“江南藥癡”收藏地契16000余張

王福田

一張、兩張地契、土地證也許大家見過，但是從明清以來、直至中華人民共和國土改后，遍布全國20多個省市的16000余張地契，你見過嗎？德清縣號稱“江南藥癡”的陸有仁就有這些地契。近日，筆者走進坐落在德清縣武康鎮舞陽街中段隱龍塢的“陸有仁中草藥博物館”，目睹并詳細了解了這些地契地證的來歷。

今年60歲的陸有仁出生在中醫世家，自幼喜歡中醫。1981年開始在鐘管行醫、坐堂門診至今，一開始就從事各類收藏。那時在收集整理中醫古籍、金石、陶瓷器具之余，每年都會收藏幾十張地契。大約是1996年與縣博物館的朱建明聊天時講起地契的意義，他開始有意識地收集地契。

“在收集中醫古籍的時候，時常到一些造紙廠、古玩市場尋找地契。”陸有仁說，由于要在全國各地尋找不同藥品，所以足跡所到之處，也收集到了20多個省市的地契。

這些收藏的地契中，主要是明清以后的居多，年代最老的是明萬歷時期的。從地域看，以江浙滬頒布的數量最多，山東、山西、云南、廣東的也占一定比例。年代都比較久遠，從康熙開始，歷經雍正、乾隆、嘉慶、道光、咸豐、同治、光緒、宣統，一直到民國年間。陸有仁認為最珍貴的要數他早幾年花5000元收過來的一份地契——洪憲元年的地契。據了解，洪憲元年的地契，由于袁世凱是83天的“短命皇帝”，所以此時的地契稀少而珍貴。

“小小田來四角方，半邊豆子半邊秧。只等八月秋收了，白米干飯豆腐湯。”這首民謠充分表達了鄉民對土地的深厚感情。每戶擁有的土地都有明確的分界，土地買賣以地契為書面憑證，上面要寫明面積、所在位置（含四周地界）、買賣交換形式等，并經立約人（買主與賣主）、中人、寫契約人4人同時簽字畫押后才正式生效。其中加蓋了紅色官印的地契叫紅契，而私下交易的地契叫黑契。1953年11月以后，地契不再稱為地契，而是改名為“土地證”。

“除了紙質地契，從制成材料上劃分，還有木制地契、石質地契、磚制地契等等。”陸有仁拿出兩塊繪制著地圖的木制地契說：東漢宦官蔡倫發明造紙術以前，那時候的中國還沒有紙張，買賣土地雙方便用石質地契、磚制地契、木制地契；造紙術發明后，紙質地契才開始產生。

舊社會，地契所用紙張多以當時的棉紗紙、草紙和土紙為文書用紙。紙張表層不光滑，雖然薄但很有韌性。“契約內文多以毛筆書寫，楷書、行楷居多，所以說地契還具有欣賞價值。”陸有仁說自己還收藏了一套清代康熙年間木刻印刷雕版50多塊，是清代繪制地名、村落、山林、河流、田地、區域的地圖版，難得一見，非常珍貴。

鄉愁是什么？是一枚小小的郵票，我在這頭，母親在那頭；是一張老照片，記錄著那山、那水、那人。其實，一份泛黃的、內涵豐富的地契也是一種鄉愁，見證著當時社會的民俗文化。

“地契是中國歷史上土地權屬變更時的憑據，特別是農耕時代的買賣、出租等內容，更留下了不同地域的民間史料。”陸有仁深情地說，現在許多地方都建立了文化禮堂，許多人對老古董都很喜歡，地契收藏還算是個偏門，特別是對地契的研究還很不夠。陸有仁目前已經通過拓印、復制、裝裱整理了6000多份地契，準備永久保存，還有大量的地契需要歸類后繼續整理，特別是杭嘉湖地區“山、水、林、田、湖”等各類契約，不僅記錄著地名的變遷，更反映出當時社會的經濟，包括地價、賦稅等方面的狀況。

“這些收藏品放在家里也沒有意義，希望能夠展出并建立專門的博物館收藏。”陸有仁說，將地契留給后人，讓更多的人知道和了解，并進行研究，發揮作用，才是自己的最終心愿。

TCM Doctor and 1，600 Land Title Deeds

By Wang Futian

60-year-old Lu Youren is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）. His clinic is situated at Yinlongwu in Wukang Town， Deqing County north of Hangzhou， capital city of Zhejiang Province. From a family of TCM doctors， he began to study the medicine at a very young age and set up his clinic in 1981 at age 23. At the same year， he started collecting ancient TCM literature， seals of stone and metal， and porcelains. Back then dozens of land title deeds came into his possession， but he didnt pay much attention to them at first. It was not until 1996 after he had a talk with Zhu Jianming， an expert with the countys museum， about the deeds in his collection that he came to understand the significance of the ancient land transaction documents and began to look for them seriously.

Land title deeds come to him largely through two channels. He visits paper mills and antique markets frequently. Paper mills have large stocks of books to be recycled as a raw material. He combs the stocks to see if there are any TCM books. Antique markets offer another opportunity to find secondhand TCM books. In order to buy TCM herbs， he travels across the country. His collection now boasts deeds from over 20 provinces and municipalities.

Land deeds from the Ming （1368-1644） and the Qing （1644-1911） dynasties account for the majority of Lus deed collection. The oldest goes back to the period of 1573 to 1620 when Emperor Wanli ruled. Most of the deeds in his collection were issued in Zhejiang and Jiangsu， a region known for economic prosperity from very ancient times. Shandong， Shanxi， Yunnan， Guangdong also contribute a certain amount of the deeds to the collection. In ancient China， one way to mark years and centuries was to say something happened during the years under the rule of a certain emperor. The deeds in Lus collection follow this rule of marking years. Emperors of the Qing Dynasty are mentioned in many of these documents. There are deeds made in the years of the Republic of China （1911-1949）. In Lus opinion， the most special is a deed which he purchased a few years ago for 5，000 yuan. It is a deed issued during the first year of the Emperor Hongxian （Yuan Shikai 1859-1916）. He ruled as Emperor of China for only 83 days in 1916.

The deeds in Lus collection tell a lot about the past. A land title deed indicates how the title changes hands. Usually， a deed is signed by four， the buyer and the seller in the transaction， the middleman， and the scribe who makes the document. Some are called “red deeds” because they are sealed in red by a government stamp. Those without a government seal are referred to as “black deeds”. In November 1953， the name Land Title Deed was replaced by the new title： Land Title Certificate.

Before paper was invented in history， land title deeds in China were made in wood， stone and brick. In Lus collection are two wood deeds. Each bears a map carved on it. In the past， paper deeds were handwritten by scribes. The regular script and the cursive script are the most common calligraphic scripts used in these deeds. The scripts offer an aesthetic value for appreciation.

“Land title deeds were legal documents that record details of land transactions in the history of China. These are valuable historical records，” commented Lu. He has sorted out over 6，000 deeds and had them processed technically so that they can be preserved permanently. There are more land title deeds in his collection to be sorted out and processed. Many in his collection are deeds about transactions of mountains， ponds， woods， farmlands and lakes， reflecting the regional characteristics of Jiaxing and Huzhou， two key cities in the north of the province. These deeds not only record ancient place names but also indicate economy， land prices and taxations of the past.

“These deeds would be meaningless if the collection stays at my home. I hope they can be exhibited in a special museum，” said the TCM doctor. He hopes that the deed collection can be made known to more people and yield academic results that contribute to a better understanding of the past.