中国古史分期暨社会性质论纲——兼论中国传统社会的主要矛盾问题

An Outline of the Stages of Ancient Chinese Society and Its Social Nature: with a Discussion of the Principal Social Contradiction in Traditional China

权力的掌控与人力(人口)的掌控是中国古代历史发展演变的两个关键,故破解中国古史分期之谜和正确认识古代社会性质,必须由此切入。权力作为中国古代社会的主导者,高踞于社会任何群体、阶级、集团之上,直接决定历史发展的走向和社会的性质,因此掌控了权力就掌控了全社会的政治、经济、文化等一切;而权力之所以能够发生上述作用而显得法力无边,其关键和首要条件又在于掌控了人力,人力掌控实为权力之源之本。据此剖析中国古代历史,则先后经历了“无君‘群聚’”社会(太古至夏以前)、“王权‘众庶’”社会(夏商西周至战国时期)和“皇权‘吏民’”社会(秦至清)三个时代。第一时代经历了“兽群”“姓群”“氏群”三个阶段,既为历史文献、文字学所说明,亦为近代考古成果所证明。王权与“众庶”构成的有机统一体,为第二时代社会结构的主体和主要矛盾关系;皇权与“吏民”构成的有机统一体是第三时代社会结构的主体和主要矛盾关系,尽管地主(由“皇权地主”与“吏民地主”构成)与农民关系也是这一时代的重要矛盾之一,但不可能超越“吏民”与皇权矛盾关系而成为主要矛盾。从第二时代到第三时代,权力掌控从专制集权多元性、层级性、分散性的相对掌控,到专制集权一元性、全面性的绝对掌控,并从专制走向独裁;人力掌控则由血缘性、群体性的相对掌控,到地域性、个体性的绝对掌控,表现为由“众庶”转变为“吏民”。

The control of power and manpower are two key points of the evolution of ancient Chinese history.As the dominate factor of ancient Chinese society,power stands high above all groups and classes,and directly determines the historical trend and social nature.The reason why power can play such an almighty role is that it controls the manpower.In this perspective,ancient Chinese history experiences successively three periods of “group living without king,”“kingship vs.groups of multitudes,” and “imperial power vs.official-civilian.” In the third period,the unity of imperial power and official-civilian formed the main body and principal contradiction of the social structure,although the relation between landlord and peasant is also one of the important contradiction in this period.From the second to the third period,the control of power evolved from relative centralization with diversity,hierarchy,and dispersity to the absolute,unitary,and holistic one;and the control of manpower evolved from consanguineous and mass control with relativity to the absolute one to every region and individual.