明清时期江南市镇雇佣群体的社会结构探析

On Social Structure of the Employed Group in Southeast Chinese Market Towns during Ming and Qing Dynasties

明清时期,江南市镇工商业发达,市场繁荣,雇佣群体不断壮大,成为相对独立的社会群体。就地域来源而言,江南市镇的雇佣人员包括本地和外来两部分;就职业结构而言,市镇雇佣人员又可分为体力类、技艺类、管理类等。这些雇佣人员广泛参与手工业、商业、交通运输业、服务业等活动,呈现出职业稳定化的趋势,形成了自身一定的社会等级体系,在市镇经济和社会活动中发挥出多方面的作用。

In the period of the Ming and Qing dynasties （14th -20th century）, with the development and prosperity of industry and commerce in the market towns in southeast China, the employed group rose day by day and became a relatively independent social group Geographically, the employed group consists of indige- nous and migrant workers, and occupationally it falls into physical, technical, managerial and so on. These people worked in a lot of trades such as handicraft, business, transportation and service ; their employment be- ing more and more stable, they started to form their own social hierarchies, and played great roles in the socio- economic activities of the market towns.