六十多年前费孝通先生在《乡土中国》中指出,人类社会存在两种秩序:一种是乡土社会中的礼治秩序,一种是工业社会中的法治秩序。在费先生看来,任何维系社会秩序的力量或纽带必须与其社会性质相符合。在乡土社会中,人与人之间相熟,较少发生流动,在这个熟人社会里维系秩序的主要是礼。礼是社会公认合式的行为规范,不像法律那样依靠国家权力强制推行,而是通过传统和教化来濡化和规训一代代人并使其成为有效的自我约束力量。乡土社会中的民间纠纷也不靠法律解决,而是通过“礼”的化身——绅士或 More than 60 years ago, Mr. Fei Xiaotong pointed out in “Native China” that there are two kinds of order in human society: one is the order of rites in the native society and the other is the order of the rule of law in industrial society. In Mr. Fei’s view, any force or bond that sustains social order must be consistent with its social character. In the native society, people are more familiar and less mobile. The main way to maintain order in this acquaintance society is ceremony. Etiquette is a socially accepted and consistent code of conduct, unlike laws that rely on state power to enforce it. Instead, it is through traditions and enlightenment that have been circumvented and disciplined by generations to make it an effective self-restraint. Civil disputes in the native society also do not rely on the law to solve, but through the “ceremony” of the incarnation - gentleman or