论宋朝政府对民变的非军事对抗性策略

宋朝统治者在平息以民变为主的“内患”时,虽然也剿、抚并用,但与前代相比,却更多地采取以招安为主的非军事对抗性策略。这种策略在平定王小波、李顺起义,宋江起义,钟相、杨幺起义的过程中都有充分表现。宋朝政府对民变采取这一较为和平的策略,理由有三:一是军事力量不足,州郡兵力尤为空虚,经常是不得已而为之|二是宋代士大夫深受“仁政”思想影响,对部分民变怀有一定的同情,容易倾向于用和平手段平息|三是用武力镇压民变成本太高,并有严重后遗症。对民变采取非军事对抗性策略,有利于宋朝社会的稳定和减少对社会经济、文化的破坏,具有一定积极意义。但是,以此策略平息民变并非都能奏效,也不能从根本上解决业已存在的社会矛盾。

A Study on the Non-Military Tactics Adopted by the Government of Song Dynasty to Deal with Civil Uprising

The governors of Song Dynasty attached great importance to settling internal troubles,considering them the biggest threat to the regime .Compared with previous dynasties,they took more non-military tactics,chiefly by offering amnesty and enlistment to rebels to deal with civil uprisings although they also adopted a combination of military cracking down and non-military appeasement .The tactics worked well in quelling the uprising of Wang Xiao Bo and Li Shun,of Song Jiang and of Zhong Yang and Yang Yao .There were many reasons behind the tactics : (1) Large numbers of troops were transferred to the borders to resist the invasion of Liao from the north and to fight against the Western Xia regime in the west during Northern Song Dynasty,and the invasion of Jin and Mongolia during Southern Song Dynasty . Since the day of its foundation,Song Dynasty had tried to strengthen the chief military forces and weaken local military forces,leading to the extreme shortage of military reserve at the state and prefecture levels .Consequently,the state did not have enough military forces to crack down civil uprisings . (2) Deeply influenced by the″policy of benevolence,″the scholar-bureaucrats of Song Dynasty had a deeper understanding of the fact that oppression led to rebellion and therefore tended to take non-military tactics to quell the rebellions .(3) The cost of military cracking down was too high,and it had serious sequelae as well .The non-military tactics met the demands of civilians and prevented massive turmoil .It ensured the safety of the lives of the people,reduced property loss and prevented damage to economy and culture,all of which were conducive to the stability and development of the society .In this regard,it has positive significance .However,in essence,like the military cracking down,it is a matter of expediency as it did not eliminate the roots of civil uprising .Each time the uprisings were quelled,the situation was brought under control and the crisis was over .However,all the social conflicts which brought about the civil uprising were still there,and in due time,larger civil uprisings would break out .History proves that because of the ills inherent in the feudal system,non-military tactics did not always work,nor could they resolve fundamental social conflicts .