Epistolary Activities in the Early Southern Ming Period (1644-1652)

Abstract

This study examines the communicative function, political value, and epistolary stages of letters during the war-filled early Southern Ming period. The term “Southern Ming” was proposed by modern historians to refer to the Ming regimes established in the south after the collapse of the Beijing Ming government in 1644. On the basis of this social context, this study focuses on letters written by Southern Ming supporters between 1644 and 1652, avoiding simply categorising them as Ming or Qing letters. I argue that because of the paralysed Ming postal system, these private letters became an alternative method for the dissemination of Ming or Qing military and political news, effectively liaising with Southern Ming supporters in different territories or regions. Furthermore, the epistolary stages of writing, transmission, reception, preservation, circulation, and dissemination demonstrated dynamic interactions. The understanding of the social situation in the war period and the anticipation of possible variables at different stages of letter exchange prompted Southern Ming correspondents to try to avoid factors that might disrupt their correspondence, even before they began to write. The turbulent social situation caused early Southern Ming letters not only to contain their correspondents’ self-representation but also to be involved in the political and military fields in the special era of the Ming-Qing transition.

“南明”一詞特指1644年明北京政府覆滅後在南方建立的明朝政權。本文基於這一社會背景，探討南明初年書信的交流功能和政治價值。1644至1652年間南明支持者的書信通常被籠統地歸類為明代或清代書信。在明朝郵驛系統因戰亂癱瘓的情況下，這些私人書信承擔了傳遞明清軍政消息的關鍵角色，有效聯絡了活躍於不同地區的南明支持者。書信的撰寫、傳遞、接收、保存、流通和傳播過程呈現出動態的互動。基於對當時局勢的判斷及對通信過程中可能遇到變數的預測，南明支持者在撰寫書信時試圖規避可能幹擾正常通信的因素。在南明初年動盪的社會環境中，私人書信不僅是通信者的自我呈現，還展現出其在明清易代之際深度介入政治和軍事領域的獨特性。