Revolution, Resistance, and Reform in Village China (Yale Agrarian Studies Series)

"Drawing on more than a quarter century of field and documentary research in rural North China, this book explores the contested relationship between village and state from the 1960s to the start of the twenty-first century. The authors provide a vivid portrait of how resilient villagers struggle to survive and prosper in the face of state power in two epochs of revolution and reform. Highlighting the importance of intra-rural resistance and rural-urban conflicts to Chinese politics and society in the Great Leap and Cultural Revolution, the authors go on to depict the dynamic changes that have transformed village China in the post-Mao era. This book continues the dramatic story in the authors' prizewinning Chinese Village, Socialist State. Plumbing previously untapped sources, including interviews, archival materials, village records and unpublished memoirs, diaries and letters, the authors capture the struggles, pains and achievements of villagers across three generations of social upheaval."--Publisher's website

Drawing on more than a quarter century of field and documentary research in rural North China, this book explores the contested relationship between village and state from the 1960s to the start of the twenty-first century. The authors provide a vivid portrait of how resilient villagers struggle to survive and prosper in the face of state power in two epochs of revolution and reform. Highlighting the importance of intra-rural resistance and rural-urban conflicts to Chinese politics and society in the Great Leap and Cultural Revolution, the authors go on to depict the dynamic changes that have transformed village China in the post-Mao era.  
 This book continues the dramatic story in the authors’ prizewinning Chinese Village, Socialist State.  Plumbing previously untapped sources, including interviews, archival materials, village records and unpublished memoirs, diaries and letters, the authors capture the struggles, pains and achievements of villagers across three generations of social upheaval. 

Foreign Affairs

This book is a continuation of the authors' earlier study, Chinese Village, Socialist State, and it is based on some 30 research visits to the village of Wugong, in the county of Raoyang, 120 miles south of Beijing. The story picks up with the beginning of the Great Leap Forward disaster, continues on to the end of the Mao era and the introduction of Deng Xiaoping's reforms, and ends with the beginning of the new century. This is part of a truly major research project that has focused on Wugong since the late 1970s. In tracing its history, the authors concentrate on the interactions between village and county authorities, on the one side, and the provincial, regional, and central governments, on the other, bringing to life the power relationships and networks that shape the lives of the villagers. The value of this major project is that it documents in rich detail the human problems that lie behind the standard story of the developments of Chinese national policy.

Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 1. Prelude......Page 12 2. Back from the Brink......Page 17 3. Memory and Myth......Page 39 4. Socialist Education......Page 57 5. A Whiff......Page 70 6. Riding High......Page 82 7. The Stench......Page 95 8. Whatever Chairman Mao Says......Page 123 9. War Communism......Page 143 10. Sprouts of Reform......Page 180 11. Stalemate......Page 203 12. Tremors......Page 227 13. Earthquakes......Page 251 14. Reform......Page 269 15. Reform and Its Discontents......Page 291 Appendix of Tables......Page 316 List of Abbreviations......Page 330 Notes......Page 332 Index ......Page 352 Drawing on nearly 30 years of field and documentary research in rural North China, this book explores the contested relationship between village and state since the 1960's. The authors bring the countryside to life through personal and poignant accounts of villagers across three generations of social upheaval