Debate on China's Village Community

 Li Guoqing
Abstract:
rural China today is in sharp class differentiation among the village leaders and villagers are often in confrontation between the state. Must understand the historical roots of these problems requires a deep understanding of China Village What is the nature of the social integration plan based on a reasonable basis of association, or by the common constraints of social norms, as the fate of the village community. around this fundamental issue, the Japanese sociology, scholars in the fields of law based on 20th century the early 40 stratification in the village because the lack of cohesion and clan organizations, village leaders are not representing the interests of the villagers and thus the lack of absolute authority. mutual aid between the behavior of the villagers is a reasonable calculation of the minimum after the exchange act, the village is only necessary to maintain life over-differentiation and promote social integration and stability of the village.
Keywords: Village Community association living community stratification in a negative mutual
, research purposes and subject
modernization of rural China, an important question is To clear the basic social character of the village in China, analyze the obstacles to social development, economic and social factors, and promote the industrialization of the rural economy, political democratization and social spheres of freedom, equality, and rational development.
social change theory, agricultural society to modern industrial society transformation process, the local society is a fundamental change in the formation of the agricultural community of social disintegration volume increases, the production activities and living space to expand, thus breaking the seal within the rural society, reducing the villages within the homogeneity and self-sufficiency, the basis of the disintegration of village communities; unpaid work will be a variety of self-help groups replace the functional organization, rationalization of improved; education opportunities with the spread of mass, the constraints of village power weakened, increasing personal freedom; equalization allocation of social resources, individuals and families to improve the degree of equality. village community from the region strong and common interest of the state of higher levels of the compound to the strong heterogeneity of social differentiation, from the common social (gemeinshaft) to the interests of the society (gesellschaft) that is functional differentiation, individuals more freedom and equality, rationalism dominated state change.
changes to the basic direction of local society, China's rural areas are no exception. However, the development of rural China has its own inherent characteristics, such as rural China there has been no Western countries have developed or South America social disintegration through the village, there was no formation of a large number of rural people into urban slums of the phenomenon. On the contrary, the late 20th century, 70 it is precisely China's economic reform from the beginning of the rural land contract system in rural areas as economic and political reform in China starting point in the reform of the growing power of rural areas, villages as a geo-social organizations play an increasingly significant role, social space, increasing the degree of openness.
the analysis of the historical status of rural China, to predict the future direction of change it is necessary to the basic nature of Chinese rural society to be explored, namely, whether China's village is a strong internal cohesion of a community, or the nature of a relatively loose association of social groups? this issue will help to hold society in rural China differentiation and open manner and means.
of the social nature of rural China the first to find the traditional and rural villages form the prototype of the internal social cohesion. China has still a strong sense of rural country, especially in China, in the vast West, very traditional in rural areas to find not a difficult thing. However, for the internal organization of the village constitute a form of principle and the combination of people who, after land reform, after the socialist transformation of people's communes, etc., The traditional organization of rural and traditional culture has undergone profound change, we need to go back before 1949 to find a traditional rural society scholars of Japan's prototype .40 6 villages in North China, targeting the ; record at that time the basic structure of rural society in China, to explore the social nature of China's villages provide a window.
II Summary of Manchuria Railway Survey and the different points
rural studies before 1949, European, American and Japanese society in rural China scholars have conducted a number of empirical investigation. from the study area and the basic characteristics of a European and American scholars in the study area are mainly distributed in southern China The focus of research is not confined within the village, but beyond the scope of the village, from village interpret the external environment and farmers living in rural social structure principle. in accordance with the basic focus of the investigation can be divided into the local market as the object of study and on national government and rural community studies. The former Skinner represented, the latter Duara represented.
American Chinese social and economic historians Skinner focus on the rural market trading system to study the market system of the village's economic and social structure, establishment of a unique theory of the market community. he published in 1964, social system. He said: to meet the farmers market all the normal trade needs of the family, both agricultural products and crafts of upward mobility into the market system, the higher the starting point of the range, but also for farmers to enter the consumer end of the downward flow of goods. as a social system, the farmers market grassroots acquaintance of social boundaries, farmers needed labor and capital requirements in general here are met; primary market constitutes marry in scope and with the farmers of entertainment activities. composite clan, secret society branch, the temple board and other organizations are the primary set City as a unit, thus the lower and intermediate forms of social structure and market structure parallel to the level of the network; market is also an upper contacts with local farmers to communicate the core. Skinner said: well beyond the scope of people's communes, primary market Senior middle market or even the scope of the market, in violation of the existing social system, and eventually led to the stagnation of rural economic development. The fundamental way to solve problems is to clear the collectivization units linked with natural systems.
