The design of rural development : experiences from South China, 1949-1976

Ip, David Fu-Keung
doi:10.14288/1.0100291
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The design of rural development : experiences from South China, 1949-1976 Ip, David Fu-Keung 1979

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Title	The design of rural development : experiences from South China, 1949-1976
Creator	Ip, David Fu-Keung
Date Issued	1979
Description	Rural Guangdong before 1949 was characterized by an exploitive system derived from the alliance of wealth and power among the landlords, clans, the rich and the gentry. This network of exploitive relations not only controlled the resources--i.e., land, credit and markets—which were most essential to the livelihood of the peasants, but also created numerous blockages in the system making it impossible to have any input injected from the outside trickle down. Rural development in Guangdong after 1949 began with the land reform movement, but it was only when collectivization was carried out through the establishment of cooperatives and rural communes, such exploitive relations were eradicated. A rural development strategy, however, did not emerge until after the fateful years of agricultural crisis and the Soviet pull-out. This strategy was aimed at the development of infrastructure for both agricultural and rural development through collectivization. It postulated that only when the infrastructure for agriculture was strengthened, could agricultural production be increased and funds and surplus for the development of supportive structure, such as rural industries, health care and education in the rural system be generated. And only when such supportive structure was developed and consolidated could new inputs be created to increase agricultural production further. It was through such a spiral process of generating, reinvesting and retaining rural surplus that rural development was implemented and realized. And it was in such a manner that rural development fulfilled various objectives to become an integral part of a strategy for development.
Subject	Rural development -- China -- Guangdong Sheng
Genre	Thesis/Dissertation
Type	Text
Language	eng
Date Available	2010-03-19
Provider	Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights	For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
DOI	10.14288/1.0100291
URI	http://hdl.handle.net/2429/22175
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
Program	Anthropology
Affiliation	Arts, Faculty of Anthropology, Department of
Degree Grantor	University of British Columbia
Campus	UBCV
Scholarly Level	Graduate
AggregatedSourceRepository	DSpace
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THE DESIGN OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT: EXPERIENCES FROM SOUTH CHINA 1949-1976 by DAVID FU-KEUNG ..LP B . A . , The C h i n e s e - U n i v e r s i t y o f Hong Kong, 1969 M . A . , U n i v e r s i t y o f H a w a i i , 1972 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY i n THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Department o f A n t h r o p o l o g y and S o c i o l o g y We a c c e p t t h i s t h e s i s as c o n f o r m i n g t o t h e r e q u i r e d s t a n d a r d THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA June 1979 ( c ) David Fu-keung I p , 1979 I n p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r a n a d v a n c e d d e g r e e a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , I a g r e e t h a t t h e L i b r a r y s h a l l m a k e i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e a n d s t u d y . I f u r t h e r a g r e e t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e c o p y i n g o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y p u r p o s e s m a y b e g r a n t e d b y t h e H e a d o f my D e p a r t m e n t o r b y h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s u n d e r s t o o d t h a t c o p y i n g o r p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l n o t b e a l l o w e d w i t h o u t my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . D