“乡约”不等于“乡规民约”

Village Conventions Are Not Village Regulations and Agreements

长期以来,学者们在研究中经常将“乡约”与“乡规民约”不加区别地混为一谈。事实上,“乡规民约”是基层社会组织的社会成员共同制定出来供大家共同遵守的一种社会行为规范,而“乡约”是乡村社会中以社会教化为主要目的的一种民间基层组织形式,二者的内涵并不相同,其历史发展也遵循着不同的路径。将“乡约”等同于“乡规民约”的研究方法既违背了历史事实,也混淆了两种不同性质的社会文化现象。

For many years, researchers have often confused village conventions with village regulations and agreements. In the article, the author argues that village regulations and agreements are rules of social conducts established and followed by all members of the basic social organizafions; while village conventions are non - governmental organizations in rural areas with an aim to educate the local community. The connotafions of the two concepts are not the same. They also have different processes of development in history. Confusing the concepts of village conventions with village regulations and agreements is not only against historical facts but also mixing up two different social and cultural phenomena.