晚清华北村落

The Villages in North China in the Late Qing Period

“村”是乡村中自然形成的基本单位 ,在我国传统的社会、经济和政治历史中有其独特的地位。本文主要依据方志等地方文献以及西方人士在华旅行的记述 ,探讨晚清时期 (1 9世纪后半叶 )华北地区 ,主要是直隶省村落的外部形态 ,认为 :北方村落规模多为中小村落 ,百户以上大村不占多数 ;为安全需要 ,若干村落环筑土墙或设立“庄门” ;为农事、生活及精神等方面的需要 ,很多村落在村内、村外掘井、立庙。本文还描述了村落的街巷、房舍结构和道路交通情况 ,并摹录了一些显示当时村落形态的村图。

Villages' are the basic units formed naturally in the countryside. They have a special place in China's traditional societal, economic and political history. Based primarily on local historical materials such as local gazetteers, and on records of the travels of Westerners in China, this article examines the outward form of villages in North China, particularly villages in Zhili (Hebei) Province, during the late Qing Dynasty (the second half of the 19th Century). The author points out that most northern villages were middling to small in size, with large villages of more than one hundred families constituting a minority. For the sake of security, some villages built surrounding earthen walls or erected a 'village gate'. To meet agricultural, subsistence and spiritual needs, many villages dug wells and built temples inside or outside the villages. The article also describes village streets, the structure of dwellings, and the state of roads and communications, and reproduces some village maps which show the shape of villages in that time.