明前期民间赈济的初步考察

Preliminary Investigation on Popular Famine Relief in the Early Ming Dynasty

明朝前期在备荒赈灾活动中,政府始终扮演着重要角色,甚至一直居于主导地位。但是在官方赈济系统的运作过程中,从一开始便不乏民间行为的参与。自宣德年间开始,官方赈济系统渐趋于无力,因而官方开始劝赈于民间以期减轻自身的施赈压力。正统以后,民间赈济的地位有进一步上升的趋势。

The government plays a vital role in the disaster prevention and famine relief in the early Ming dynasty, namely, the governmental relief system dominates the whole famine relief practices. But at the same time popular famine relief behaviors permeate in it from the very beginning. During the Xuan De period the governmental famine relief system tends to be powerless, so the government begins to persuade the popular strength to join in order to share the pressure of famine relief. From the Zheng Tong period on, the role of the popular relief is getting more and more important.