明朝的区域来源、政权性格与“江浙士人”

On the Geographical Origin and Political Character of the Ming Dynasty in Connection with the Role of the Confucian Scholars from Jiangsu and Zhejiang Area

明朝崛起于经济落后且屡经战乱的淮河流域,政权最初相应呈现出浓厚的粗鄙特征。出身贫寒的朱元璋秉持"小农政治意识",将之与蒙元"家产制"政治思想相结合,从而建立了空前专制的皇权制度。在标榜"恢复华夏"的同时,朱元璋强力压制延续南宋以来儒学传统的士人,尤其是儒学最为发达的江浙地区的士人。但伴随开国征伐阶段的结束,明朝逐渐步入常态治理,文官相应逐渐成为明政权的主体力量。永乐以后,以"江浙士人"为主的士人群体,在控制政府各个部门的同时,又借助翰林院这一元代江浙士人的主阵地,分化出内阁,成为协助皇帝决策的政治机构。而另一方面,明朝皇帝开始借助宦官,维持与江浙士人的政治地理平衡。

Arose from the economically backward Huaihe river basin, the early Ming political style is rather coarse. Emperor Taizu from a poor peasant family combined his peasant political conception with the Mongolian paternalism of the Yuan dynasty and established an unprecedented autocratic monarchy system. While claiming to restore the Han tradition, he rigorously repressed the Confucian scholars especially those from Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas who were considered to be influenced by the Southern Song politics. This atmosphere changed since the Yongle period when the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Confucian scholar officials gradually controlled major governmental positions including the Grand Secretariat which played an important role to assist the Emperor to make political decisions. Meanwhile, the emperors began to employ the eunuchs to balance the political situation.