元代的官府放貸及其歷史定位

Government Lending in the Yuan Dynasty and Its Historical Position

長時段比較視野關照下的元代史細部研究才能闡明十三至十四世紀中國歷史的變遷機制，進而溝通唐宋與明清，建立對帝制中國後期的通貫性認識。本文是沿這一思路，針對官府借貸所作的個案研究。元代史料將當時的官府放貸區分為專門面向斡脫商人的「斡脫錢」和一般官府機構的「規運」。但從服務對象看，「斡脫錢」和一般「規運」中的皇家佛寺贊助錢本都服務於皇室，而其他各級官署的放貸則多用於官署開支與社會公共事業，兩者的功能角色有很大區別。唐宋的官府放貸是作為官僚體制的一環，主要為支持政務、民生而逐漸發展起來，到宋代已形成專業的經營機構和較完備的政策。元代的官府放貸表現出「蒙漢二元性」的不均衡榫合，淵源自草原商業、宗教傳統的「斡脫錢」、皇寺贊助錢的規模膨大；同時元代國家制度供給的消極性導致支持政務、民生的官府放貸比前代大幅萎縮，並表現出「整體無組織」的面貌。明代早期，在政治更革與文化復古的背景下，放貸活動被徹底地清除出了正式的國家體制。但到清代，在早期滿洲社會傳統的影響下，官府放貸活動重新活躍起來。早期滿洲與蒙古之間共享的若干文化元素，使得清、元兩代的官府放貸活動表現出相當的共通性格。

Only a detailed study of the history of the Yuan dynasty using a long-term comparative perspective is able to clarify the mechanisms of changes in Chinese history from the 13th to 14th century, connect the Tang-Song and Ming-Qing periods, and establish a coherent understanding of the latter half of imperial China. Using this line of thought, the present article is a case study concerning the practices of government lending. Historical sources indicate that government lending during the Yuan dynasty was divided into two forms: “ortoq money,” specifically for ortoq merchants, and guiyun, namely the operations of general government institutions. However, from the perspective of how these monies and forms of lending were utilized, ortoq money and funds that sponsored royal Buddhist temples—falling under guiyun—served the imperial household, while the loans of other government offices at all levels were largely used for the expenditures of government institutions and social undertakings or services. In short, their social functions are decidedly different. As part of the bureaucratic system, government lending in the Tang and Song dynasties gradually developed to support government affairs and people’s livelihood, and by the Song dynasty, specialized operating institutions and relatively complete policies had been formed. Government lending during the Yuan dynasty, however, shows an unbalanced combination of “Mongol-Han duality.” The scales of ortoq money and money sponsoring royal Buddhist temples, which originated from nomadic business and trade as well as religious traditions, expanded to a rather extreme degree; but at the same time, the government lending inclined towards supporting government affairs and people’s livelihood shriveled and presented a “comprehensively unorganized” appearance, thanks in part to the negativity of the Yuan government regarding institutional supply. Entering into the early Ming dynasty, under the contexts of political reform and cultural restoration, government lending practices and activities were completely eliminated from the formal state system. But in the Qing dynasty, influenced by early Manchurian social traditions, government lending once again became active. In this way, several cultural elements shared between the early Manchus and the early Mongols prompted the government lending practices of the Qing and Yuan dynasties to demonstrate quite common characteristics.