延续与渐变:近代冀中定县农业生产及其动力

Continuity and Gradual Change:The Agricultural Production and Its Driving Force in Dingxian County in Central Hebei Province Pre-1949

冀中定县的农业生产,为近代中国农村经济变迁提供例证。在生产条件上,基本沿袭祖辈特色,既反映了传统经验的适应性,也是人多地少、劳动力剩余之下的无奈。与此同时,在民间组织与政府机构的推动下,农具、作物以及灌溉等方面也显现出现代农业的迹象。在农作物结构上,仍以传统粮食作物为主,商品作物尤其是棉花种植面积也有明显扩大,国外市场需求已成为一个重要变量。尽管如此,农民很少将土地孤注一掷地用于种植经济作物,利润追求有限。粮食总产量有所提高,其增长不是靠耕地面积的扩大,而是靠亩产量的增加,亩产量的增加又源自生产条件的改善尤其是劳动力的大量投入。这虽导致劳动生产率低下,但农民生存效用增加了。农业生产体现了传统与新面相、增长与不发展、连续大于跳跃的渐变特征,农民的贫困状态并未发生根本转变。在艰难之中,农业生产和农民生活还能维系和坚持,表明小农经营仍有顽强生命力。

Agricultural production in Dingxian County in central Hebei offers evidence for economic change in pre-1949 rural areas in China.Production conditions basically retained their ancestral characteristics;this reflected not only the adaptability of traditional methods,but the fact that the labor surplus arising from the high population and scarcity of arable land left no other option.At the same time,with the encouragement of non-official organizations and government agencies,farm tools,crops,irrigation and other features of modern agriculture began to appear.Traditional grains were the main crop,but the acreage of commercial crops,especially cotton,increased significantly.Demand from foreign markets became an important factor.Nevertheless,the peasants rarely staked everything on cultivating commercial crops;their pursuit of profit was limited.There was some increase in total grain output,due not to expansion of land area but increased output per mu of land.This increased output was a consequence of improved production conditions,particularly the greatly increased labor input.Although this caused a decline in labor productivity,it enhanced subsistence utility.