明代文书行政中的地方社会意愿表达

The Expression of Local Social Will in Official Document Administration in the Ming Dynasty

明代地方行政的文书程序中,经常可见由多名里老、生员、乡绅联署的呈文。这种呈文在明前中期被称为连名呈,明末则多称公呈;从明中叶开始,甚至可以看到以"通学"、"合邑"等集体名义联署的连名呈、公呈。这些呈文,既是绅士里老向官府反映地方社会意愿的重要手段,也是地方官向上级官府汇报地方事务的重要依据。及至明末,公呈的地位日益重要,其应用规则亦趋于成熟。在部分地方事务中,特定群体的公呈作为地方社会意愿的证据,成为政府决策时必备的文书凭证。

In the local administrative procedures of the Ming Dynasty,very commonly submitted documents included those co-signed by a number of village leaders,local students,and gentry representatives.Such a way of document submission in the early and middle Ming Dynasty was known as lian ming cheng(连名呈),and then,as of the end of the Ming Dynasty,mostly,gong cheng(公呈).Starting from the middle Ming Dynasty,there were some document submission sigend as"whole school"or"whole county".These submissions are not only an important means of reflecting the expectations of the local community to the government,but also an important basis for local officials to report on local affairs to the higher authorities.By the end of the Ming Dynasty,the status of the gong cheng was increasingly prominent,and its application rules also tended to mature.For some local affairs,the gong cheng of a specific group,as an evidence of the expectation of the local community,became the necessary documentary reference for the government’s decision-making.