明代基层社会治理路径研究--以老人调处纠纷制度的兴衰为视角

Study on the Path of Grass-roots Social Governance in Ming Dynasty:from the Perspective of the Rise and Fall of the Dispute Mediation System for the Elderly

老人制度作为独立于国家政权体系的基层社会治理的核心环节,在中国传统法律实践中具有深远的历史渊源。出于"以良民治良民"的考量,明初统治者充分汲取乡民自治与官府控制这一双层治理路径的实质内涵,通过《教民榜文》正式确立了包含民间与官方两种面向的老人制度。该制度在明代中前期发展到顶峰,老人在调处纠纷的过程中往往处于主导地位;但由于政治、经济等因素的冲击,老人的作用逐渐被官方权力所束缚,其开始扮演协助官府决断纠纷的配角。从老人调处纠纷制度的兴衰可一窥明代基层社会治理路径的转向与全貌。

As the core of grass-roots social governance independent from the state power system,the elderly system has a profound historical origin in the practice of traditional Chinese law.For the consideration of"governing the people with good citizens",the rulers in the early Ming Dynasty fully absorbed the essence of the two-level governance path of the villagers autonomy and the government control,and formally established the elderly system,including the folk and official orientations,through the Educating People Annunciation.The system developed to the peak in the early and middle Ming Dynasty,and the elderly were often in the leading position in the process of mediating disputes.However,due to the impact of political,economic and other factors,the role of the elderly was bound by the official power,and it began to play a supporting role in assisting the government to decide disputes.From the rise and fall of the dispute mediation system for the elderly,it is possible to see the transformation and panorama of the grass-roots social governance path in the Ming Dynasty.