评魏特夫的“治水社会”

A COMMENT ON “IRRIGATION SOCIETY”

卡尔·魏特夫的《东方专制主义》是一本宣扬东方各国极权主义的理论著作。在这本著作中,他别出心裁地把整个世界划分成两大部分:一部分是非治水社会,如西欧、北美和日本,其余部分则是治水社会。非治水社会的农业,由于靠“雨水灌溉”,不需要依靠人力组织大规模的协作,因而没有形成专制主义;治水社会主要发生在干旱或半干旱地区,农业不能靠“雨水灌溉”,因而只能利用人工灌溉的“治水”工程来克服供水的不足与不调。

The article points out that Wittfogel's so- called 'irrigation society' can find a use for a limited section, only being suitable to the section of 'artificial irrigation' in the a-gricultural economy. In order to treat all of the Oriental societies as an 'irrigation society', Wittfogel raises a series of principles full of contradictions and holes to give a definition to 'nuclear zone', 'peripheral zone' and 'subperipheral zone'. However, it's unimportant whether exists 'irrigation' at his 'irrigation society'. The 'irrigation' organization is only one of various organizations in the society, and it can't exert a critical influence on the emergence of Oriental Despotism. It's a conclusive evidence that there didn't exist a 'powerful.bureaucratic apparatus of irrigation' in ancient China, a centralized despotic state.