過去的研究，秋瑾被視革命英烈和提倡女學先鋒，亦是地方社會所認同的歷史人物，她的歷史記憶一直被視為是有助國家建構的重要元素，通過追悼秋瑾，地方社會加強其與國家政權的政治關係。本文通過清末民初一連串追悼和安葬秋瑾的事件，展示在清末秋瑾是被家人所厭棄的「鬼」，地方社會同情她含冤而死，秋瑾的形象只是一個提倡女學的人物。到了民國初年，在政權轉變的初期，秋瑾成為地方精英宣傳自己與革命政權的關係，以及打擊對手的籌碼。在各方面的對立下，秋瑾逐步成為了革命英烈。藉著悼念秋瑾，地方精英與地方社會以宣揚秋瑾的革命精神一方面來提升自己的地位與權力，並且藉此抗拒國家的權力，另一方面則謀求自身的利益。在民國初年，地方政府一直希望可以低調處理秋瑾的歷史記憶，因為地方精英所宣傳的秋瑾的革命英烈的形象，並不利於國家統治。

Existing studies state that Qiu Jin has been honored as a martyr and an advocate for women’s education. She is also a historical figure who has won the recognition of local society. The historical memory about Qiu Jin has been utilized as an important resource for the state-making project. This article ventures to argue otherwise. In the late Qing period, Qiu Jin’s family considered Qiu Jin a vengeful ghost, although local society was generally sympathetic with her, believing that the advocate for women’s education was wrongly convicted and executed as a revolutionary. In the early Republican years, local elites started to make use of Qiu Jin to publicize their connection with the revolutionary regime and to attack their rivals. Qiu Jin gradually assumed the image as a revolutionary martyr in the confrontation among revolutionary groups. The mourning of Qiu Jin became a tool used by local elites to resist state governance and to propagate the revolutionary spirit of local society on the one hand, and to promote personal interests on the other. However, the local government dealt with the historical memory about Qiu Jin in a low-profile manner on the grounds that the revolutionary image of Qiu Jin advocated by local elites was detrimental to state governance.