一七九六至一九一一年間中國社會的集體事件：其目的、手段及領袖之關係的分析

Social Disturbance Leadership Patterns: the Case of 19th-Century China

10.29708/JCS.CUHK.197612_8(1).0021

梁作檠(KENNETH C. K. LIANG)

中國文化研究所學報

8卷1期（1976 / 12 / 01）

99 - 108

繁體中文

The purpose of this paper is to establish possible relationships among the ends, means, and leaderships of the historical mass action incidents in China during the time period of 1796-1911. The single source of data is the Ta-Ch'ing li-ch'ao shih-lu [Veritable Records of Successive Reigns of the Ch'ing Dynasty], which are daily summaries of officials' reports to the throne and the emperors' edicts on all important happenings in the Empire. The results from data analysis show that (1) elements of the middle social stratum were the most likely persons to initiate mass action incidents attempting higher degrees of changes or restorations in the quality of life, and (2) in an ascriptive social context, the lower the social stratum background of incident leaders, the more likely that the incidents perpetrated greater violence, while in a social stratification system based on individual performance, elements of the middle social stratum were the most likely persons, and elements of the lower social stratum became the least likely people, to initiate mass action incidents of greater violence. These findings are new contributions to contemporary elite theory. When generalized, taken together, and related to the master social trends, these findings clearly indicate the focussing importance of the middle class elements as disturbance-makers in the days to come. Since quality will be increasingly replaced by performance as the central criterion of social stratification, elements of the middle stratum will not only be the most likely people to initiate civil disturbances aimed at greater changes or restorations in social conditions, but also be the most likely persons to initiate mass action incidents committing greater violence to reach their goals. If social improvements are normal but their attainment by violent means is undesirable, the policy sciences face an important task to produce an accurate diagnosis of the middle stratum as a guide to effective therapy.