明代乡村慈善模式的制度设计和基层组织慈善功能的演变——以两湖地区为中心

Institutional Design of Rural Charity Model in the Ming Dynasty and the Evolution of Charity Function of Grass-roots Organizations:A Study on Hunan and Hubei

在明初的乡村治理理念中,乡里制度是以里甲制为中心的综合多功能体,蕴含了丰富的社会管理、教化、治安等功能,也蕴含了巧妙的慈善功能。鳏寡孤独残疾有养、婚姻丧葬有助等慈善目标被融于官方的礼法体系和里甲编排等制度安排中。明中叶以后,社会分化加剧,里甲面临瓦解,部分职能废弛,有识之士在重整乡村秩序的过程中,借重的依然是明初的乡治理念。以乡约为中心的保甲、社仓等制度设计成为明代中后期基层治理和慈善救助的主要内容,保甲、乡约、社仓、社学“四合一”是明中后期理想的乡治模式。由于明代乡村治理中贯穿了精神与物质、慈善与控制相结合的原则,基层社会得以在较长时间中维持相对稳定的秩序。

In the early Ming Dynasty’s rural governance philosophy,the village community system,centered around the li-jia system,served as a comprehensive and multifunctional entity.It embodied diverse functions such as social management,education,public order,and ingeniously incorporated charitable functions.The charitable goals,including supporting widows,widowers,orphans,the elderly,and individuals with disabilities,as well as providing assistance for marriage and funerals,have been integrated into the official ritual system and various institutional arrangements of the li-jia system.In the mid-Ming period and beyond,social differentiation intensified,leading to the disintegration of the li-jia system.Some functions weakened,and in the process of reorganizing rural order,enlightened individuals continued to draw upon the early Ming village governance philosophy.The design of systems such as bao-jia and she-cang,with xiang-yue at the core,became the primary components of grassroots governance and charitable assistance in the middle and later periods of the Ming Dynasty.The integration of bao-jia,xiang-yue,she-cang,and she-xue formed the ideal model for rural governance in the middle to later Ming Dynasty,known as the“Four-in-One”system.Due to the Ming Dynasty’s rural governance principles that combined spiritual and material aspects,charity and control,grassroots society managed to maintain a relatively stable order for an extended period.