76岁的代书人姜明典在福建泉州石狮守摊近60年。[1]20世纪六七十年代，他执笔的数万封侨信成为下南洋谋生的番客与故土亲人间的纽带。[1]改革开放后，他的文书业务逐步转向出国签证、办厂申请等新需求，新世纪则涉足诉状、合同、遗嘱等法律文书。[1]
姜明典用文言文和古典表达来处理复杂的社会事务，曾表示"好多民间的事在法律和制度层面说不清楚"。[1]他通过笔下的文字记录和参与了普通人的人生重要时刻，还曾因救下一位欲自杀的女性被石狮公安分局评为治安积极分子。[1]
这份职业在他的家族中薪火相传。从他的父亲到他本人再到做律师的儿子，每代人都以各自时代的方式为普通人提供表达帮助。[1]其中，他的大儿子生于1980年，毕业于北京大学法学专业，现为律师。[1]
姜明典执笔的侨批已入选联合国教科文组织《世界记忆遗产名录》。[1]今年四月底，电影《给阿嬷的情书》上映，这是姜明典平生第一次离开泉州前往北京参加观影礼。[1]
Jiang Mingdian, 76, has operated a document-writing stall in Shishi, Quanzhou, Fujian for nearly six decades, becoming a witness to the evolving needs of ordinary people across different eras [1]. From the mid-20th century onward, his work has transitioned from drafting tens of thousands of overseas Chinese letters linking migrants with their homeland families, to processing visa applications and factory registration documents following China's reform and opening-up, and finally to handling lawsuits, contracts, and wills in the new millennium [1].
Throughout his career, Jiang has used classical Chinese expressions and traditional rhetoric to navigate complex social matters, noting that "many civil affairs cannot be clearly articulated at the legal and institutional level" [1]. His dedication to his work has extended beyond documentation—he was once recognized as a civil order activist by the Shishi Public Security Bureau after helping rescue a woman who attempted suicide [1]. The overseas Chinese letters he wrote, known as qiaopi, have achieved global recognition, being inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register [1].
Jiang's commitment to assisting the vulnerable represents a family legacy spanning three generations [1]. His eldest son, born in 1980 and a graduate of Peking University's law program, now practices as a lawyer, continuing the family tradition of helping ordinary people express their needs through different professional means [1]. This year, at the end of April, Jiang left Quanzhou for the first time in his life to attend a screening event in Beijing for the film "Letter to Grandmother," marking a significant milestone in his nearly six-decade career [1].
