传统中国再认识——乡土中国、城镇中国及城乡关系

Traditional China Revisited:the Relationship between the Rural China and the Urban China

本文对国内外学术界、思想界将"乡土中国"等同于传统中国、以"乡土性"概括中国传统性的学说和观念提出了质疑,并对上述中国观的形成机制作了反思性探讨。作者认为,近代中国的思想家和中西方人类学家、社会学者们借助于西方现代社会科学来建构"中国社会"的过程,其实也是他们参照"现代的、城市的西方",将既有的中国裁剪、过滤成"传统的、乡土的中国"的过程。在这个过程中,费孝通先生所描述的中国基层乡村社会的一些基本属性,被扩大为中国整体社会的本质特征,中国城镇社会、城乡关系的传统以及传统的城市性等等,相应被忽略。由此,不仅中国的传统性被单性化,中国的城市性也成了纯粹的西来之物、无本之木。这既于我们的文化自觉无益,亦不利于对现实中国城乡问题的把握。

In the intellectual circle, traditional China has long been equated with ＂rural China＂ and everything that characterizes Chinese tradition has been labeled as ＂rural＂. Such oversimplification is called into question in this article. The author maintains that Chinese thinkers in modern times, as well as both Chinese and western anthropologists and sociologists, have tailored the real China to fit in their dichotomy of ＂traditional and rural China vs. modern and urban West.＂ In this practice, some essential attributes of rural society in China depicted by noted sociologist Fei Xiaotong have been amplified to the extent of being overall Chinese characters, however, the urban society in traditional China and the relationship between urban and rural societies have been overlooked. Hence, not only the traditionality of China is treated too simply, but urban in China is considered as western importation. This is not good either for our cultural awareness or for our comprehension of the urban and rural problems in China.