溪湖鎮的地主與佃農：再探臺灣農村土地改革

LANDLORDS AND TENANTS OF XIHU TOWNSHIP: TAIWAN'S LAND REFORM REVISITED

巫怡真(Yi-Chen Wu)

指導教授 ： 黃樹仁

國立臺北大學/社會科學學院/社會學系/碩士(2009年)

摘要

臺灣戰後經濟發展，農村土地改革是重要的經濟政治事件之一，因此吸引學界研究探討農村土地改革對台灣社會發展的影響。過去學界研究主要分為正反兩論述，其一，對土地改革持正面看法，其二，對土地改革持反面看法。本研究的目的便是釐清正反兩論述，企圖藉由實證資料釐清台灣農村土地改革前的土地分配情況，以及探討土地改革對社會帶來的影響。
首先，根據本研究所蒐集的檔案以及官方統計，我們發現，台灣土地改革前的土地分配，以共有的小地主居多。根據「彰化縣溪湖鎮土地徵收清冊」資料計算的數據，平均每位地主持有的土地約為1.0775甲；綜合其他統計資料，顯示台灣平均每位地主持有的土地不會超過兩甲。另一方面，高比例的佃農擁有非農業用地（住宅地）。簡而言之，數據指出，土地改革前的臺灣社會，多數佃農並非「貧者無立錐之地」的貧農，而多數地主也並非「富者田連阡陌」的大地主。
其次，本研究根據溪湖鎮的田野資料，探討受土地改革影響的地主家族與佃農家族的社會流動。我們彙整相關文獻及統計資料指出，過去地主家庭若要依靠土地出租作為收入的主要來源，至少需要六甲的土地。然而，多數地主家庭擁有的土地並沒有超過六甲，顯示多數地主家庭並非依靠土地出租做為收入主要來源。但我們根據田野資料仍發現，就土地改革後世代而言，多數地主家庭仍較佃農家庭有社會經濟的優勢，亦即，多數地主家庭成員的教育程度比佃農家庭來得高，而多數佃農家庭之後較多仍以農為其職業。
最後，根據本研究田野訪談，我們指出地主家庭與佃農家庭對土地改革的共同既定印象及其意識型態，以及地主與佃農對彼此的誤解以及錯誤的認知。這些誤解以及既定的印象，對台灣鄉鎮的土地利用帶來可能的負面影響，提高了土地交易成本。總而言之，本研究並不支持過去文獻曾提出的「土地改革促使地主走向工商業發展」的論述，亦不支持「土地改革使多數地主生活狀況不如佃農」的論述。而台灣雖以共有地主的中小地主居多，且地主人均土地面積並不多，但多數地主家庭與佃農家庭的社會流動機會差異，卻不因土地改革而有大幅變動。

關鍵字

農村土地改革 ； 地主 ； 佃農 ； 人均土地面積 ； 社會流動

並列摘要

Rural land reform has been a significant economic and political event in Taiwan’s postwar economic development. For this reason, it has attracted academic research exploring the influence of rural land reform on the development of Taiwanese society. Past academic research is divided between the positive and negative: one view is supportive of land reform, the other is not. The purpose of this study is to clarify the positive and negative arguments and attempt, through the use of evidence and data, to understand the land allotment situation in Taiwan before rural land reform, and explore the effects the reform has had on society.
First, from records and official statistics collected for this research, we discovered that before Taiwan’s land reform, much of the total land was owned by many small landlords. According to data in the Land Inventory of the Township of Xihu in Changhua County, each landowner possessed an average of around 1.0775 jia* of land. All other statistical data shows that in Taiwan, the average land possessed by each landlord did not exceed 2 jia. However, a large proportion of tenant farmers owned land that was for residential purposes and not farmed. In short, the data shows that in Taiwanese society before the land reform, the majority of tenant farmers were not actually destitute peasants, and the majority of landowners were not exorbitantly wealthy.
Second, this study explores the social mobility of the families of landlords and tenant farmers who have been affected by the land reform in accordance with field data (relevant historical documents) collected in Xihu. The statistical data shows that if the families of landlords in the past needed to rely on rent as their principal source of income, they would need at least 6 jia of land. However, most landowning families did not own more than that, which shows that the majority did not rely on rent as their main source of income. However, we also discovered from the field data that in the generation after the land reform, the majority of landowning families still had economic and social superiority over the families of tenant farmers: the education level of members of landlord families was higher than that of the tenant farmers, and most descendants of the tenant farmers still worked in agriculture.
Finally, in light of field interviews conducted for this research, we show the shared impressions the families of landlords and tenant farmers have of the land reform, patterns in their way of thinking, and the misperceptions and misunderstandings landlords and tenant farmers have of each other. These misunderstandings and impressions can potentially have negative effects on the utilization of land in Taiwan’s townships, and also increase costs. In sum, this study does not support the presumption of past papers which posit that “land reform has spurred landlords to commercial growth”, nor does it support the theory that the “land reform has resulted in worse living conditions for landlords than for tenant farmers”. Although there are more small and medium landlords in total and landlords do not hold much land per capita, differences lie in the social mobility opportunities for the families of landlords and tenant farmers. However, there have not been major changes as a result of the land reform.
*One jia is equivalent to 0.9699 hectare (=9700 square meters).

並列關鍵字

land reform ； landlord ； tenant ； Xihu ； social mobility opportunities

參考文獻

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