从蠲赈到减赋——明朝灾害政策转变的三个个案

From Relief to Reducing the Taxes:Three Cases Showing the Changes of Policy Towards Calamities in the Ming Dynasty

明朝处理灾害政策,在明初曾有明显的转变过程,即从以官方一次性蠲赈与减免租赋,逐渐演变为普遍的减赋与减赋后的地方救助。这主要是因为明朝中央集权能力的下降和基层社会空间的变化,以及明初伴随着国家总体政策由重赋向减轻赋税的变化,从而引发其后应灾政策的变化。

The policy to manage calamities in the Ming Dynasty changed greatly in the early Ming Dynasty from one - off relief and reducing taxes only one time by the government to universal cutting down taxes and providing local help gradually. This is mainly due to the decline of the power of central government and the change of social space of grass roots. Along with the transformation of the general policy of government from heavy taxes to decreasing taxes, the policy to deal with calamities changed correspondingly.