Indicators of State Formation: With a Discussion of the State Theory Based on the Four-Tiered Settlement Hierarchy

Abstract

在古代中国, 在夏商周时期的上古社会, 邦君与贵族领地或采邑之间的某种隶属 关系并不等于秦汉以后郡县制下中央与地方的那种具有行政级别的行政管理关系。那 种只有具有四级聚落等级形态才表示国家已形成的理论是有局限性的, 它并不能说明 国家是否产生这一问题的实质, 因而也不应作为衡量的标准。将聚落考古学与社会形 态学结合起来研究古代国家和文明的起源, 固然要对聚落的等级做出划分, 同时还必 须对史前社会组织、等级、阶层、阶级的产生、权力性质的演变等因素进行多方面的 考察。因此, 将阶层阶级的出现和凌驾于全社会之上的强制性权力的设立作为国家形 成的标志是最具特征性的, 而且在考古学上可以找到其依据和物化形式, 因而具有可 操作性。 关键词: 四级聚落等级形态 阶层和阶级 强制性权力 In ancient China, in Xia, Shang and Zhou society, the relationship of subordination between the head of a state and the territories or fiefdoms of the nobles was not equivalent to the administrative relationship between the central government and the localities under the system of prefectures and counties introduced in Qin and Han times. Any theory of state formation based solely on a four-tiered settlement hierarchy is limited; it fails to explain the essential question of whether a state has come into being, and thus cannot be regarded as a criterion for judgment. It is true that in integrating settlement archaeology with social morphology in research on the origins of the ancient state and civilization, we need to classify settlement hierarchies. At the same time, however, we still need to conduct extensive research into the appearance of prehistoric social organizations, hierarchies, strata and classes, as well as the evolution of the nature of power, etc. Therefore, it is the emergence of strata and classes and the establishment of a coercive power that stands over and above society that are the most characteristic indicators of state formation. Further, we can provide archaeological grounds and materialized forms for this approach, which thus possesses operability.