宋代民间借贷与乡村贫富关系的发展——以“富民”阶层为视角的考察

Private Lending and the Relationship between the Rich and the Poor in the Song Dynasty from a Perspective of the Rich Class

唐宋时期,富民阶层迅速崛起,并成为社会经济关系和阶级关系的核心。由于富民阶层崛起所带来的社会经济结构的调整,宋代富民逐渐取代国家成为乡村借贷的主导力量。虽然富民的借贷行为在某种程度上确实起到了加剧贫富分化的作用,但从宋代乡村的历史看,民间借贷的缺乏比富民借贷所带来的剥削更容易激化贫富矛盾。不但不是贫富矛盾产生的罪魁祸首,反而与租佃关系一起,成为这一时期"贫富相资"的重要维系力量。

The rich class rose up and became the core sector of the social economic relations during the Tang and Song dynasties. Based upon the changes of social and economic structure, the rich class replaced government to be the dominant force in the rural lending relationships. Although the private lending of the rich class did enlarge the gap between the rich and poor in the Song dynasty, the lack of this kind of lending would have more likely intensified the contradiction between the rich and the poor. Private lending, rather than the major factor leading to social contradictions, actually strengthened the connection between the rich and the poor classes during Song period.