论等级关系以及等级社会中的“官”

Hierarchical Relationships and the "Officialdom" in a Ranked Society

农业社会是一个等级社会,但是,这只是就其身份等级关系而言的。其实,农业社会的社会关系主要是由两大关系所构成的:其一是身份等级关系;其二是土地关系。在身份等级关系中,"为官"就是服役,所服的是一种特殊的"官役";在土地关系中,却包含着逐利动机生成的要求,因而为官也就表现为对一种报酬的获取,这种报酬就是俸禄。中国农业社会由于出现了等级关系与土地关系的分化,所以也形成了一个与身份等级关系不同的官的等级系列;在欧洲历史上,由于没有真正实现这种等级关系与土地关系的分化,所以欧洲直到资产阶级革命前一直是身份等级占主导地位。当然,土地关系仅仅是一种经济关系,而身份等级关系则是一种政治关系,在所有的等级社会中,土地关系都是被纳入到身份等级关系的控制之下的。

An agricultural society,if viewed only from the perspective of the stratification of the identities or ranks of its members,can be regarded as a ranked society. As a matter of fact,the shape of the social relations in such a society is determined by the following two major elements：the stratification of social ranks and the ownership of the land. In terms of the social hierarchy,＂to be an official＂ constitutes a special kind of service,i.e.,a service of the officialdom; in terms of the land ownership,＂to be an official＂ involves the pursuit of profits,thus functioning as a means of obtaining payment or salary. In the agricultural society of China,the stratification of social ranks and the ownership of the land separated from each other,which brought about a hierarchy of officialdom different from a hierarchy of social identities and ranks. In the history of European countries,due to a lack of such separation,the hierarchy of social identities and ranks was dominant until the Bourgeois Revolution. After all,the ownership of the land is only a kind of economic relationship,while the hierarchy of social identities and ranks is a type of political relationship. In any stratified society,the ownership of the land is incorporated into the hierarchy of social identities and ranks.