清末民初乡绅阶层流变的原因及其影响-《中国农史》

文章信息/Info

Title:: The Reason and Influence of the Change of Gentry Class During Period of Late Qing and Early Republic

Author(s):: YANG Jian-guo; （College of Public Administration, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095）

Keywords:: Local government and gentry; abolition of the imperial examination system; decline of the gentry; rural governance crisis

摘要:: 在中国乡村治理的历史叙事中，传统乡村社会形成了“县政绅治”的秩序逻辑与治理模式。清末民初，日益深重的帝国危机与现代化浪潮的冲击，促使清政府全力打造一场以“新政”为肇始的大规模制度变革，成为近代中国社会转型、“国家现代化”建设的开端。“新政”改革进程中的科举之废与新学之兴，直接中断了传统士绅的常规继替，并引致乡绅阶层的流变。乡绅阶层流变，解构了帝制时代超稳定的“县政绅治”秩序，引发了近代以来中国乡村治理的第一次系统性危机，具体表现为民间统治精英的异化、乡村治理模式的僵化，以及“国家政权的内卷化”等。乡村治理危机呼唤着秩序的重建，也孕育着革命的发生。

Abstract:: In the historical narration of China’s rural governance， the traditional rural society has formed the order logic and governance model of "county governance and gentry governance". During Period of Late Qing and Early Republic of China，the increasingly deep imperial crisis and the impact of the modernization wave prompted the Qing Government to make every effort to create a large-scale system reform starting with the New Deal，which became the beginning of the social transformation and the construction of the "national modernization" in modern China. Under this great social background，the abolishment of imperial examinations and the rise of new learning in the reform process of "New Deal" directly interrupted the conventional succession of the traditional gentry and led to the change of the gentry class. The change of the gentry class deconstructed the super-stable "county governance" order in the imperial era，and caused the first systemic crisis in China’s rural governance since modern times，which was embodied in the alienation of the civilian ruling elite，the rigidity of the rural governance model，and the "infolding of state power". Rural governance crisis calls for the reconstruction of order，but also breeds the occurrence of revolution.