e p a r t m e n t n f AmH\i»poU&i ^ : > d c . o i < 6 - y T h e U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a 2 0 7 5 W e s b r o o k P l a c e V a n c o u v e r , C a n a d a V 6 T 1W5 >E-6 B P 75-51 1 E i i ABSTRACT R u r a l Guangdong b e f o r e 1949 was c h a r a c t e r i z e d by an e x p l o i t i v e system d e r i v e d from the a l l i a n c e o f w e a l t h and power among t h e l a n d -l o r d s , c l a n s , t h e r i c h and t h e g e n t r y . T h i s network o f e x p l o i t i v e r e l a t i o n s not o n l y c o n t r o l l e d t h e r e s o u r c e s - - ! ' . e . , l a n d , c r e d i t and m a r k e t s — w h i c h were most e s s e n t i a l t o t h e l i v e l i h o o d o f t h e p e a s a n t s , but a l s o c r e a t e d numerous b l o c k a g e s i n t h e system making i t i m p o s s i b l e t o have any i n p u t i n j e c t e d from t h e o u t s i d e t r i c k l e down. R u r a l development i n Guangdong a f t e r 1949 began w i t h t h e l a n d r e f o r m movement, but i t was o n l y when c o l l e c t i v i z a t i o n was c a r r i e d o u t t h r o u g h t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f c o o p e r a t i v e s and r u r a l communes, such e x p l o i t i v e r e l a t i o n s were e r a d i c a t e d . A r u r a l development s t r a t e g y , however, d i d not emerge u n t i l a f t e r t h e f a t e f u l y e a r s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l c r i s i s and t h e S o v i e t p u l l - o u t . T h i s s t r a t e g y was aimed a t t h e development o f i n f r a s t r u c t u r e f o r both a g r i c u l t u r a l and r u r a l development t h r o u g h c o l l e c t i v i z a t i o n . I t p o s t u l a t e d t h a t o n l y when t h e i n f r a s t r u c t u r e f o r a g r i c u l t u r e was s t r e n g t h e n e d , c o u l d a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n be i n c r e a s e d and funds and s u r p l u s f o r t h e development o f s u p p o r t i v e s t r u c t u r e , s u c h ;as r u r a l i n d u s t r i e s , h e a l t h c a r e and e d u c a t i o n i n t h e r u r a l system be g e n e r a t e d . And o n l y when such s u p p o r t i v e s t r u c t u r e was d e v e l o p e d and c o n s o l i d a t e d c o u l d new i n p u t s be c r e a t e d t o i n c r e a s e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n f u r t h e r I t was t h r o u g h such a s p i r a l p r o c e s s o f g e n e r a t i n g , r e i n v e s t i n g and r e t a i n i n g r u r a l s u r p l u s t h a t r u r a l development was implemented and r e a l i z e d . And i t was i n such a manner t h a t r u r a l development f u l -f i l l e d v a r i o u s o b j e c t i v e s to become an i n t e g r a l p a r t o f a s t r a t e g y f o r d e v e l o p m e n t . i v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT i i TABLE OF CONTENTS i v LIST OF TABLES i x LIST OF FIGURES x i LIST OF MAPS x i i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x i i i INTRODUCTION 1 A. Development T h e o r i e s i n S o c i o l o g y 2 B. S t u d i e s on C h i n e s e Development E x p e r i e n c e 9 NOTES 16 PART I - RURAL POVERTY IN SOUTH CHINA BEFORE LIBERATION . . . 21 C h a p t e r 1 . THE BASIS OF RURAL GUANGDONG BEFORE LIBERATION . . . 22 A. Some G e o g r a p h i c a l Background . . . 22 B. C o n c e n t r a t i o n o f Land 30 1 . C l a n Land and t h e Power o f C l a n s 35 NOTES 49 V C h a p t e r Page 2 . THE RURAL EXPLOITIVE SYSTEM 58 A. Land 58 1 . The Changing Tenancy System 58 2 . Rent 61 3 . The Burden o f Rent 66 B. C r e d i t 73 1 . R u r a l P o v e r t y 73 2 . C r e d i t S o c i e t y 76 3 . Loans and I n t e r e s t Rates 79 4 . Pawn Shops 83 5 . Money Lenders 85 6 . C r e d i t C o o p e r a t i v e s 86 C. M a r k e t s 88 1 . L o c a l i z e d M a r k e t s and Crop P r i c e s 88 NOTES 92 3 . RURAL POVERTY AND. RURAL UNDERDEVELOPMENT 98 A. P o v e r t y and Peasant E x p e d i e n c y 98 B. R u r a l Underdevelopment 102 NOTES 109 v i C h a p t e r Page PART II - RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE MAKING 112 4 . THE EARLY EXPERIENCES OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT 113 A. Land Reform 113 B. The C o o p e r a t i v e s Movement 123 C. Emergence o f a R u r a l Development S t r a t e g y . . . . 