乡保制与地方治理:以乾嘉道时期巴县为中心

The Self-Protection System and Governance at Sub-County Level: The Case of Ba County in Reigns of Qianlong,Jiaqing and Daoguang

本文以清代乾嘉道巴县档案为基础,展示这一时期该地地方治理在很大程度上系由乡约、保长、客长、团首等乡保人员来落实和完成。乡保制是在清代地方官吏队伍不足的情形下应运而生的一种半官方地方管理机制。这一机制整合了法定的乡约、里甲、保甲、仓储制,其低成本和功效使之通行全国。即使在白莲教起义后,在县官期待由士绅领导的团练事务上,巴县团练也是由乡保而非士绅主办。这一事实提醒我们乡保制的稳定性与包容性以及既往研究中未加充分注意的士绅崛起之时代、地域差异。

Digging into the archives of Ba County,the present paper reveals that the fulfillment of Ba's governance,to a greater extent,depended on the sub-county self-protection system staffed with security heads,corps heads and so on.The semi-official System rose in response to the embarrassing reality that local governments were understaffed.It incorporated multiple legal sub-county institutions and was renowned for its low-cost and high-efficiency.For this reason,the System was applied nationwide.Even in the wake of the outbreak of White Lotus Rebellion,the founding of tuanlian(corps)that the county government desperately expected was primarily dependent on the System rather than on local gentries'efforts.Such a historical fact reminds us of the System's stability and compatibility,as well of the long-neglected temporo-regional differences in regard to the rise of local gentry.