當「社會」變為一門「知識」：近代中國社會學的形成及發展（1890-1949）

Abstract

本研究旨在探究「社會學與社會」這組在「知識與概念」層面上相互關涉的命題，其如何於近代中國的歷史情境裡，逐漸形成一新知識論域的過程。論文究心於學人群體、機構與制度、學科知識與概念、政治文化四個面向。論文嘗試指出，以「形成群體」為核心概念，「社會」這門知識論域自晚清至民國的發展，勾勒出幾個相關的基本問題：群體的組成與結構、經濟利益分配、政治和法律秩序、線性進化歷史。這也分別體現於，社會學的制度規劃與學術機構建置、多元複雜的學人群體，以及知識實踐與生產的歷史現象；更與其時之政治文化環境，錯綜糾結。這段知識、學科與概念的歷史，具體而微地反映了，西方知識憑藉何種傳播方式流通，傳統中國又如何在轉型為現代民族國家的進程裡，接納、內化並創制為符合中國脈絡的「社會學」。在這段歷史過程中出現的，就是一個內部充滿複數、異質「群體」，足以映顯當時歷史情境的「中國社會」。

This study focuses on the historical development of the two concepts of “Sociology and Society” in modern China and reconstructs how their interrelated trajectories formed a new field of knowledge, ‘Society.’ This research is divided into four parts, namely the academic community; the organization and institution; the discipline and core concepts; as well as the political culture of modern China. The development of ‘Society’ (shehui) from the late Qing to the early Republican era was at the heart of community-building efforts then. Four aspects are crucial here: the forming and structure of community; the distribution of economic profit; the political and legal order; and the impact of the linear model of history. Closely intertwined with the political culture of modern China, these basic aspects are manifested not only within the institution of Sociology and its construction as an academic organization, but also the pluralistic discursive community and the practice and production of knowledge. Moreover, these findings provide new insights into how Western knowledge was transmitted globally and how it conditioned the transition of the Qing Empire into a modern nation-state in the form of ‘Chinese Sociology.’ The concept of ‘Chinese society,’ then, was made up of multi-faceted and heterogeneous communities, thereby reflecting aptly the complex historical condition of modern China.