“乡土社会”:以费孝通先生《乡土中国》为参照的解读

Earthbound Society:An Interpretation Taking Earthbound China by Fei Xiaotong as the Reference

费孝通先生是针对西洋社会而提出"乡土社会"概念的。它指的是中国境内与王权政治相对的社会空间,其中既包括乡村又包括城镇。这个建立在"面对面"基础上的社会空间,拥有两个与西方不同的根本特征,即内在的礼治规则和外在的差序格局。而礼治规则和差序格局之中,又蕴涵着等级与人情两种维系力量。等级是为了区分上下尊卑,人情是为了弥合身份差异。不过,随着工业化进程的加剧,中国人的血缘范围日渐缩小,社会流动愈来愈频繁,与西方文化之间的交流越来越深入。这一切前所未有的社会变化,都将对"乡土社会"带来致命性的冲击。

In comparison with the western society,the concept of earthbound society was proposed by Fei Xiaotong.It referred to the social spaces of towns and rural areas which were opposite to the monarchical power in China.Compared with the western society,towns and rural areas in China had distinctly different features,that is,the invisible ＂rule by rites＂ and the visible ＂pattern of difference sequence＂.Furthermore,there were two kinds of power to maintain the earthbound society,namely,the social stratum and human sentiment.The former was used to distinguish inferiority and superiority,and the latter was used to bridge the identity differences.However,with the intensified process of industrialization,the Chinese sense of consanguinity is gradually decreasing,while the social mobility and the communication with the West are becoming more and more frequent.These unprecedented social changes will bring great challenges to the traditional earthbound society.