128 NOTES 133 5 . THE CHANGING STRUCTURE OF RURAL COMMUNES 137 A. Problems o f E a r l y Communes 137 B. R e s t r u c t u r i n g t h e Communes 142 1 . S i z e and Ownership 142 2 . A d m i n i s t r a t i v e S t r u c t u r e 143 3 . The S u p p o r t i n g S t r u c t u r e 149 4 . Changes i n P r o d u c t i o n Team Management . . . . 152 NOTES 159 PART I I I - RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH CHINA 164 6 . RURAL COMMUNES AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN GUANGDONG 165 A. G r a i n P r o d u c t i o n 165 B. D e v e l o p i n g A g r i c u l t u r a l I n f r a s t r u c t u r e 173 1 . S o i l C o n s e r v a t i o n and Improvement 173 2 . Water C o n s e r v a t i o n and R u r a l E l e c t r i f i c a t i o n 177 v i i C h a p t e r Page 3 . F e r t i l i z a t i o n 191 4 . P l a n t B r e e d i n g 196 5 . R a t i o n a l C l o s e P l a n t i n g 202 6 . P l a n t P r o t e c t i o n 206 7. Tool Improvement and A g r i c u l t u r a l M e c h a n i z a t i o n 209 8 . F i e l d Management 215 NOTES 218 7. RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN GUANGDONG 232 A. S t a n d a r d o f L i v i n g 232 1 . G e n e r a t i n g S u r p l u s e s : R u r a l Income 232 2 . H e a l t h Care 246 3 . E d u c a t i o n 253 B. R u r a l I n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n 260 1 . S e r v i n g A g r i c u l t u r a l M e c h a n i z a t i o n 260 2 . I n t e g r a t i n g R u r a l / U r b a n R e l a t i o n s 263 NOTES 269 8 . PROBLEMS OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT 278 A. R u r a l I n e q u a l i t i e s 278 1 . I n t r a - and Inter-Commune I n e q u a l i t i e s 278 v i i i C h a p t e r P a g e 2 . I n d i v i d u a l I n e q u a l i t i e s 279 3 . Towards an E g a l i t a r i a n R u r a l Economy . . . . 280 4 . U r b a n - R u r a l D i f f e r e n t i a l s 286 B. Problems o f A g r i c u l t u r a l M e c h a n i z a t i o n 290 NOTES 305 CONCLUSION 310 NOTES 324 APPENDIX 326 BIBLIOGRAPHY 333 C h i n e s e and Japanese M a t e r i a l s 351 i x LIST OF TABLES T a b l e Page 1 . D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Cash Rent i n Guangdong P r o v i n c e / 63 2 . Cash Rent i n the D e l t a Reqion f o r I r r i g a t e d F i e l d s 64 3 . D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Rent i n G r a i n i n Monetary Terms i n Guangdong 66 4. Average Annual Income Groups i n Lona-yan dong V i l l a g e 7 2 5 . D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Annual Peasant F a m i l y Income i n Guangdong 7 4 6 . D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Indebtedness o f Peasant F a m i l i e s i n Guangdong 7 5 7. S i z e and Terms o f Loans o f C r e d i t S o c i e t i e s i n Guangdong 79 8 . P e a s a n t s ' Sources o f Loans i n Guangdong 80 9 . D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Sources o f Loans i n Guangdong . . . . 81 10. D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Sources o f Loans i n Guangdong . . . . 81 11. D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Sources o f C r o p - l o a n s i n Guangdong 83 12. I n t e r e s t Rates f o r Loans i n G r a i n , 1939-1946 . . . . . 91 13. Reasons f o r Peasants L e a v i n g V i l l a g e s i n Guangdong 102 14. R i c e Import i n Guangdong P r o v i n c e 1918-1927 167 15. Food G r a i n Y i e l d s i n Guangdong P r o v i n c e 168 16. Food G r a i n s Output i n Guangdong P r o v i n c e 168 17. R i c e Y i e l d s i n Guangdong P r o v i n c e 169 X T a b l e P a 9 e 18. R i c e Output i n Guangdong P r o v i n c e 169 19. R i c e Y i e l d s o f S e l e c t e d Communes i n Guangdong P r o v i n c e 171 2 0 . P r o d u c t i o n o f Garden T r a c t o r s a t X i n - h u i A g r i -c u l t u r a l M a c h i n e r y P l a n t 213 2 1 . Average R u r a l Income i n Guangdong Communes 234 2 2 . I n c r e a s e s i n P u r c h a s i n g P r i c e s o f V a r i o u s A g r i c u l t u r a l Produce 239 2 3 . I n c r e a s e d Output and Y i e l d s o f S u b s i d i a r y Crops i n Dong-guan 240 2 4 . Output o f S u b s i d i a r y Crops i n G u a n g - l i Commune . . . 