“义赈”一词最晚在16世纪已经产生。在其后数百年中,该词的流布情况,以及与之相关联的实践内容,都出现了重大变化。起初,该词主要被作为捐赈活动的一个褒称,使用频率十分有限。到19世纪前半期,该词开始被用来指称一种特定的地方性赈灾活动,其名声得到较为广泛的传播。从19世纪70年代起,该词又成为新兴民间赈灾活动的专名,并风行于海内外。这种名称不变而实践内容发生剧烈转换的状况,体现的正是一种既传承又超越的新陈代谢进程。而结合社会史和文化史来充分理解这一进程,也可以为考察中国民间赈灾事业的演变提供一条有益的线索。 “Relief ” has been produced by the 16th century at the latest. Over the centuries that followed, the circulation of the word, as well as the associated practical aspects, changed dramatically. At first, the word was mainly used as a tribute to the donation activities, the frequency of use is very limited. By the first half of the nineteenth century, the term began to be used to refer to a particular endemic disaster relief activity, whose reputation has been more widely disseminated. From the 1870s onwards, the term has become the new name of folk disaster relief activities, and popular at home and abroad. The fact that such a name is not changed but the content of practice is violently changed reflects a metabolic process that is both inheritance and transcendence. The combination of social history and cultural history to fully understand this process can also provide a useful clues for examining the evolution of Chinese non-governmental disaster relief.