明清华北乡村组织功能扩大化及其原因探析——以太行山村社碑刻为中心的考察

Reasons of Greater Role Rural Communities Played in North China in Ming and Qing: A Study of Stone Inscriptions of Village Communities in Taihang Mountains

19世纪中叶,华北平原的青苗会由看青组织演化为具有综合功能的自我管理组织。太行山地区的村社也发生了类似的功能扩大化的转变,早在晚明清初,村社就从单纯的祭祀组织演化为综合性的乡村组织,清中叶开始又具有了国家行政管理职能。明清时期华北乡村组织功能扩大化既是晚明以来官役劣化的结果,又是民间社会日趋活跃和繁荣的表现。这种扩大化的转变既反映了晚明以来乡村社会发展的总趋势,也体现了清中叶以后社会危机的加重。村社与青苗会的区别也反映了地区之间的差异性。

The present paper explains for what reason rural communities in North China played a greater role by investigating the course in which Young Crops Society metamorphosized from a farming team to a self-governing social organization. It contends that the greater role village communities played in the late Ming and early Qing revealed the deterioration of grassroots governance and expansion of popular organizations. Not only did such change reflect the general trend of rural society since the late Ming but it also heralded the deepening social crisis after the mid-Qing.