241 2 5 . M o r t a l i t y and B i r t h Rates i n S e l e c t e d Communes i n Guangdong 252 2 6 . R e g u l a r E d u c a t i o n a t Hua-dong Commune 255 27. R e g u l a r E d u c a t i o n a t D a - l i Commune 256 2 8 . R u r a l I n d u s t r i e s i n Shun-de and Dong-guan C o u n t i e s 266 2 9 . R u r a l I n d u s t r i e s i n N a n - h a i , X i n - h u i and K a i - p i n g C o u n t i e s 267 x i LIST OF FIGURES F i g u r e Page 1 . Bao-gia System i n T r a d i t i o n a l R u r a l C h i n a '44 . 2 . A d m i n i s t r a t i v e S t r u c t u r e o f a P e o p l e ' s Commune (1958) 139 3.. R u r a l Commune O r g a n i z a t i o n A f t e r t h e C u l t u r a l R e v o l u t i o n (1968) 145 4 . Schema o f t h e Three Phases o f R u r a l I n d u s t r y I n t e g r a t i o n 265 5 . Model o f R u r a l Development i n a R u r a l Commune System , 314 x i i LIST OF MAPS Map Page 1 . S e l e c t e d Communes i n Guangdong P r o v i n c e 26 2 . He-shan H y d r o e l e c t r i c S t a t i o n i n K a i - p i n g County . . 182 3 . H y d r o e l e c t r i c S t a t i o n Network o f t h e J i n R i v e r . . . 183 x i i i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS T h i s s t u d y o f r u r a l development i n South C h i n a , l i k e o t h e r s i m i l a r e f f o r t s , owes a g r e a t d e a l t o t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n s o f many p e o p l e . T h i s s t u d y would not have been p o s s i b l e w i t h o u t t h e generous f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t from t h e Canadian Commonwealth S c h o l a r s h i p Committee. My g r a t i t u d e extends t o M r s . Watson, e s p e c i a l l y t o Ms D . J . Roeser f o r her u n f a i l i n g h e l p . I have b e n e f i t t e d much from my committee members. P r o f e s s o r Graham E. Johnson has not o n l y been e x t r e m e l y s u p p o r t i v e , he a l s o has been a s o u r c e o f g u i d a n c e , encouragement and a d v i c e . P r o f e s s o r Edgar Wickberg has o f f e r e d me v a l u a b l e c r i t i c i s m s on many p o i n t s and a t v a r i o u s s t a g e o f t h i s s t u d y . P r o f e s s o r Helga Jacobson shared w i t h me her d e t a i l e d , i l l u m i n a t i n g s u g g e s t i o n s and comments, and P r o f e s s o r T i s s a Fernando a l s o p r o v i d e d s t i m u l a t i n g d i s c u s s i o n s . P r o f e s s o r T e r r y McGee a l s o made a v a i l a b l e t o me the o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o p r e s e n t and exchange i d e a s c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h i s s t u d y a t t h e I n s t i t u t e o f A s i a n R e s e a r c h . In g a t h e r i n g t h e m a t e r i a l f o r t h i s s t u d y , I have been h e l p e d i n many ways by d i f f e r e n t p e o p l e . Many o f my f r i e n d s opened t h e doors o f t h e i r minds and s h a r e d t h e i r knowledge, i n s i g h t s , and q u e s t i o n s on r u r a l development i n South China w i t h me. A l t h o u g h I c a n n o t x i v acknowledge a l l o f them here by name, I thank them h e a r t i l y . S e v e r a l persons were e s p e c i a l l y generous i n h e l p i n g me t o meet my r e s e a r c h n e e d s . M r . Davy Leung c o n t r i b u t e d much o f h i s t i m e and e f f o r t i n r e s c u i n g me from s t a r t i n g my r e s e a r c h i n Hong Kong i n t o t a l c h a o s . H i s i n v a l u a b l e a s s i s t a n c e and i d e a s were more than once p l a c e d a t my d i s p o s a l . Ms. Yang L i - j u n o f X i n Wen Bao h e l p e d t o a r r a n g e my s h o r t t r i p t o C h i n a , and Mr. Ng Chun-bong, b e s i d e s always l e n d i n g a h e l p i n g hand whenever a s s i s t a n c e was n e e d e d , a l s o b r o u g h t me