Duara Rural North China Research on the theme of the expansion of state power of the power structure of rural society. The main problem is how the state lines of authority and law in the country? their leaders and local government organizations and how the relationship? how the expansion of state power transformation of the old village governing bodies to promote the new policy? Duara use control class level organizations as well as patron and being sheltered by friends and relatives of informal relationships between the networks. As these organizations and networks of various symbolic value attached to climbing, giving the network a certain cultural authority, local government and the central governments are highly dependent on the cultural network to establish their own authority. religion is a country to penetrate another important channel for local, national representative of the whole people at the highest level of ritual ceremonies, in addition to their own cultural hegemony over the popular symbol; the squire through the the festival to demonstrate its leadership position, the village ritual will contact local elites and the state power into a political system. Duara's study tells us that China's villages do not exist in isolation, countries and cultures through administrative channels to the rural penetration greatly changed the village clan and religious, the social structure of villages had a significant impact. Therefore, the study must focus on the village of the state power to study the relationship between national and local changes (Duara, 1994).
often Iron Man Survey of Japan reference materials Huang pointed out that Western and Japanese scholars are very different, Western scholars of China's rural areas to the main formalism, Japan to China's Marxist-based research entities. Western scholars and Japanese scholars the main causes of this difference is that stressed the village with the market system and the upper side of kinship networks made during field surveys in the North China Plain, the impact. the area of agriculture in dry-based, and the lack of river transport. Therefore, the commercialization of the rural economy is far below the Yangtze River and Sichuan Basin. smallholder production rate for the market lower, selling products on the market and less time spent. commodity economy developed and less surplus agricultural production, resulting in a farmers based on the relations of production that is less contact with the outside world of people-oriented society. the vast majority of the members of the village's farmers to own land, which in turn means that the state power in the village occupies an important position in life because since the mid-18th century, the State has Assessment According to liturgical. state power into the village, the village has led the political organization formed to meet the national taxes. villages among the residents without a high degree of class differentiation, the lack of dignitaries, but also to the organizational structure of the family over the Yangtze River and Pearl River region is weak. North of rural families, generally only a small amount of clan property (a few acres of ancestral land), but not across the village and between villages or villages with the city's boundaries. This family structure, strengthen the village introversion Community is an important concept in the village, the village should be used as the internal organization of political power with the main intersection outside the village government give enough attention.
(b) on the After the war, Japan won the Northeast of China's sovereignty over the areas along the South Manchuria Railway Company set up. In order to investigate the situation in China as the basis for formulation of policy toward China, Manchuria Railway in 1907 set up a special investigation department, as the Chinese conditions of the comprehensive research institution. investigate first, survey area gradually extended throughout the whole of China, investigators at the most over 2000 people, lasted 40 years.
School of East Asian Institute, commissioned by the GOA in November 1940 -1942 implemented in November. field survey by the Province 4 villages, 2 villages in Shandong Province) as objects were divided into 7. in the survey included families, villages, land ownership, tenant farming, water conservancy, public rental, financial transactions, the main specifications of rural social life, the purpose of engaging in Qing in the home, family, village organizations, social organizations, joint operations, folk beliefs, lending and trading of land and other social activities in the social norm. field investigation report from the summer of 1941, published by the Commission of Inquiry on East Asian Institute, 6 Report of the expert responsible for the analysis.
in the official implementation of the Rural Customs of China prior to the survey, 6 the Commission in August 1940 the organization of the Investigation Committee of the 8 villages in rural China a month of field trips, Edit the report, the ring can be made, the village does not exist in China a strong co-relationship between villagers and the village with a very loose, resulting in an overall denial of community relations in rural China. Another noteworthy report is defined Taro Hirano paper ; as a village in northern China, the basic elements of religion and the village temple. Temple of the Lord God formed the core. Hirano study argued that the village society in China, there is a strong co-relationship. Hirano of this report was published, re-published in the ring can deny Taro Hirano justice point of view, argued that China villages the nature of the society does not exist between the Community article. This is the community surrounding the existence of a Chinese Village will start to ring can be - Hirano debate.
the survey before the war, the -1957 years, Iwanami Shoten Rural Customs of China survey to print and publish will compile the After the straight, 1976b; water Sheng Light, 1951; Makino, 1978). They use the same survey data, have yielded a diametrically opposite conclusion. about whether China's rural nature of village communities, Rural Sociology in Japan on the main focus of debate.
