论明初的皇权统治与出版

The Ruling of Imperial Power and Publishing Industry in Early Ming Dynasty

明代出版被普遍认为是中国古代出版的巅峰,但事实上明代各个阶段的出版活动呈现出较大差异。在明初的洪武至宣德时期,出版活动陷入了一个低谷,活跃程度和整体态势甚至不及元末,其主要原因在于该时期的出版受到皇权专制统治思想的制约,主要表现为:明初统治者对图书出版的重视在一定程度上囿于制书出版,对民间出版基本上一致表现为严控与压制,其目的在于进行思想教化,维护专制统治。另外,明初文人在专制统治的政治背景下被皇权集体压制,致使他们的社会地位不高,命运悲惨,这也使私人出版行为受到严重打击。从宏观形态来看,明初的出版事实上成为皇权统治的工具,体现了当时的一种统治思想。

The publication in Ming Dynasty is considered in the highest position of ancient China.However,it varied in different periods and maintained at a lower level from Hongwu to Xuande,even less active than late Yuan Dynasty.Such a decline is mainly attributed to the restriction of autocracy.It is mainly embodied in such aspects： the ruling classes＇ focus was limited to imperial publication to some extent; non-governmental publication was basically suppressed and strictly controlled,which was aimed at moral cultivation and the maintenance of autocracy.In addition,intellectuals were oppressed as a whole in the tyrannical background of early Ming Dynasty,with lower social status and bitter life,which was a severe blow on individual publication activity.Generally,the publishing industry in early Ming Dynasty turned to be a ruling tool of imperial power,representing the ruling ideas at that time.