清代中叶直隶地区乡村管理体制——兼论清代国家与基层社会的关系

Rural Governance Mechanism in Mid Qing Dynasty Zhili Area: Relations of the State and the Grass-root Societies

清代中期赋役制度改革以后 ,地方基层组织及管理体制也相应发生了变革。保甲组织逐步取代里甲组织。国家不仅对农民的编户方式发生了改变———从注重管理为国家提供赋役的“在籍”人户 (即编审册上的人户 )变为注重管理乡村中实际居住的人户 ,而且对乡村实施更严格和更直接的统治。清代中期以后 ,在保甲体制下 ,村庄负责人———乡保、牌甲长从普通的中等农民中产生 ,保证了州县政府能够顺畅地对乡村行使职权 ,并通过对乡村负责人严格控制与压榨 ,实现对乡村的统治。乡—村结构构成了地方基层的主要组织形式 ,村庄成为国家管理农村基层社会的基本单位 ,国家政权透过乡和村庄的职役 ,掌控村庄和农户 ,乡村职役出现行政化发展趋势。国家政权与基层乡村社会结合比以前更加紧密。

After the reform of the tax and corvée systems in the mid Qing dynasty, changes took place in grass root organizations and the governance mechanism. The lijia system was gradually replaced by the baojia system. The focus of management of peasants' household registration shifted from registered households as tax and corvée providers to actual rural residents for tighter and more direct control. Under the baojia system, village heads such as xiangbao (Security Group Head) and paijiazhang (Registration Unit Head and Tithing Head) were directly selected from average peasants to ensure easy exercise of prefecture and district authority in villages. Rural areas were thus ruled through tighter control over and exploitation of village heads. Xiang and villages constituted the most important grass root units of administration, while villages served as basic units for state governance of rural society. State power reached villages and peasant households through Xiang and village posts that showed a tendency to develop into administrative agencies. The state was connected to the grass root rural societies more closely than ever before.