巴縣木洞鎮及附近的巡檢、團約、士紳與知縣──兼論清代地方基層治理的結構與精神

Police, Community Leaders, Gentry and the Magistrate near Mudong Town in Baxian: The Complex Structure of Basic Sub-County Governance in the Qing Dynasty

在對中國明清時期基層社會的研究中，有四個研究重心：士紳、里甲（保甲、團約等）、宗族以及縣以下的基層行政區。對於此四者，學界已有大量經典研究。但這些方面的研究，合在一起卻引向另一個重要問題，即它們相互之間有怎樣的具體關係呢？迄今為止，很多研究都傾向於將這數層放到一個固定的理論體系做論述，但該理論體系很難解釋實際史料中眾多重疊不清之處。因此，本文利用咸豐朝（1851-1861）巴縣司法檔案，選取其中木洞鎮及其附近仁里九甲區域，通過全面整理與該區域相關的訴訟檔案，探索在實際社會生活中，巡檢、團約、士紳這些不同層次在地方基層治理中綜合作用形成的複雜機制。通過對於眾多案件的分析，最終發現這三層主體與知縣共同形構了一個由「暴力保障」、「地方情理」、「公益文教」和「教化治理」交織而成的清代基層治理體系，而其根本精神則在於通過多層治理帶來的對人心的「教化」。

In the study of basic administration in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there are four key points: gentry (shishen 士紳), community self-monitoring systems (lijia 里甲, including self-defense baojia 保甲, community tuanyue 團約 [community leaders], etc.), clan, and sub-county administration. These have attracted much scholarly attention and are the subject of many classical studies. Looked at together, however, they raise the important question of the relationships and interaction among them. Many of these studies tend to put these layers of administration into a set theoretical system to facilitate discussion, but such a system cannot explain the many overlaps and ambiguities in the historical materials themselves. Therefore, this article selects litigation files from the judicial archives of Baxian 包縣 (Ba County) from the Xianfeng 咸豐 reign (1851-1861) related to the area of Jiujia 九甲 in Renli 仁里 near Mudong 木洞 Town. Through a comprehensive arrangement and investigation of these files, it explores the complex operations of the police (xunjian 巡檢), community leaders, and gentry in local-level administration in actual social life. Through the analysis of many cases, it was finally found that these three layers, together with the county magistrate, constituted a system of grassroots governance in the Qing Dynasty composed of “violence protection,” “local conditions and rationality,” “public good and civilizing influence,” and “enlightened governance.” Moreover, its fundamental spirit was to “enlighten” the minds of the people through these multiple layers of administration.