牛车水的塑造：政治活动中华人的自主性和殖民管治 = The shaping of Chinatown: relationship of Chinese agency and colonial governance in political activities

Abstract

牛车水起源于殖民时期的城市规划，殖民政府把位于新加坡河西南边的地区划分为华人安置区。华人在牛车水建立了自己的生活，而他们在该区进行的活动也塑造了牛车水，殖民政府也参与了牛车水不断和漫长的塑造过程。存在于这两个群体想象中的牛车水并不一致，因而他们采取不同的塑造方式并产生矛盾。较为激烈的矛盾发生于华人在牛车水进行政治活动时，如1919年抵制日货示威和1927年孙中山逝世纪念日发生的冲突。这些政治活动不仅是华人的政治表述，从举行的方法和报道中，看到的是华人对于牛车水的认识和对于资源的运用。华人在新加坡生活的同时也在理解这个地方和把牛车水塑造成适合居住的地方，而非一个单是暂时的落脚地。通过这些活动和塑造，牛车水这个地方和空间经历了建构。这代表华人有着自主性，牛车水不止是华人安置区而是不断经历改变和有多重意义。采取这样的探讨方式希望的是能够丰富历史叙述并把焦点放在这群在新加坡努力生活的人，同时也显示了人和地方之间复杂的关系。

The origin of Chinatown could be traced back to the urban planning of colonial Singapore, when the Southwest area of the Singapore River was demarcated as Chinese settlement area. The Chinese established their life at the area, at the same time shaped the area through their activities, the colonial government also partipated in the continuous and long process of shaping Chinatown. These two groups had different visions and ways of shaping Chinatown, leading to conflicts between them. During political activities, aggrevated form of conflicts could happen, for example, 1919 Anti-Japanese boycott protest and clashes on 1927 Sun Yat-Sen death anniversary. These political activities were not just about the Chinese expressing political stance, from how they carried out the activities and the reports, insights could be gained on how they understood Chinatown as well as made use of their resources on hand. The Chinese who lived in Singapore also tried to make sense of this place and shaped Chinatown to a place that was suitable for living rather than just deemed it as a pitstop. Through these activities and shaping, Chinatown as a place and space was constructed. This demonstrated the Chinese had agency and Chinatown was beyond an settlement area, it had multiple meaning and was always in flux. Through this approach, it is of the hope to enrich the historiography and shine the spotlight on this group of people who lived earnestly in Singapore as well as demonstrate the complexity between people and place.