乡邻互助:清代徽州基层社会的私人借贷

On the Private Debit and Credit of Huizhou Local Society in the Qing Dynasty: Mutual Aid

中国的基层社会是一个弹性社会,处于基层社会中的人群自发地进行调节,以期达到追更为和谐稳定的状态。徽州民间的私人借贷就是出于这种互助理念而进行的调节活动。以清代徽州基层社会的私人借贷活动为主要研究对象,认识留存于中国民间社会的这种活动的互助性以及对整个徽州社会带来的影响。在明清徽州基层社会当中,私人之间的借贷关系普遍存在,这种借贷关系的表现形式主要是信用借贷和抵押借贷。这种私人借贷的双方之间的关系的特殊性、借贷物品的琐碎性以及借贷利息较低都表明这种活跃于基层社会的私人借贷具有着乡邻互助的意味。这种互助性的民间基层社会的借贷活动对于徽州民间社会的稳定发展产生了重要的影响。

Chinese local society is elastic. People in it adjusted themselves consciously to get a more harmonious and stabilized life. The autonomous mutual aid activities in the folk society shew this ad- justment concept in the real life. This article is to put the private debit and credit in Huizhou local society as the main object to study the mutual aid and its influence on the whole Huizhou society. The relation of private debit and credit was very common in the Huizhou local society in the Qing Dynasty. This debit and credit could be classified as credit loan and mortgage lending. Debtor and creditor had a special relationship, the borrowing items were trivial and the loan interest was quite low, which show the active private debit and credit activities had a meaning of mutual aid, and had a significant effect on the stable development of Huizhou local society.