鄭用錫（1788－1858），清代臺灣第一位考中進士的本土碩儒，有「開臺進士」的美稱。清代中葉的淡水廳，從移墾社會逞勇鬥狠的武質特性，逐漸轉變為純樸知禮的士紳社會，鄭用錫於其中有重要的歷史地位。日治時期，新竹留下的重要文化古蹟，如新竹城、孔廟、東寧宮、城隍廟、進士第、北郭園等，其中也都有鄭用錫的傳說在。但後人對鄭用錫人格及作品的評價，卻出現褒貶不一的現象。本文擬以鄭用錫生平、作品、時代意義、後人評論為經，有關其家族活動、文士集團、歷史事件、民間軼聞為緯，具體呈現出清代淡水廳一位值得敬重的士儒風貌，並藉由相關問題的釐清，冀望給予鄭用錫一個較客觀的歷史面貌。 本文之問題意識如下： 一、 鄭用錫晚年（咸豐年間）憂家慮國心境之詳論。 二、 鄭用錫詩作之各家評論觀點，並以楊浚、連橫為主要探究者。 三、 鄭用錫制藝文之梁鳴謙評語，其所呈現出的意義與價值。 四、 釐清《北郭園全集》出刊的特殊時空、相關人事之間呈現的意義，從文學傳播的角度提出鄭如梁於十二年後出刊全集的可能動機，增補鄭如梁與全集之間的關係。 五、 從文化傳播角度，檢視鄭用錫對族人及地方的影響。 Mr. Zheng Yong-xi （1788－1858）, the important local elite, succeeding in the imperial examination during Qing Dynasty（清代）, had earned great repute as the first Taiwanese candidate（開臺進士）. Mr. Zheng played an important historic role in the development of Dan-shui-ting（淡水廳）, a period of the immigration from China to Taiwan during the middle of Qing Dynasty. His creative works had many and diverse influences on the literature of Northern Taiwan, too. Many cultural antiquities about Zheng Yong-xi and his family in Xin-zhu（新竹），such as Xin-zhu City，Confucius Temple（孔廟），Dong-ning Temple（東寧宮），Cheng-huang Temple（城隍廟），Jin-shi Residence（進士第）and Bei-guo Garden（北郭園）, were reserved and many anecdotes about Mr. Zheng and his family were widely spread among people in Japanese Colonial Period（日治時期）. However, present scholars seem to have varied opinions about Mr. Zheng’s character and writings. It’s a funny phenomenon that is worth researching. In this study, relative documents about Mr. Zheng’s works, life and tales along with virtuous Taiwanese poetry and articles were collected. After understanding the documents, there are five issues discussed as follow: 1. To describe the late life and emotion of Zheng Yong-xi in Xian-feng’s time（咸豐年間）. 2. To show different scholars’ opinions about Mr. Zheng’s poems and investigate their meanings, especially focusing on Yang Jun’s（楊浚）and Lian Heng’s（連橫）. 3. To discuss the meaning and value of the comments of Liang Ming-qian（梁鳴謙）on the Eight-paragraphy Essays（八股文）of Zheng Yong-xi. 4. To discuss the reason why Zheng Ru-liang（鄭如梁）published his father’s writings after Zheng Yong-xi had died for twelve years. 5. To review Zheng Yong-xi’s achievements at literature and education and his influences on his family and the whole society. By analyzing these questions above, the author expects that it would give Zheng Yong-xi a positive status in the history of Taiwanese classical literature.
