权力与财富——对明清社会结构变化的一种侧面观察

Power and Wealth:An Observation of the Social Structural Changes during the Ming and Qing Era

明清时代中国社会发生了多重意义的深刻变迁。从权力与财富关系的角度观察明清时代的土地所有制分层结构、国家与商业和商人的关系、货币体制的演变,可以看到权力支配财富是基本的格局。明清两朝从未间断调节权力与财富关系,这是明清历史连续性的一个重要侧面。政府调节的基调是在适应市场经济、保障经济秩序的过程中把市场经济所激发的社会财富尽量多地掌控在权力体制控制范围之内。明清两朝政府都放松了对普通民众的人身控制,将之转化为针对财富的管控关系。在此过程中,帝制国家体系与商品经济形成了新的共生并荣的耦合结构,展现出帝制农商社会的繁荣。明清相比,清朝以更有利于政府的方式配置了权力和财富的关系。

Chinese society changed profoundly during the Ming and Qing times.In terms of power and wealth,through a close observation of the Ming Qing multi-layered land ownership,the relationship of the court with commerce and the merchants,and the development of monetary system,it is clear that power dominated wealth.The Ming and Qing governments both made efforts to adjust the structure of power wealth connections,which is one of the major indications of the Ming Qing historical continuity.The theme of the governmental adjustments is,in condition of coordinating with the market economy and providing a common order,to control social wealth as much as possible by the authorities.In such a progress,the two governments both shifted the focus of governance over the commoners from body control to wealth control.In this progress,the imperial state system achieved a new coupling relationship with commercial economy seen as the prosperous of the imperial agro-mercantile society.In comparison,the Qing achieved more effective control of wealth than what the Ming did.