群亦邦本:试论中国的齐民社会与社团正当性

Social Organization also as Root of Country: On the Trimmed Society and the Legitimacy of Social Organization in China

对中国民间社团的认识事关对中国社会性质的判定,却一直未得到理论家足够的重视。本文试图在宗族模式、差序格局、市民社会三个视角之外,从"社团中国"的视角重建中国的"社会叙事"。本文认为,中国自古至今一直拥有繁荣的结社活动,它在整体上并不"反社会",却因缺少正当性而盛衰无常。这背后,主要的制约因素是源于先秦时代法家思想的"齐民社会"理念类型。在"本/末""轻/重"和"群/党"等观念的指导下,它将民众的横向结社认作社会稳定的反面,对社会趋繁至多做到消极宽容而没有实质性的自我调适。这种在许多方面与市民社会背道而驰的理念类型造成了中国人对结社的隐忧,而要适应社会复杂化的大趋势,就需要我们解除这种忧虑,真正赋予社团以正当性。

Even though Chinese social organization is acknowledged in principle as the key to the un- derstanding of the nature of Chinese society, it has been underestimated by theorists for a long time. After examining three theories, i.e. lineage model, pattern of hierarchical order and civil society, this paper tries to rebuild a theoretical perspective which centers on Chinese social organization on the base of un- veiling its development in Chinese history. It argues that Chinese social organization is not ＂anti-state＂ in nature and as active as western civil society, but experienced prosperity and decline recurrently in history due to lack of legitimacy. This predicament can be traced to the ideal type of ＂Trimmed Society＂ invented by Legalists in the pre-Qin period. Guided by key concepts such as ＂root/branch＂,＂ heavy/light＂ and ＂group^clique＂, this ideal type takes social organization as threaten to social solidarity and makes dynasties in Chinese history tolerate social complexity at best but fail to adapt themselves to it. ＂Trimmed Soci- ety＂ which is in many aspects on the opposite of civil society embedded a vicious imagination and a hid- den worry about social organization in Chinese culture. It is necessary for Chinese society to relieve such imagination and worry and truly legitimize social organization if it really means to adapt itself to the inevitable trend of social complexity.