明代向上社會流動再探

Upward Social Mobility in Ming China Revisited

徐泓(Hong HSU)

《歷史人類學學刊》 15卷1期 (2017/04) Pp. 53-82

摘要

何炳棣在《明清社會史論》中，運用22科明代進士登科錄擷取的6,332名進士的三代履歷，統計分析得出：「以平均數而言，明代平民出身進士約佔約總數50％；而父祖三代有生員以上功名者，也約略50％。」近年來，拜大陸圖書資料開放之賜，我得以運用57科明代進士登科錄擷取的15,528名進士的三代履歷，重新統計硏析明代社會向上流動。由於分析樣本科數為何教授的2.59倍，人數為2.45倍強，而且補充何教授分析樣本所缺的建文、宣德、正統、景泰和天啟等五朝的樣本；本研究所運用的樣本不但數量大且分佈均勻，取樣全面得多。分析得出的結果是：「以平均數而言，明代平民出身進士約佔約總數56％；而父祖三代有生員以上功名者則為44％。」確認了何炳棣的論點：平民向上流動機會佔了整體官員的一半以上，再度證實了明朝「官場對有才能人士開放」的傳統說法。

關鍵字

何炳棣 ； 明清社會史論 ； 向上社會流動

並列摘要

Fifty-five years ago, Ping-ti Ho published his famous The Ladder of Success in Imperial China, in which he mainly used numerical data from lists of jinshi to discuss social mobility in Ming-Qing China. Ho's main data to demonstrate the degree of upward social mobility in the Ming consisted of 6,332 examples drawn from 22 jinshi lists which were available in North American libraries at that time. Since the 1980's, many more libraries in the PRC have become accessible to scholars. Now we can reach sources to which Professor Ho did not have access. In this paper, I used 15,528 cases drawn from 57 jinshi lists, including lists from the reigns of five emperors to which Ho did not have access. Using the same methodology as Ho, with these new sources, I have re-confirmed the applicability of his theory of upward socio- academic mobility. In the Ming period (1368-1644), 56% of jinshi came from families that had not previously produced a single holder of the elementary degree, let alone an official title, while jinshi from prominent families accounted for 44% This is comparable to the 50:50 findings of Ho's study, and proves that his claim that the traditional bureaucracy was open to the common people in Ming times is still valid.

並列關鍵字

Ping-ti Ho ； The Ladder of Success in Imperial China ； upward social mobility ； Ming dynasty ； examination system