王士禎是清初文壇的領袖人物。他的門人在為他作傳時，說他「詩歌為當代稱首，維持風雅數十年」，代表了當時人普遍的看法。在最近的研究中，王士禎在清初詩壇的盟主地位，或是對廣陵詞的影響，仍然是學者研究的重點。由於王是一位知名的文人，從文學史的技術性問題出發，討論他的貢獻和成就，自然就成為王士禎研究中的主要課題。 但對歷史學者來說，王士禎豐富的詩作和筆記小說，其實也為文化史的研究，提供了最好的素材。美國學者梅爾清 (Tobie Meyer-Fong) 的研究，就是一個很好的範例。她仔細分析了王士禎如何透過紅橋修禊等文化活動，及在江南各地的旅遊，來建立自己的威望。同時，揚州和紅橋的聲名也因為王的詩文和地位而提高。 在本文中，我則試圖從生活史的角度出發，以王士禎在揚州五年 (1660-1665) 的仕宦生涯為基礎，探討一位文人／士大夫在清初江南生活的全貌，包括他的宗教信仰、在公務上的努力與挫折、官員／詩人角色的轉換，以及與前朝遺民、布衣文人、當朝官員的交游網絡。我也將討論他日常的詩酒酬酢、宴游活動及對揚州與江南景物的流連。和過去習慣從思想史、學術史或文學史、政治史的取徑著手，來探討有重要影響的歷史人物不同的是，本文將從生活的細微末節出發，為明清士大夫文化的研究，提供另一個詳細的個案和新的視角。並希望透過士大夫個人豐富的生活經驗，來重建一個和現代世界不同的文化風貌和生活型態。

Wang Shizhen was leader of the literati during the early Qing period. Wang’s follower, and author of his biography, describes Wang as the most celebrated poet of the age-- a literary role that he retained for several decades; this description is representative of the views commonly held by Wang’s contemporaries. In recent studies, Wang’s leading role in the literary world of the early Qing period, as well as his influence on the development of the ts’u in the Yangzhou school, continues to be the focus of scholarly research in China. As Wang was such a renowned writer, it is but natural for scholars to discuss Wang’s achievements primarily from a literary perspective. For historians, however, Wang’s voluminous publications of poetry and miscellaneous works offer a rich source for the study of cultural history. Tobie Meyer-Fong’s work demonstrates this point very well. She analyzes in detail how Wang Shizhen acquired prestige through various cultural activities as well as his travels in the Jiangnan area. Meanwhile, Yangzhou owed Wang its rise in reputation as a city of cultural significance. In this article, I attempt to study the lives of gentry/literati in the Jiangnan area during the early Qing on the basis of the events of Wang’s five-year career as an official in Yangzhou. The topics to be explored include Wang’s religious beliefs, his diligent efforts and frustrating setbacks as a junior official, his alternating role as official and poet, as well as his wide social networks with Ming loyalists, poets without title or degree, and his fellow Qing bureaucrats. I will also discuss Wang’s daily life, cultural activities and his reminiscences of the Yangzhou and Jiangnan landscapes. With details of his everyday life in hand, I aim to provide a fresh perspective on elite culture in late imperial China. Moreover, it is my belief that the rich experiences of everyday life of traditional gentry/literati like Wang will enable us to reconstruct cultural features and life styles that are different from that which we see in the modern world today.