“江南药痴”收藏地契16000余张

王福田

一張、两张地契、土地证也许大家见过，但是从明清以来、直至中华人民共和国土改后，遍布全国20多个省市的16000余张地契，你见过吗？德清县号称“江南药痴”的陆有仁就有这些地契。近日，笔者走进坐落在德清县武康镇舞阳街中段隐龙坞的“陆有仁中草药博物馆”，目睹并详细了解了这些地契地证的来历。

今年60岁的陆有仁出生在中医世家，自幼喜欢中医。1981年开始在钟管行医、坐堂门诊至今，一开始就从事各类收藏。那时在收集整理中医古籍、金石、陶瓷器具之余，每年都会收藏几十张地契。大约是1996年与县博物馆的朱建明聊天时讲起地契的意义，他开始有意识地收集地契。

“在收集中医古籍的时候，时常到一些造纸厂、古玩市场寻找地契。”陆有仁说，由于要在全国各地寻找不同药品，所以足迹所到之处，也收集到了20多个省市的地契。

这些收藏的地契中，主要是明清以后的居多，年代最老的是明万历时期的。从地域看，以江浙沪颁布的数量最多，山东、山西、云南、广东的也占一定比例。年代都比较久远，从康熙开始，历经雍正、乾隆、嘉庆、道光、咸丰、同治、光绪、宣统，一直到民国年间。陆有仁认为最珍贵的要数他早几年花5000元收过来的一份地契——洪宪元年的地契。据了解，洪宪元年的地契，由于袁世凯是83天的“短命皇帝”，所以此时的地契稀少而珍贵。

“小小田来四角方，半边豆子半边秧。只等八月秋收了，白米干饭豆腐汤。”这首民谣充分表达了乡民对土地的深厚感情。每户拥有的土地都有明确的分界，土地买卖以地契为书面凭证，上面要写明面积、所在位置（含四周地界）、买卖交换形式等，并经立约人（买主与卖主）、中人、写契约人4人同时签字画押后才正式生效。其中加盖了红色官印的地契叫红契，而私下交易的地契叫黑契。1953年11月以后，地契不再称为地契，而是改名为“土地证”。

“除了纸质地契，从制成材料上划分，还有木制地契、石质地契、砖制地契等等。”陆有仁拿出两块绘制着地图的木制地契说：东汉宦官蔡伦发明造纸术以前，那时候的中国还没有纸张，买卖土地双方便用石质地契、砖制地契、木制地契；造纸术发明后，纸质地契才开始产生。

旧社会，地契所用纸张多以当时的棉纱纸、草纸和土纸为文书用纸。纸张表层不光滑，虽然薄但很有韧性。“契约内文多以毛笔书写，楷书、行楷居多，所以说地契还具有欣赏价值。”陆有仁说自己还收藏了一套清代康熙年间木刻印刷雕版50多块，是清代绘制地名、村落、山林、河流、田地、区域的地图版，难得一见，非常珍贵。

乡愁是什么？是一枚小小的邮票，我在这头，母亲在那头；是一张老照片，记录着那山、那水、那人。其实，一份泛黄的、内涵丰富的地契也是一种乡愁，见证着当时社会的民俗文化。

“地契是中国历史上土地权属变更时的凭据，特别是农耕时代的买卖、出租等内容，更留下了不同地域的民间史料。”陆有仁深情地说，现在许多地方都建立了文化礼堂，许多人对老古董都很喜欢，地契收藏还算是个偏门，特别是对地契的研究还很不够。陆有仁目前已经通过拓印、复制、装裱整理了6000多份地契，准备永久保存，还有大量的地契需要归类后继续整理，特别是杭嘉湖地区“山、水、林、田、湖”等各类契约，不仅记录着地名的变迁，更反映出当时社会的经济，包括地价、赋税等方面的状况。

“这些收藏品放在家里也没有意义，希望能够展出并建立专门的博物馆收藏。”陆有仁说，将地契留给后人，让更多的人知道和了解，并进行研究，发挥作用，才是自己的最终心愿。

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.