o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o meet and t a l k t o the p e o p l e he knew i n South C h i n a . The U n i v e r s i t y S e r v i c e s C e n t e r i n Hong Kong p r o v i d e d not o n l y a s t i m u l a t i n g work b a s e , a l l t h e p e o p l e t h e r e , e s p e c i a l l y M i s s S t e l l a Wong, and Mr. L i u , gave me a l s o a l l k i n d s o f needed h e l p and s u g g e s t i o n s , and most i m p o r t a n t , doses o f good humor w h i c h made a l o n g hot summer more than b e a r a b l e . I am g r a t e f u l t o many p e o p l e who, d u r i n g t h e p r o c e s s o f my r e s e a r c h and w r i t i n g up t h i s d i s s e r t a t i o n , o f f e r e d me t h e i n d i s p e n -s a b l e f r i e n d s h i p , a f f e c t i o n , c o n c e r n and i n s p i r a t i o n . I e s p e c i a l l y acknowledge Tong Wu f o r h i s s h a r e o f i n p u t , but i t i s S h e i l a Meehan whom I am most i n d e b t e d t o . Her g r a c e , charm and h e r t o l e r a n c e o f me a r e j u s t as i m p o r t a n t as her e d i t o r i a l s u g g e s t i o n s . F i n a l l y , I want t o thank my f a m i l y , e s p e c i a l l y my mother and my b r o t h e r Kenneth whose p a t i e n c e , u n d e r s t a n d i n g and t r u s t had m o t i -v a t e d me t o overcome my own l i m i t a t i o n s i n e v e r y way. INTRODUCTION T h i s d i s s e r t a t i o n i s a s p e c i f i c case s t u d y on r u r a l d e v e l o p -ment e x p e r i e n c e s i n C h i n a s i n c e 1949. The o b j e c t i v e o f t h i s s t u d y i s t o examine the changes i n the s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e o f r u r a l r e g i o n s i n South C h i n a f o c u s i n g on t h e P e a r l R i v e r d e l t a a r e a i n t h e p r o v i n c e o f Guangdong. These changes a r e i n t e r p r e t e d as a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f s o c i a l and p r o d u c t i o n r e l a t i o n s . The i m p o r t a n c e o f such r e l a t i o n s i s f i r s t examined i n t h e l i g h t o f t h e r u r a l s i t u a t i o n i n Guangdong b e f o r e 1949. The t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o c c u r r e d f o l l o w i n g t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f t h e P e o p l e ' s R e p u b l i c and i t s s i g n i f i c a n c e i n t h e p r o c e s s o f r u r a l d e v e l o p -ment i s next documented and a n a l y z e d under the framework o f r u r a l commune o r g a n i z a t i o n . The i m p l i c a t i o n s o f r u r a l development as a s t r a t e g y f o r development w i l l then be d i s c u s s e d . The need f o r such a s t u d y i s j u s t i f i a b l e i n terms o f (a) t h e c u r r e n t d e b a t e s on and c r i t i c i s m s o f development t h e o r i e s i n s o c i o l o g y , and (b) the growing i n t e r e s t s i n and need f o r a s y s t e m a t i c a n a l y s i s o f C h i n a ' s d e v e l o p m e n t , i n p a r t i c u l a r r u r a l d e v e l o p m e n t , e x p e r -i e n c e s . 1 2 A. Development T h e o r i e s i n S o c i o l o g y Development, as a s p i r a t i o n , i d e o l o g y and f i e l d o f s t u d y i n s o c i o l o g y , drew s p e c i a l a t t e n t i o n f o l l o w i n g t h e end o f World War I I . The c h a n g i n g i n t e r n a t i o n a l s i t u a t i o n , p a r t i c u l a r l y d e c o l o n i z a t i o n t h e f o r m a t i o n o f newly independent n a t i o n s , and the g r a d u a l emergence o f a " t h i r d w o r l d , " r a i s e d s e r i o u s and u r g e n t q u e s t i o n s about development. The s e a r c h f o r " f i r s t c a u s e s " o r i g i n a t e d i n t h e f i e l d o f economic development. The 1951 U n i t e d N a t i o n s Report p r e p a r e d by a group o f e x p e r t s headed by S i r A r t h u r Lewis b o t h s i g n a l l e d and s t i m u l a t e d much i n t e r e s t among e c o n o m i s t s i n the problems o f economic p r o g r e s s . ^ T h e n , d i f f e r e n t models and t h e o r i e s o f economic development were 2 3 4 5 o f f e