生態與治理──以明王朝(1368-1644)蝗災為例

Ecology and Governance: The Case of Locust Plagues in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

本文藉由明王朝的蝗災事件與相關應對措施，討論傳統政府將生態議題納入治理的過程。蝗蟲為災歷來有之，傳統政府介入防治也是史不絕書。現代研究皆認為捕蝗是最主要的防治手段，但回到歷史情境中可發現，捕蝗表象與人力動員有關，其成效即牽涉王朝的制度、人力與物力的資源。以明王朝而言，國家動員人力與農業時序有關，也與國家制度相涉，是社會諸多因素協調後方能完成捕蝗的任務。隨著明王朝制度的變化、農業環境不穩定與時勢改變，失控的蝗蟲生態加深王朝的危機，士大夫開始尋找更有效的治蝗方法。雖然整個明代治蝗的方式看來都是捕蝗，但在不同時代卻有不同意義。這些變化具體而微地說明人類運用其現有的技術，將生態納入治理的種種問題。

This article discusses the traditional government’s incorporation of ecological issues into the process of governance through an analysis of the countermeasures used to deal with locust plagues in the Ming dynasty. Locusts have long plagued China, and the involvement of traditional governments in locust control has been well documented. Modern research has concluded that locust hunting was the most important means of locust control. However, if we go back and look at the historical context, we find that locust hunting was related to manpower mobilization, and its effectiveness involved the dynastic political system as well as human and material resources. In the case of the Ming dynasty, the national mobilization of manpower was related to the agricultural season and the national system, and the task of locust hunting could only be accomplished after coordinating many relevant social factors. Over the course of the Ming dynasty, the instability of agriculture, historical changes, and the out-of-control locust ecology deepened the crisis facing the dynasty, and scholars began to look for more effective methods of locust control. Although the main method of locust control in the Ming seems to have been locust hunting, it had different meanings at different times. These variations illustrate the various problems human beings face when utilizing existing techniques to incorporate ecology into their governance.