荒政与大一统国家:国家韧性形成的内在机制

Famine Policy and Great Unified Country:The Inner Mechanism of National Resilience

大一统国家的长期维系和不断重建是中国国家韧性最为重要的一个特征。但中国国家韧性的形成并不来自于独特的地理条件,中国反而是自然灾害高发的国度。自然灾害通过对农业生产的威胁而给大一统国家带来了强大的政治压力。国家对自然灾害的应对措施统称为荒政。中国历代王朝都极为重视荒政。成功的备荒救灾不仅以大一统国家为前提,荒政也是中国国家韧性的塑造机制。荒政实践作为国家提供的公共物品,强化了王朝国家的资源调动能力,推进了国家官僚组织建设,规避了中央政府基层控制权的旁落,巩固了普通民众对大一统国家的政治支持。荒政还为大一统国家的重建提供了心理基础、历史共识、制度遗产和基础设施。从与自然灾害的对抗中形成的国家韧性仍然影响着当代中国的发展进程。

The long-term maintenance and continuous reconstruction of the great unification is the most important feature of China’s national resilience.However,the formation of China’s national resilience does not come from unique geographical conditions.Instead,China is a country with a high incidence of natural disasters.Natural disasters have brought strong political pressure to a unified country through threats to agricultural production.The country’s response to natural disasters is famine policy.Chinese dynasties have attached great importance to famine policy.Successful famine preparedness and disaster relief is not only based on a unified country,but famine policy is also a mechanism for shaping China’s national resilience.As a public good provided by the state,the practice of famine policy has strengthened the resource mobilization ability of the dynasty state,promoted the construction of national bureaucracy,avoided the sidelines of the central government’s grassroots control,and consolidated ordinary people’s political support for the unified country.The famine policy also provided the psychological foundation,historical consensus,institutional heritage and infrastructure for the reconstruction of a unified country.The national resilience formed from confronting natural disasters still affects the development process of contemporary China.