明清晋陕地区民间水利事务管理探析

The Unofficial Management for Water resource at Shanxi and Shaanxi Areas in the Ming and Qing Periods

晋陕地区地处典型的欧亚大陆性季风气候区,年降水量偏少且呈明显的季节性分布,农作物生长、丰收对人工灌溉的依赖很大。明清时期,伴随着水资源短缺的严峻形势和官方对水利事务管理的收缩,晋陕两地农村水利事务呈现出以乡绅为领导核心的民间管理趋势,水利规约成为民间水利事务管理的制度形式。民间水利事务管理模式的运行,减少并弱化了成员在用水过程中的投机行为、降低了水利纠纷发生的可能性和水利纠纷的诉讼成本。但是,监督体制的缺失和普通农民参与管理的能力不足,使得这种管理方式的效用发挥是有限度的。因此,以史为鉴,协调好国家政权、乡村精英和普通民众的关系,重视民间力量,最大程度地发挥农民阶层的水资源自主管理作用,是解决好水资源开发、利用和管理的有效途径。

Shanxi and Shaanxi are located in arid and semi arid areas of China. Facing serious water shortages and shrinking state power for water management, the management of water resource in these areas had a self-governance tendency in which the village gentry were the core power during the Ming and Qing dynasties. This water management system played a positive role in preventing opportunistic behaviors such as free riding and rent seeking, decreasing the probability of water conflicts and the costs of litigation. However, this water management system was also subject to endemic corruption because of the lack of effective monitoring from the local government. In addition ,the ordinary peasants were deprived of the right to participate water management, so the effect of this self-management was limited.