清代区田法的技术形态、经济效益及地方治理

Technical Forms,Economic Benefits and Local Governance of the“District Field Method(Outianfa)”in Qing Dynasty

通过溯源区田法的技术形态及其来源,可以发现传统农业经济史中的一个矛盾现象:一方面,与汉代原始区田法相比,经清代士人变通后的区田形制提高了土地利用率,增加了可操作性,其田间管理方法在深耕、浅作、稀种、熟粪等环节更加细化成熟;另一方面,看似严密而完善的技术体系却在人、水、肥三重因素的制约下,难以实现区田法倡导者所标榜的高产目标,更无法大规模推广,造成区田法经济功能的缺失。造成这一悖论的根源在于,区田法所具备的农政属性使之成为官员施政与士绅治理的重要手段,它并不是源于农业实践的纯粹技术。其背后的地方治理逻辑在于,由士绅主导的自上而下的区种试验通过技术与权力的勾连,最终目标旨在构建其所处的基层秩序,从而形成了传统社会独特的技术教化情景。

By tracing the source of the technical forms of outianfa(区田法,lit.“district field method”)in the Qing Dynasty,we find a contradictory phenomenon in traditional agricultural technology.On the one hand,compared with the original outianfa of the Han Dynasty,the modified form and system improved land utilization rates and increased operability.Its field management method was more refined and mature with regard to deep ploughing,shallow cropping,sparse planting and ripe manure.On the other hand,due to human,water and fertilizer restrictions,despite its seemingly rigorous and perfect technical system,its high yield target would have been difficult to achieve,and it could not be popularized on a large scale,resulting in a lack of economic functionality.The cause of this phenomenon was that the local governance logic behind it was that the top-down regional experiment led by the gentry connected technology and power,the ultimate goal being to build the grassroots order in which they lived,thus forming a unique landscape of technological education in traditional society.