清代土地绝卖契约订立时必须有中人参加,三面议定土地价格,监督和证明契、价的两相交付。中人在土地绝卖关系中扮演的角色极其重要,以至于我们无法设想一种没有中人的社会经济秩序。他们参与土地绝卖的整个过程,不但是居间撮合人和见证人,还可能是保证交易正当性和可靠性的保人,还是事后发生纠纷和冲突时的调处人。比较分析中人功能与现代相关概念有助于进一步探明中人在当时社会关系网络中的制度功能。 When the Qing Dynasty land sale contract was concluded, there must be a middleman, on three sides negotiated the land price, supervision and certification deeds, the price of the two-phase delivery. The role of the Chinese in the relationship of land to sell is so important that we can not imagine a socio-economic order without a human being. The whole process of their participation in the sale of the land is not only an intermediary and a witness, but also a guarantor of the legitimacy and reliability of the transaction or a mediator in the event of disputes and conflicts. A comparative analysis of the concepts of human function and modernity helps to further ascertain the institutional function of the Chinese in the social network at that time.