古代農民的桎梏與城鄉矛盾

The Bondage of the Peasantry and Urban rural Conflict in Traditional Chinese Society

羅炳綿(Law Ping-min)

《中國文化研究所學報》 新4期 (1995/01) Pp. 121-140

https://doi.org/10.29708/JCS.CUHK.199501_(4).0007

並列摘要

Concurring with the view that ＂peasants' livelihood was the hardest compared with that of the scholars, craftsmen and traders,＂ this article begins with an analysis of the theories stressing the importance of agriculture as found in the 'Nongzhan' Chapter of Shangzun shu, the 'Shangnong' Chapter of Lushi chunqiu, and the writings of Jia Yi of the Han period. It points out that the rulers' motives were to take advantage of the peasants' pristine nature and their submissiveness. Actually, what concerned them most was taxation, not the peasants' own interests. The rulers' emphasis is that ＂they valued the five crops and ignored gold and jade＂ was merely a deceptive ＂empty talk＂. Secondly, the article deals with two aspects of the rural-urban conflict: a) There existed conflicts and imbalances regarding the exchange of economic goods and talents. Previously when the institution of ＂peasants not allowed to leave their home village＂ was successfully implemented, the urban-rural exchange of talents had had no negative effect on the rural society. However, as more and more people deserted the rural area since the Ming-Qing period, the problem became increasingly serious. b) For two millennia, Chinese rulers had implemented a household registration system to keep the rural population from moving out and instituted a policy of ＂driving the people back to the rural area＂. Nevertheless, this failed to solve the issue of village-leaving peasants. Besides, the government always considered village-deserters as vagabonds who gave up essentials for trivial things. No longer belonging to the rural households, village-deserters were also not accepted into the urban ranks. Consequently, their livelihood got even worse and more social problems arose. Thirdly, attention is given to the issue of why village-desertion recurred in Chinese history. It also points out the special features in the transformation of the village-deserters and former peasants into employed workers in the Ming-Qing period. During the Qin, Han, Tang and Song dynasties, village-deserters either became bondservants deprived of personal freedom, or returned as peasants and bound to the land in the countryside. However, in the Ming-Qing period, village-deserters gained a new profile as free employed workers enjoying higher social status. They were less subjected to servitude by their employers. Lastly, the article points out that various walks of craftsmen had made important contributions to the development of urban society, to the increase of the number of towns and to their urbanization and that they increasingly enjoyed social recognition. Against this background, it is timely that the current Chinese government undertakes a review of the traditional policy of ＂urban-rural separation＂ and ＂driving the people back to the rural area＂.