摘要
村落共同体是学术界长期讨论的经典议题。村落社会是中国传统社会的基本单位,也是国家治理的基础。建立在家户制基础之上的村落社会既具有整体性与稳定性,也具有分散性、分化性和矛盾冲突性,但村落社会在历史上长期保持着共同体形态。本文在“认识和理解村落共同体就要进入共同体内部”的研究主张下,运用历史主义的研究方法,深入村落共同体内部研究发现,乡贤群体作为村落社会的重要组成部分,凭借其内生性权威,成为村落社会的权力主体和治理主体。乡贤在整合村落社会资源和调和社会关系基础上,通过共同行动满足村落社会成员的共同性需求,解决村落社会内部的矛盾和冲突,抑制分化和对立,最终形成了共同的利益联结,维系了整体性秩序,并塑造了村落社会的共同体状态。村落共同体既是生活实体,也是共同性和整体性的关系状态。乡贤是村落共同体建构的重要主体,乡贤治村是村落共同体建构的核心机制。没有乡贤的有效治理,村落社会可能很难形成具有共同性和稳定性的共同体。认识和理解“乡贤治村”作为村落共同体建构的内在核心机制,特别是在当代乡村社会面临原子化与个体化发展趋势的背景下发挥乡贤的公共意识和公共精神,对于建构乡村社会治理共同体具有重要价值。
The village community has long been a classic topic of scholarly discussion.As the fundamental unit of traditional Chinese society,the village also forms the cornerstone of state governance.Rooted in the household-based system,village society possesses both integrity and stability,while also demonstrating decentralization,differentiation,and internal tensions.Despite these contradictions,such societies have historically sustained a communal form over time.How,then,is the village community constructed?To answer this question,this paper proposes that“understanding village communities requires entering their internal structures”.Drawing on the In-Depth China Rural Survey Data from the Institute for China Rural Studies at Central China Normal University and employing a historicist research approach,this study explores the internal dynamics of village communities and identifies four major types of local elites within village society:economic elites,political elites,cultural elites,and moral elites.Relying on their endogenous authority,these local elites become central actors in both power structures and governance.By integrating local resources and mediating social relations,local elites engage in collective actions to meet the shared needs of community members,resolve internal conflicts,suppress social fragmentation and antagonism,and ultimately establish a network of common interests.This network sustains the overall social order and shapes the communal structure of village society.The village community is thus both a lived social entity and a relational state characterized by commonality and cohesion.The governance of villages by local elites constitutes the core mechanism for constructing village communities.Without effective governance by localelites,itwould be difficult forvillage society to developinto a stable and unified community.Given the unique historical,institutional,and cultural characteristics of Chinese villages,a genuine understanding of Chinese village communities cannot be achieved by simply applying Western community theories or Japanese village community models.Instead,it requires deep,context-specific analysis grounded in the historical and contemporary realities of rural China.Only through such an approach can a localized theoretical framework for Chinese village communities be constructed.From a practical perspective,recognizing and understanding the governance of villages by local elites as the central mechanism of community construction—especially under the current context of rural atomization and individualization—is of significant value for building a governance-oriented rural community rooted in public consciousnessand civicspirit.
作者
李华胤
LI Huayin(Institute of Political Science and National Governance Studies,Institute for China Rural Studies,Central China Normal University)
出处
《中国农村观察》
北大核心
2025年第3期67-84,共18页
China Rural Survey
基金
教育部中华优秀传统文化专项课题(A类)重大项目(尼山世界儒学中心/中国孔子基金会课题基金项目)“中华优秀传统文化在基层治理中的创造性转化与创新性发展研究”(编号:23JDTCZ006)。
关键词
村落社会
乡贤
村治
传统中国村落共同体
Village Society
Local Elites
Village Govemance
Traditional Chinese Village Community
