试论唐代流刑与国家政策、社会分层之关系

随着国家的统一、边疆的开拓,新拓地区需要有一定比例的人口充实、一定数量的军队驻防,而流刑强制迁徙的特性正好与这种需要契合,从而成为朝廷推行政策的工具。唐代流放地区的指定和被流放人的身份有直接的关系:被流放到西北军镇的绝大多数都是贫民百姓,而流放到岭南、黔中等南方各地的则大多是统治集团中人。唐代的流刑政策对后世的政局也有重大影响。从唐初以来近300年间,大量知识阶层中人的南流就是南方智力积累的重要条件。宋代之积弱,仅就西北一地而论,和唐代的流刑政策也有一定的关系。

On the Relationship between Exile Penalty, Policy and the Social Stratum of the Tang Dynasty

With the country reunited and the frontiers expended, it was necessary to move people and troops into the newly developed areas. Exile penalty, which is a sort of enforced migration, answers the call and becomes the tool of the government. In the Tang Dynasty, the assigned place of exile is decided by the status of the very person: those who exiled to the northwest military towns mostly belonged to lower class, and those who exiled to the south are mainly in official hierarchy. This policy had significant influence on the subsequent political structure. In the three hundred years down from the early Tang, the south-flow of intellectuals had greatly contributed to the cultural accumulation of the south.