市鎮經 營貸款業務，因利息低廉，其門若市。 這個故事，和孝道推動商業有甚麼關係？ 「這表面上是長公盡孝的故事，實際是銀 行廣告。」教授打趣道。「長公是做銀行業 務的，開銀行的人強調自己孝順，是要令人 安心存款。他堅持為父還債，就說明錢存 在他們那處是安全的，因為依此邏輯，他 死了，兒子會負責。」他續說：「做生意必然 牽涉借貸，要借貸就要確保債務能超越一 代人的生命周期。明清時代沒有公司法， 『孝』就發揮這作用，相當於將生意變成一 獨立法人，不論管理者存歿，也要向債主負 責。由此可見，孝與經濟活動關係密切。」 祖先為「法人」 接着，科大衛教授延伸孝道可令債務跨代 的觀點，述說古人如何巧用孝的道德力量， 以先祖為核心建構宗族，並以後者名義管 Fi l ial Pie t y Pays Dav id Faure tel ls you why being good to your parents makes per fect commercial sense 西風東漸 祖先在華南充當法人角色，主要發生在明中 葉至清中葉，即十六至十八世紀。科教授意 味深長指出：「在西方社會，法律為社會核 心，法律定下社會運作的規則；在中國，禮 儀則是核心，叩頭後做甚麼也沒大關係。」 孝作為禮儀，隨着社會發展，演變成有利營 商的載體，而西風東漸，亦意味着孝的商業 意涵步入夕陽。1865年，英國殖民統治下的 香港引入公司法，至1903年清政府頒布此 法，自此家族財產多用公司法管理。「時至 今日，宗族仍存在，祠堂亦到處可見，只是它 們已變為禮儀形式，不再主導家族共產，」 教授道，「至此孝道與商業的故事，基本上 已成過去。」 F ilial piety is a key Confucian virtue but its discussions mostly centre around its moral content and ideological functions. With the historian’s eagle eye, Prof. David Faure saw its close ties to the economy in the Ming-Qing period. From studying the literature and genealogical records to making field trips to ancestral halls, he reconstructed history and ancient life in all their vividness. At the sixth instalment of ‘The Pursuit of Wisdom’ public lecture series held on 9 September, the Wei Lun Research Professor of History shared his research findings and insights under the title of ‘Filial Piety and Business Enterprise: Why is Filial Piety Good for Business?’. During the one-and-a-half-hour lecture cum Q&A, he held the audience of 200 faculty members, students and members of the public spellbound with dexterous treatment of some weighty matters. Filial Piety as Safety Deposit Professor Faure put forward two points to argue for the facilitating role played by filial piety in economic activities. He started off with a tomb epitaph from The Collected Works of Taihan , a seminal work on Chinese mercantile history by the Ming dynasty scholar-official Wang Daokun. The epitaph narrates how Cheng Changgong’s father, a salt merchant, had died during a business trip to Yangzhou and how Changgong, upon getting to where his father died to take care of his funeral, discovered that he was unable to retrieve the debts owed to the deceased. Worse still, upon returning to the hometown he found he was held liable for the debts his father owed to the folks back home. Selling his land and valuables, Changgong managed to settle the debts. After the three-year mourning period, he borrowed money from 10 village elders and set off to a new town to set up a money-lending business. Thanks to the low interest rate he charged for his loans, his business thrived. What does filial piety have to do with business in the story? ‘On the surface, it seems to be a tale of filial responsibilities. But in fact, it works rather like a bank adver tisement,’ quipped Professor Faure. ‘What Changgong operated was a banking business. A banker famed for his filial piety will keep his customers reassured. By insisting he would pay off his deceased father’s debts, he’s in fact making a statement that the cash deposits his customers placed with him were safe. By the same reasoning, if Changgong died himself, his son would honour his financial obligation.’ He continued, ‘Taking out loans is part of running a business. In order to be able to borrow, a borrower must convince the lender that his debt liability does not stop at his death. As there was no company law during the Ming and Qing periods, filial piety filled the gap nicely. It was like giving the status of a legal person to one’s business. Dead or alive, one is liable to one’s creditors. The close tie between filial piety and economic activities cannot be missed.’ 祖先牌位和畫像。專門懸掛畫像的廳堂名曰「影堂」 Ancestral tablets and portrait. Living halls displaying the portraits were called ‘Ying Tang’ (image hall) 04 # 5 4 4 | 0 4 . 1 0 . 2 0 1 9 孝 中自有 黃金屋 科大衛析論孝道與商業 的關係