(a) of the village community on the nature of sociology
general definition of local community is a certain amount of households are concentrated in the boundaries of living in a certain geographic area; residents demonstrated between strong cohesive interactions; they have no blood ties based on common sense and common sense of belonging to the members (Inkeles, 1981:100). Village Community to the basis of private ownership of land, water conservancy facilities in village common, supplemented , formed in the community and farming on the rules of land, water rules, community rules, and on this basis, established norms of life. In village life, the villagers formed a common culture between the beliefs, formed beyond the individual interests in the sense of identity with each other on the meaning of life.
by modernization theory see, in the nature of a strong village community, geographical differentiation of functions developed, which is often a strong self-enclosed world. in the common use material based on the established rules of the village's actions have a strong binding, the lack of social relations within the community of equality, human actions often lack the freedom and rationality. In modern society, the development of productive forces so that the industrial structure and villages employment structure, differentiation, stratification of farmers, members of society to expand economic and social activity space, social space of the village into open, closed structure of the disintegration of village communities, the villagers eventually raise the level of freedom and equality, rationalism developed. from the social Village Community features developed freed functional differentiation of local society to the transformation of local social change will be the basic direction. But, on the other hand, from the standpoint of cultural theory, although the weakening trend of the village community is difficult to avoid, but The role of the village community can not be completely disappeared. It plays to maintain the role of sense of identity among the villagers, strengthen the cohesion of the village, the sustainable development of villages irreplaceable role.
(b) whether China's village Village Community nature?
1. Hirano, Taro and water Sheng Yi Guang: China, meaning there is Taro Hirano Village Community
published in 1941, nature of the point of view. the analysis of material from this article Shunyi County, Hebei Province manhole village survey. Hirano noted that the Village Association and the Association of the village organizations exist. In his view, autonomous institutions. The Association had been established since the Qing era. Since ancient times, the Society is not an organization established by the Government, but the natural village self-government organizations. Moreover, our Association will be the first village behind the existence of naturally occurring forms of life co mm to mean that natural villages Asia, including China, the rural village community-based, family neighborhood joint and several mutual help ensure implementation of the requirements of the local rice agriculture for a living based, collaborative life, the overall pro-life principle and as a native; advocate villages in farming life in rural areas, security guard, worship religion, entertainment, wedding or funeral and farmers shared sense of moral norms in terms of significance with the interdependence of the Community. Hirano special emphasis on China's rural society was formed based on temple worship organization of living together.
in the plains before the scholars pointed out that China has a strong community of the nature of the village, which is the most representative water sociologists Sheng light. in the analysis of the meaning of existence in China Village Community. He pointed out that legalization, and subject to the ruling class bureaucratic class concept is essentially patriarchal kingship ideology and ideological destiny. Autocracy objective basis exists in the social composition of the ruling class was among the village community of self-discipline it from the nature of joint reflected. the basis of his pointed out that self-discipline not to rely on a joint entity to establish and maintain, but a dominance of the synergy between social consciousness, is naturally formed and the feelings of the villagers based on the pro-produced, with behavior with a sense of duty, thinking and feeling, etc.. This self-autonomous villages with the subjective foundation of villages in the blood with blood and geo Geo villages combined.
water that the root of Chinese village autonomy lies in villages. Chinese village where the old and the elderly have to implement a variety of self-centered features. From the results point of view, the Chinese business focus exclusively on villages in the hands of the villagers, even if only to grasp the village mayor and village government and a few old people. Under normal circumstances, a village in itself constitutes a small kingdom, but there are nearby or for some reason to combine common services 2,3 villages and even held joint election of village cadres, and these together with several villages in the same villages in nature. village is divided into two sides of the rule, first introduced by the village leaders, village management of water called the heteronomy of autonomy to fulfill the duties of mayor. The other side of autonomy is the autonomy of the villagers, which kinds of autonomous self-government can be called self-discipline, self-discipline is the basis of self-government can be established the nature of the village community. So, the mayor's management services related to village life on? water it divided into the following four aspects.
