清代州县治理的制度设计、实践困境与应对举措

The Institutional Design,Practical Dilemma and Countermeasures of Prefecture and County Governance in Qing Dynasty

州县治理是清代国家治理的基础,为实现对辽阔疆域的有效控制,清王朝吸取中国历代王朝经验,在全国各地普遍设立州县,作为实施基层治理的核心行政单位。在中国传统州县制度的基础上,清王朝根据现实治理需要,不断对当朝州县制度进行调整、改革,形成了一系列有本朝特色的制度体系。清王朝重视发挥州县官在基层治理中的核心作用,通过完善科举选官制度、考核培训机制,致力于打造一支素质过硬、德才兼备的州县官群体。实践表明,清代州县制度、州县官素质能力与州县治理实践并非完美契合,州县制度设计与治理实践之间的矛盾不可避免,如何化解州县治理困境,成为摆在清王朝面前的一项巨大挑战。

The governance of prefectures and counties is the foundation of national governance in Qing Dynasty.In order to achieve effective control over the vast territory,the Qing Dynasty learned from the experience of previous dynasties in China and established prefectures and counties throughout the country as the core administrative units for the implementation of grass-roots governance.On the basis of the traditional prefectures and counties system in China,the Qing Dynasty continuously adjusted and reformed the state and county system according to the practical governance needs,and formed a series of institutions with its own characteristics.The Qing Dynasty attaches great importance to the core role of prefectural and county officials in grassroots governance,and strives to build a group of prefectural and county officials with excellent quality and integrity by improving the imperial examination system and the examination and training mechanism.The practice showed that the system of prefectures and counties,the quality and ability of prefectures and counties officials in Qing Dynasty did not fit perfectly with the governance practice of prefectures and counties,and the contradiction between the system design of prefectures and counties and the governance practice was inevitable.How to solve the governance dilemma of prefectures and counties became a great challenge facing Qing Dynasty.