民国广东四邑侨乡匪患与华侨护乡

论文介绍了民国时期广东四邑侨乡地区的匪情及其产生的原因、海外华侨参与四邑侨乡治匪的方式和举措；分析阐述了匪患期间华侨护乡的效用及其影响因素。从民国广东四邑地区治匪的个案来看，侨乡与华侨社会之间存在较为频繁的人员、资金、信息等要素的跨国流动，海外华侨的积极参与在治匪护乡活动中起到了积极作用。但值得注意的是，在强调华侨这种外部力量对侨乡社会的作用时，不能忽视整个国家的历史发展对侨乡社会的影响。尽管华侨在四邑侨乡具有一定地位，起到一定作用，但其力量无法与中国乃至四邑的腐朽势力相抗衡，结果致使其维持治安的效用有限。

Enlisting Overseas Chinese Support to Fight Banditry in the Siyi Area of Guangdong Province during the Republic Period

During the Republic period banditry was rampant in the Siyi area of Guangdong province, which was the hometown to many overseas Chinese. To fight the bandits, the local people of Siyi appealed to the overseas Chinese for support. In response, overseas Chinese from Siyi sent money back to help build watchtowers, purchase weapons for militias, and lobby the authorities to take action. All of these measures were a relief to the pressing situation but not a solution to the larger problem as the whole Chinese society was collapsing at that time.