The first is the outside of a function associated with the affairs of the county Yamen. villages with government representatives, leaders of color. In foreign affairs, the most central function is to rent collection. Taxation them or direct performance of duties or taxes for the county officials to provide Yamen information, so that accurately grasp the situation. this responsibility to the country's ruling tentacles extend to most villages in the community grassroots level. Secondly, in the village's public affairs, the mayor's duties can be divided into the Community rules on the offensive to impose sanctions on the behavior of the control functions and maintenance of aggregate functions. village leaders, functional characteristics of China, their scope of responsibility beyond the limits of civil and assume the functions of criminal trials, to punish the exercise of the right of self-discipline. villager reason to obey severe what village bylaws, because the villagers from the village know how to separate the individual is difficult to survive, to maintain the village group, requiring mutual restraint among the villagers, the sanctions is to maintain the integrity of the village. that the overall constraints of the village and villages of the group is proportional to the degree, and the blood group of the village is clearly stronger than the geographical villages. Third, the mayor need to arbitration disputes between villages in the family, mediate conflicts between villagers. This function is the most basic village , the most abundant case study. Fourth, the mayor of the village in order to achieve the rule of need to deal with various disputes between neighboring villages.
water Sheng light on China's view of the village community is not a monism, which includes two side. First, the nature of the village community, on the other hand stressed that China's village contains stratification is dominated by the gentry and gentry society. This stratification even in the villages as the most common cause of foundation organized Club social order of the division. water claims, pure common society is despotism objective basis, and the class society's development will undermine the common society, thereby undermining despotism basis, therefore, Absolutism and class society are mutually contradictory (Hatada Wei ,1973:11-12).
Sheng-ray analysis of the impact of water in China Village Community of two factors, first, the Village Community Group of the combination of strength and the nature of the village. In order to strengthen the sense of kinship-based villages in the same family, the strongest group; in the family and a strong sense of a different surname living in the geographical mix villages, village groups weak. Second, the Group's strong village, the villagers of the joint, the stronger sense, a higher degree of democracy in the village; villages in the autocratic, will produce a strong relationship between the weak force. Here the forces between the villages should be understood as constituting the family or clan difference between the strong and weak forces, rather than the power differences between individuals. natural villages Group sex in a way interacts with the closed and often struggle to produce the antagonistic relationship between villages, in extreme cases, there will be fights in South China's phenomenon.
2. precepts of filial piety and Fukutake can pass straight : Rural Village Community of the above there is no point
most scholars have different views, that does not exist in the Chinese village Village Community on the combination of nature, at least of this nature is very weak, this view is representative of scholars can pass filial ring. ring can In the sex, and then to Japan and China villages villages were compared. He believes that although there are many similarities between the two villages, for example, there was a contract to the village as a unit, the village and the village property tax burden, etc., but the two The internal structure of those essential differences exist, mainly in: First, China does not have the feudal nature of society completely. Second, not only villages, even if the family did not constitute a real community, but constituted by scattered individuals . Third, the nature of the village group is not interest but a common social society (Qi Tian Wei, 1973:14).
ring can point out from the definition, the village community is the village itself to the interests of environmental protection from the outside inward to form type of partnership, participation is independent of the villagers, members of a partnership between the sense; it is not set by the ruling bodies, but the villagers as the core layer formed above the pure autonomy of cooperative organizations, cadres and representatives of interests of the villagers, which the village power and decision-making have been members of the positive support from the heart. But in rural China by Japanese scholars conventional survey data analysis, found that Chinese villages there is no clear geographical boundaries, the villagers of the land is often beyond the village boundaries, and therefore not formed a fixed and stable villages geographical groups. Second, the village cadres service but not for the villagers forced to deal with the elected official business. to be the first village head or village officials, led by the landlord class is free, there is no access to the inner village emotional support, just dominate it. villages and even families have not formed a group with close, but the joint formed by the loose group of individuals, by the sheer strength of the relations of domination. this view and argued that China Village Community nature of the water Sheng light Hirano justice Taro has essentially the opposite.
