清末民初，无政府主义者、自由主义者、社会主义者在婚姻及两性关系方面提出一系列激进主张。这些主张刺激了公众对“共产公妻”的想象。在时代议题从无政府主义转移到社会主义/共产主义的过程中，“共产公妻”的帽子先后被戴在维新派、改良派、共和派、无政府主义者和“南方赤党”头上。在这击鼓传花一般的过程中，中共是最后一个与“共产公妻”联系在一起的政治势力。
身体政治和普遍意义上的政治勾连在一起，通常都是时代发生狂波巨澜式变动的时候，“共产公妻”话语的流布便是左证。从1910年代到1940年代，此说从海外奇谈演变成伤风败俗的祸水，进而成为各派政治势力污名化对手的利器，这一过程参与者众：既有军政要人、或新锐或激进的知识分子、报刊文人、电影导演，也有普通民众。因为参与者众,所以“共产公妻”之说经久不息。
“共产”和“公妻”本来是两件事，流言的制造者却无师自通地把它们联系在一起，而这种联系也并不是纯粹的“发明创造”，共产主义在中文世界最初的传播，便与“女界解放”勾连在一起。
和许多时代热词一样，“共产公妻”也有很多“舶来”成份。这一荒诞不经的说法背后有一系列的观念生成，而这些观念的问题意识/论点/论据大都是外来的。伴随革命之路越走越激进，观念的更迭也是你追我赶，从“自由底恋爱”到“恋爱自由”再到“性交自由”即是一例。这些日趋激进的观念被日趋激进的言辞表述出来，确让社会公众有礼崩乐坏之感。况且，在大革命时期，“公妻分产大会”和激进的性行为确曾发生。此种观念及行为是刺激公众制造、相信、传播“共产公妻”之说的土壤。如果说在1910年代，“共产公妻”还是戏说、笑料，到了大刀会众赤膊阻拦新四军的时候,“共产公妻”已被看作实实在在的威胁。
革命固然不是请客吃饭，革命也绝不仅仅是打土豪分田地和军事上的攻城略地。观念的变化、世道人心的变化与革命的种种动作一起发生，而流言是管窥世道人心的一扇小窗。在《历史三调：作为事件、经历和神话的义和团》中，柯文引述了拉尔夫·L·罗斯诺对谣言的研究：“谣言是‘夹杂了个人对世界的主观臆测的公众信息’”，“谣言一般包含着带有传谣者强烈感情色彩”。透过对义和团的研究，柯文对谣言的本质有颇深的体认，他说：一类谣言往往能表露人们原有的信仰和偏见；另一类则深藏着阴谋。【［美］柯文著，杜继东译：《历史三调：作为事件、经历和神话的义和团》，社科文献出版社2015年版，第158-162页。】这些看法，颇能印证“共产公妻”一说的流布：其久经辟谣而经久不息正是传谣者强烈感情的外露；政敌之间以“共产公妻”互相攻击则为民国时代的政争、党争增加了一道花边。花边远不是根本性变化。根本性的变化是湖北某县农民无师自通地在“耕者有其田”之后加上“多者分其妻”。
长期以来，学界共识之一是：打宣传仗，国民党不是中共的对手。“共产公妻”之说却在国共冲突的各个时期腾播诸人之口，这实在证明了谣言在历史巨变之中不容小觑的力量。
The Formation and Dissemination of the Rumors about Socialization of Wealth and Wives in China
Shi Yan
Abstract：A fantastic but wildly known saying was often symptom of its times, and that was true with Socialization of Wealth and Wives (or Gongchan Gongqi).The dissemination of Socialization of Wealth (Gongchan) and Socialization of Wives (Gongqi) during the period of late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China was related with formation of a series of ideas and concepts. Till the First World War, enlightenment of women embarking from late Qing dynasty has been transformed into problems of Women, which then turned into issues of the times under continuous discussions. The related sub-topics were discussed by the avant-gardes from the 1910s to the 1920s. The opinions about marriage and sexual relationship in avant-garde newspapers and magazines became increasingly radical. These ideas and avant-garde concepts were swiftly utilized by conservatives as a stigma for attacking progressives and political opponents. That was the origin of Socialization of Wives (Gongqi) concept. Although The Communist Manifesto refuted the logic that socialization of Wealth (Gongchan) would surely lead to socialization of Wives (Gongqi), the spread of "Gongqi" in China has been linked with "Gongchan" from the very beginning. From the 1910s to the 1920s, politicians used "Gongchan" to fight with each other in the main newspapers and magazines, while freelancers disseminated jokes and fantastic stories about "Gongqi" in supplement columns, both of which were the soil of rumors. As a rumor built up by many people, Socialization of Wealth and Wives was supplemented by new materials from time to time. Meanwhile, rumors were not wind from the hollow cave. During the Great Revolution in China, radical concepts about marriage and love flew into China from Soviet Union and triggered echoes in the revolutionary camp.
Key words：Socialization of wealth and wives; political rumor; problems of women; problems of love
