在太平天國統治區,特別是1860年代太平軍奄有蘇浙膏腴之地,之后"如蜩如螗,如沸如羹"的"民變"呈現了一道別樣的歷史景象。民變的抗爭矛頭大多指向太平天國的經濟政略。廣泛而頻繁地引發激變四野的民眾反抗,也是政治權力控制地方社會不當的直接反映。太平天國嚴禁集體暴動的原則是一以貫之的,在應對民變的實踐上則具有以剿為主、不注重善后、過分干涉租佃事務、區分事件類型和性質等特點。民變多元復雜的社會效應對太平天國統治產生影響。首先,"高效"鎮壓的背后,反映了民變耗費政府財力、牽扯行政精力和分散太平軍兵力的實質;其次,民心漸失,后期太平天國"人心冷淡"的現實,不僅是在軍中、朝內,在民間亦是如此。更重要的是,統治區風起云涌的民變在某種程度上宣告了太平天國在社會控制層面的失敗,預示著"天國"隕落的命運。

In the areas controlled by the Taipings,especially the prosperous regions in Jiangsu and Zhejiang occupied by the Taipings in the 1860 s,there were numerous riots. The riots,most of which were targeted at the economic policies of the Taipings,illustrate the failure of the regime to control the local society. The Taipings suppressed the riots with coercive power without considering social consequences and directly intervened in the business between tenants and landlords. The complicated and diversified social consequences of the riots had great impact on the Taiping rule. First,the coercive suppression of the riots demanded a large part of the government resources and weakened the military power of the Taipings.Second,the Taipings were gradually losing popular support from the local society because of the riots. Most importantly,the continuous riots in the areas ruled by the Taipings to some extent show their failure to control the society. The failure of the social control foreshadowed the end of the Taiping regime.