with the ring to pass Xiao held the same view is a blessing WZ .1946, the Fu WZ-published monograph, Work Collection Vol 9 straight). In this work, Fukutake made directly from a sociological point of view of the rural community of Viewpoint. for the purpose of the peasants still need to explore the phenomenon of life and basic economic activities generated by these groups of economic and social relations. this study are not limited to economic, it also includes political, religious, and educational life of almost all sides. political relations in rural areas has created groups and political organizations and religious life, the formation of the domain of farmers and religious groups living area, which should be studied. so, rural sociology involves the whole field of rural life, and its object of study is the real state and the entire life of the common forms of farmers and produce such a common form of the conditions and results. rural sociology, including the following questions: What is a community of peasant life form the background operation? their social structure is what forms to complete it? which combines the most important? extension of how their lives and what living area and the formation of the domain and so on. villages and villages of Japan made a comparative study, from the village social structure, political structure of village groups and pointed out three characteristics of China's villages.
First, on the village social structure. from the economic foundation, China's agricultural technology is far behind Japan, the level of agricultural economy in Japan under. from the class composition of view, the two countries have an absolute advantage over small peasant economy, it is common ground between the two countries. However, Japan's relatively stable middle farmers, while China is generally impoverishment. from the tenancy relations, landlord and tenant relations in China in general is a contractual relationship, the tenant to pay rent in addition there is no other than a special obligation. Japan's landlord and tenant exists between the capitalists and the collateral of such a close blood relationship, the existence of this kinship social status of poor peasant class offers the possibility of upward mobility. In short, relations between Japan and the identity of the class relations overlap, between the upper and lower economic exploitation of the warmth of family doctrine was obscured by the veil . On the contrary, China's stratification of the landlords and rich peasants and poor peasants to promote the separation performance of class relations of exploitation and confrontation between naked.
groups from the villages, China's villages lack the village of public property; while there are many villages in Japan public property, public property which is clearly played a sense of community to strengthen the role of the villagers. China's awareness of villagers on the border village of indifference, is an individualism, according to the relationship between individuals determine their own code of conduct affinity. Japanese village boundaries clear is Territoriality. In addition, China's Earth Temple is not the center of religious activities, it has the political and social significance; and Japan ancestral land of God and God the two are combined, the village has the same family with the family and identity.
from the political structure, China's villages and the separation of administrative villages, who served as administrative cadres by the strength of the villagers and the relationship between them is a serve. On the contrary, they do not benefit and protect the villagers for the villagers of consciousness. Japan, representing the interests of village cadres who have the awareness of the village and work from the feudal rule, including the poor, including the protection of the interests of the village community. In the village self-government, Japan's farmers to show the spirit of cooperation than China (Fu WZ, 1976c : 52).
Fukutake field investigation clearly is a direct water Sheng-ray discussion on the Chinese village community as a precondition, but is completely different conclusions. Fukutake direct that the central region of any sense in terms of both Village Community does not exist. North China village in central compared with the group of strong, but still weak. North China village of filial piety is not spoken warning to pass a collection of dispersed individuals, but organized community life. But The community life is negative, people each have their own plan, not a strong community. Therefore, the whole, China does not exist Village Community.
(1) Fu WZ Village Community of Central China region lacks features < br> in 1946 published joint sense more powerful than the urban residents, with self-sufficiency, and even showed isolated, closed and exclusive nature. But after the visit to China in the region come to the conclusion that the village in central China is no longer a small kingdom, but also is not an isolated part of society, the village has lost its community character.
Fu Wu pointed out that the general types of rural areas in central China is a close neighbor of the villages is a strong degree of integration of geographical groups, but the village is not a self-in social life meet the entity. in central villages, the village is a village under the unity of the organization significantly, but should be regarded as very wide range of village social life organization. villages, although the establishment of religious organizations the largest geographic range, but these villages are not organized by a specific group activities. Dageng the night guard action, but also very few villages to see youth activities organized and co-irrigation and other activities. villages do not see the contribution by households or provide labor road construction or dredging activities, but did not set up jointly by the village private school school. except for one example of a village settlement form, the Group generated in the village meaning that most villages. but it is in the villages as village as a village or villages, the lack of collective action (Fu WZ, 1976a: 248 ).
In addition, village management perspective, not as groups of rural central strong as the development of the village rules clan village, those who violate the norms of rural life in the village of sanctions are rarely carried out. leadership election was not forces according to the strength of clan or family status of the high and low end is the ability to ...