村规民约的历史演变

村规民约作为中国传统文化的重要组成部分 ,在我国历史上渊远流长。历史上的村规民约发轫于宋 ,推行于明清 ,清朝中期渐趋成熟 ,清末民初曾在一些地区盛极一时。它们均以封建宗法礼教为指导思想 ,以劝善惩恶、广教化而厚风俗为己任 ,以稳固乡村社会秩序为目的 ,由乡民自行制定 ,共同遵守 ,并在执行上组织化、制度化 ,民国初期的村规民约还反映出“自治”思想的萌芽。由于历代的推崇 ,村规民约不断发展完善 ,成为民族文化的重要组成部分 ,为我们今天进行的现代村规民约建设提供了不可多得的文化渊源和历史借鉴。

Historical changes of Village Regulations and Folk Constitutions

As an important part of Chinese traditional culture, village regulations and folk constitutions have a long history. Village Regulations and Folk Constitutions originated from the Song Dynasty and were accepted officially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the mid-Qing Dynasty, they became matured. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, they were prevalent in some areas. They were all guided by feudal patriarchal clan system and feudal ethics and stipulated to induce people to do good deeds and punish the evils, so as to be spread among the people and enrich the customs, for purpose of stabilizing the village social order. They were set up and obeyed by villagers themselves, and executed systematically by specific organizations. The village regulations and folk constitutions of the early Republic of China(1912～1949) showed the bud of “self-government” thought. Village regulations and folk constitutions have been developed and improved gradually for a few centuries because of the preference of severaldynasties. They played important roles in the national culture developmentand contributed invaluable cultural resources and history experiences to the establishment of modern village regulations and folk constitutions.