十五、十六世紀江南賦役改革與荒地問題

Models for Development or Institutional Characteristics?— The Reform of the Tax System and Land Reclamation in the Lower Yangtze Delta in the 15th and 16th Centuries

在十五至十六世紀的江南，與圩田水利有關的勞役攤派方式，以及田賦徵收細則的變化，很大程度上影響了江南土地開發的導向，以及土地經營者的投資與投機策略。此時期江南文獻中的「荒地」，大部分不是未經開墾的土地，而是賦役體制中的人為拋荒地。對於這一時期的拋荒和開荒現象，必須緊密圍繞賦役改革加以考察，而不宜用稻作三角洲「集約化」開發的預設模式，代替對江南土地開發制度的特質分析。十六世紀中後期至十七世紀初，江南各州縣面臨相同的田賦積弊，在制度改革上互相效仿，並創設了一些非常規的財政制度，基本解決了十六世紀均糧改革造成的土地積荒問題，也令十六世紀後期形成的整套賦役體制更加穩定和有效，從而使官方財政維持在一個比較高的規模。

Due to the reform of the tax system, a quantity of “wasteland,” which was, in fact, abandoned land appeared in the Lower Yangtze Delta during the 15th and 16th centuries. An analysis of the institutional characteristics of land development and reclamation in the Lower Yangtze Delta area is far more suitable for discussing this phenomenon than models for the “intensive” development of rice-growing deltas. In the second half of the 16th century, several unconventional financial institutions, which succeeded in creating a stable and effective financial system, were developed to solve the wasteland problem.