明初以來，潮州地方的大小動亂雖時有所聞，不過盜匪危害之深、流竄地域之廣，則是嘉靖朝以後的現象。這些威脅地方治安乃至國防安全的變亂，不僅讓地方官兵疲於奔命，有時甚至需要藉助外省兵力以鎮撫之，而地方史乘、官員章奏乃至文人議論，處處可見相關的描述或討論。在探討明中葉潮州地方動亂的現象或成因時，最常見且為人熟知的說法：將地方動亂歸咎於沿海居民亦商亦盜的生存手段及浮海而來劫掠沿海城鎮的倭寇。然檢視地方文史資料及相關研究，我們不難發現潮州地動亂並非僅止於海上的滋擾，平地山區的盜賊乃至山賊海寇之間的關係似乎都有值得注意的地方。簡言之，明代潮州地區的動亂及其所涉及的因素並不單純，值得做進一步的整
理和探索。經由方志中有關明中葉潮州兵事之記載與分析，加上當代官員、文人的評述以及現代學者的研究，筆者嘗試從潮州的地理環境、經濟條件、官方政策、地方治理等角度來理解明代潮州地方動亂的背景和原因，希望有助於明清時期潮州社會變遷與文化發展的進一步探索。

From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, we should notice that the Chouzhou tumults happened continuously. The question is, what was the nature of these occurrences? In discussing the tumults of the mid Ming Dynasty, some of the most compelling studies focused on the roots of Chouzhou tumults in the activities of pirates, including the Japanese
pirates as well as some Chinese merchants’ piratical behaviors. However, the Chouzhou tumults were not limited to maritime activities, but the robberies in the mountain areas and the relationship between robbers and pirates are also worthy of notice and further exploration.
In the beginning, we will examine the descriptions of Chouzhou turmoils in Ming Period from “Chouzhou Fu Zhi” (《潮州府志》). In this paper, I would like to explore a little further the factors of Chouzhou trumoils in late Ming period from several fields:geographical feature, economic backgound, offical policy and local management. It may be helpful to consider some important factors of Chouzhou turmoils from the works of local records, collected works of persons of the Ming Dynasty and scholar articles. The research of the relation between Chouzhou turmoils and social development remains as a matter to be discussed further.