社会分层、社会流动与清帝国的乡村控制——读萧公权《中国乡村——19世纪的帝国控制》

Social Stratification,Social Mobility and Rural Control of Qing Empire:A Review on Hsiao Kung-chuan’s Rural China:Imperial Control in the Nineteenth Century

萧公权的《中国乡村》一书通过对官僚、士绅与普通农民三大阶层的分析,探讨了帝制晚期中国的乡村控制。清代高度的中央集权,导致官僚阶层低下的行政效率,从而使得许多乡村控制政策变成虚文。庞大的人口造成了越来越大的政治参与压力,大量的文人士子无法通过科举进入官僚阶层,许多人沦为“劣绅”,士绅阶层在乡村控制中日益扮演着现有秩序维护者与反叛者的双重角色。清代的人口压力与政策失调,使得农村趋于衰败,普通民众趋于贫困化,大量民众向下流动为“莠民”“饥民”“光棍”等。这些因素共同作用,促使19世纪清帝国的乡村控制体系走向崩溃。

Rural China:Imperial Control in the Nineteenth Century written by Hsiao Kungchuan discussed the rural control of China in the late imperial period by analyzing of bureaucracy,gentry and ordinary peasants.The high centralization of power in Qing Dynasty led to the low administrative efficiency of the bureaucratic class,causing many rural control policies become empty words.The huge population has caused more and more pressure on political participation,a large number of literati and scholars could not enter the bureaucratic class through the imperial examination,and many people have become"evil gentry".The gentry class was increasingly playing the dual role of the existing order defender and the rebel in rural control.The population pressure and policy imbalance in Qing Dynasty led to the decline of rural areas,the poverty of ordinary people,and the downward movement of a large number of people into"unruly people.""hungry people","bachelor"and so on.Together,the above factors contributed to the collapse of the rural control system of Qing Empire in the 19th century.