“啯匪” 和 “会匪”: 哥老会起源的新思考

“Guo Bandits” and “Hui Bandits ”：A Revisit on the Origin of Gelaohui

摘要:

在中国秘密社会研究中, 学者几乎都认为哥老会是由啯噜演化而来。 但是从啯噜到哥老会的演 变轨迹, 很难建立起逻辑的和有说服力的联系。 在清朝的档案中, 啯噜和哥老会的区分是非常清楚的, 啯噜 被称为 “啯匪”, 从乾隆初期便已经存在了; 哥老会被称为 “会匪”, 在同治以后才开始流行。 把两者联系 在一起的学者, 应该说都是有一定的史料根据的, 这些史料主要来自清代官方或者官员对啯噜和哥老会的描 述, 但是几乎都是只言片语。 如此就认为哥老会来自啯噜, 在相当程度上其实是接受了清官方的一种对边缘 人群的话语表达。 而那些表达不一定是建立在事实的基础上, 其在很大程度上是歧视、 愤恨、 污蔑的结果, 或者就是为镇压这些反叛者寻找理由。 由于对哥老会的镇压无力, 而且这个组织还有扩大的趋势, 因此污名 化或许是一种策略, 或者是利用道听途说的信息进行的武断的推测。

Abstract:

In the studies of Chinese secret societies，almost all scholars believe that Gelaohui had derived from Huolu. However，this paper argues that it is difficult to establish a logical and convincing argument that Gelaohui had evolved from Huolu. In the Qing archives，the distinction between Guolu and Gelaohui is very clear. Guolu was called _“Guo Bandits_” and had existed since the early Qianlong period，while Gelaohui，who emerged after the Tongzhi period，was called _“Hui Bandits_”. Scholars who link the two should be said to have certain historical data. These historical materials mainly come from the Qing official descriptions of Huolu and Gelaohui，almost all of which are just very simple. But to think that Gelaohui came from Huolu，to a considerable extent，is actually accepting the Qing official_’s reference to marginalized groups. Those discourses were not necessarily based on facts，but to a large extent were the result of discrimination，resentment，slander，or just looking for reasons to suppress these rebels. Since the suppression of the Gelaohui was ineffective，and the organization was still expanding，stigmatization might be a strategy，which was based on either an arbitrary speculation or hearsay information. In fact，to find the origin of the Gelaohui，the most important thing is to find evidence from their own documents. Even if this evidence is mixed with many legends and myths，their own descriptions are systematic and detailed. To a certain extent，at least they are more direct and more credible than the descriptions of the Qing government and its officials. Even if their expressions were_“inventions of tradition_” or_“imagined community_”，it is still much better than believing the arbitrary words of their enemies. To find out the difference between Huolu and Gelaohui，it is necessary to conduct a detailed examination of Huolu. By using various existing materials，this article tries to sort out the geographical and social environments where Guolu were produced and to track their activities as systematically and detailedly as possible. Through this study，we can see the essential difference between Huolu and Gelaohui. The members of the Gelaohui itself were very diverse，with people from various backgrounds and social levels，but we cannot think that this organization originated from the gang they belonged to in the past. The official accounts available today do not have any complete narratives，details，and logical connections about the relationship between Guolu and Gelaohui. However，none of the cases that were recorded in detail in the archives support the view that Gelaohui had evolved from Huolu.