西北民族大学学报(哲学社会科学版)

费孝通的《皇权与绅权》是中国社会学经典著作，其深刻剖析了传统中国乡土社会的权力结构及其运作逻辑。费孝通提出，中国传统社会的权力体系呈现“双轨制”特征，即皇权（中央集权的官僚体系）与绅权（地方士绅的自治权威）相互依存又彼此制衡，这种“上下分治”的模式，既保证了国家的统一性，又赋予乡土社会一定的自治空间。把握中国政治传统的社会学意味，需要深刻地领会在中国文化及其转型的特殊性意义或背景之下，我们曾经习以为常的乡土社会的权力结构究竟是如何不自觉地自我运行的。显然，将中国社会制度的运行从基层的孤立存在上升到了权力的中央，使得我们可以借此领会一个作为整体性存在的文化与文明的连续体的意义。

Fei Xiaotong's Imperial Power and Gentry Power is a classic work in Chinese sociology,offering a profound analysis of the power structure and operational logic of the traditional Chinese rural society. Fei Xiaotong proposed that the power system of traditional Chinese society presented a “dual-track”feature: imperial power(the centralized bureaucratic system)and gentry power(the autonomous authority of local gentry)were mutually dependent,yet checked each other. This “division of governance between central and local levels” not only ensured the unity of the empire but also granted the rural society a certain degree of autonomy. To grasp the sociological implications of China's political tradition,we need to deeply understand how the power structures of our familiar rural society operated,often unconsciously,within the unique context of Chinese culture and its transformation. Clearly,it elevated the operation of China's social system from the isolated existence at the grassroots level to the centralization of power,enabling us to understand the significance of culture and civilization as an integrated,continuous entity.