Peasants and Revolution in Rural China
Rural Political Change in the North China Plain and the Yangzi Delta, 1850-1949
Published on 14. May 2007
272 pages
978-1-134-10230-3 (ISBN)
Description
This book explores rural political change in China from 1850 to 1949 to help us understand China's transformation from a weak, decaying agrarian empire to a unified, strong nation-state during this period.
Based on local gazetteers, contemporary field studies, government archives, personal memoirs and other primary sources, it systematically compares two key macro-regions of rural China - the North China plain and the Yangzi delta - to demonstrate the ways in which the forces of political change, shaped by different local conditions, operated to transform the country. It shows that on the North China plain, the village community composed mainly of owner-cultivators was the focal point for political mobilization, whilst in the Yangzi delta absentee landlordism was exploited by the state for local control and tax extraction. However, these both set the stage, in different ways, for the communist mobilization in the first half of the twentieth century.
Peasants and Revolution in Rural China is an important addition to the literature on the history of the Chinese Revolution, and will be of interest to anyone seeking to understand the course of Chinese social and political development.
Based on local gazetteers, contemporary field studies, government archives, personal memoirs and other primary sources, it systematically compares two key macro-regions of rural China - the North China plain and the Yangzi delta - to demonstrate the ways in which the forces of political change, shaped by different local conditions, operated to transform the country. It shows that on the North China plain, the village community composed mainly of owner-cultivators was the focal point for political mobilization, whilst in the Yangzi delta absentee landlordism was exploited by the state for local control and tax extraction. However, these both set the stage, in different ways, for the communist mobilization in the first half of the twentieth century.
Peasants and Revolution in Rural China is an important addition to the literature on the history of the Chinese Revolution, and will be of interest to anyone seeking to understand the course of Chinese social and political development.
Reviews / Votes
'Chang Liu's excellent study of peasants and social change in the century before the end of the War of Resistance builds on intellectual foundation, but by way of a research design goes to the next stage' - The China Journal, January 2008More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Reflowable
Illustrations
29 s/w Tabellen, 8 s/w Abbildungen, 8 s/w Zeichnungen
29 Tables, black and white; 8 Line drawings, black and white; 8 Illustrations, black and white
File size
1,42 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-134-10230-3 (9781134102303)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Chang Liu
Peasants and Revolution in Rural China
Rural Political Change in the North China Plain and the Yangzi Delta, 1850-1949
Book
04/2009
1st Edition
Routledge
€48.30
Shipment within 15-20 days
Chang Liu
Peasants and Revolution in Rural China
Rural Political Change in the North China Plain and the Yangzi Delta, 1850-1949
Book
05/2007
1st Edition
Routledge
€140.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Chang Liu is Senior Research Fellow at the Center for New Political Economy, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Content
1. Comparison of Rural Communities between the North China Plain and the Yangzi Delta 2. State and Rural Society in the Late Qing 3. Mobilization and Reorganization of Village Communities in North China 4. The State and North China Villages in a Changing World 5. The Communists and North China Villages 6. Social Structure and Local Politics in the Yangzi Delta 7. State and Society in the Yangzi Delta Countryside: The Republican Period 8. The Communists and the Yangzi Delta Countryside