r e d by Rostow, N u r s k e , R o s e n s t e i n - R o d a n , Hirschman and o t h e r s a l l t r y i n g t o p r o v i d e s a t i s f a c t o r y answers t o the problems o f economic development. W h i l e the e c o n o m i s t s were d e b a t i n g s t r a t e g i e s and t a c t i c s f o r underdeveloped c o u n t r i e s t o a c h i e v e economic g r o w t h , s o c i o -l o g i s t s began t o e x p l o r e the o b s t a c l e s t o development which l a y i n t h e s o c i a l , c u l t u r a l and p s y c h o l o g i c a l d i m e n s i o n s o f underdeveloped s o c i e t i e s . B a s i c a l l y two approaches e v o l v e d t o i n t e r p r e t t h e causes o f underdevelopment i n s o c i o l o g y . The f i r s t was t o r e g a r d t h e s o c i e t y o f underdeveloped c o u n t r i e s as more o r l e s s homogeneous, s t a g n a n t and t r a d i t i o n a l ; and t h e o t h e r emphasized i t s h e t e r o g e n e o u s , d u a l i s t i c o r p l u r a l i s t i c n a t u r e . 3 In the f i r s t a p p r o a c h , t h e t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i e t y was d e p i c t e d as r e l a t i v e l y u n s u c c e s s f u l i n s o l v i n g t h e economic problems o f man's q u e s t f o r a s u p e r i o r e n v i r o n m e n t . Man's f a i l u r e t o do so m a n i f e s t e d i t s e l f i n low l a b o u r e f f i c i e n c y ; f a c t o r i m m o b i l i t y ; l i m i t e d s p e c i a l i z -a t i o n i n o c c u p a t i o n s and i n t r a d e ; l a c k o f e n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p ; economic i g n o r a n c e ; l a c k o f i n d i v i d u a l i s m ; r i g i d , s t r a t i f i e d , o r c a s t e - l i k e s t r u c t u r e s ; and e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e r e l i g i o u s and moral s c a l e s o f v a l u e s employed by i n s t i t u t i o n s o r s o c i e t i e s . These t h e o r i e s viewed u n d e r -development as an o r i g i n a l , g i v e n and s t a t i o n a r y s t a t e . I n s t e a d o f a s k i n g why and how underdevelopment came a b o u t , t h e y i n v e r t e d t h e problem t o ask why development had not o c c u r r e d . In t h e r e l e v a n t l i t e r a t u r e , t h e r e f o r e , d i f f e r e n t s c h o l a r s s e t up l o n g l i s t s o f q u a l i t i e s , p r o p e n s i t i e s , m o t i v a t i o n s and i n c e n t i v e s t h a t , i n c o n t r a s t t o advanced c o u n t r i e s , a r e m i s s i n g i n t h e u n d e r -d e v e l o p e d c o u n t r i e s . T h e s e , t h e y s u g g e s t e d , s h o u l d be c r e a t e d as a b s o l u t e p r e c o n d i t i o n s o r p r e r e q u i s i t e s f o r development. L i b e n s t e i n , f o r e x a m p l e , m a i n t a i n e d t h a t t h e r e were d e s i r a b l e a t t i t u d e s an und erdev el op ed c o u n t r y must a c q u i r e : Western ' m a r k e t ' i n c e n t i v e s , i . e . , a s t r o n g p r o f i t i n c e n t i v e ; a w i l l i n g n e s s t o a c c e p t e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l r i s k s ; an e a g e r n e s s t o be t r a i n e d f o r i n d u s t r i a l and ' d i r t y ' j o b s ; and an e a g e r n e s s t o engage i n and promote s c i e n t i f i c and t e c h n i c a l p r o g r e s s t o overcome i t s i n e r t i a f o r economic development a c t i v i t i e s . These f a c t o r s would be d i r e c t e d a g a i n s t t h e maintenance o f e x i s t i n g economic p r i v i l e g e s , t h r o u g h t h e i n h i b i t i o n and c u r t a i l m e n t 4 o f p o t e n t i a l l y expanding economic o p p o r t u n i t i e s ; a g a i n s t t h e c o n -s e r v a t i v e a c t i v i t i e s o f both o r g a n i z e d and u n o r g a n i z e d l a b o u r ; a g a i n s t t h e r e s i s t a n c e t o new knowledge and i d e a s ; and a g a i n s t t h e i n c r e a s e s i n e s s e n t i a l l y n o n - p r o d u c t i v e c o n s p i c u o u s p u b l i c and p r i v a t e c o n s u m p t i o n . H o s e l i t z , i n s i m i l a r f a s h i o n , d e s c r i b e d advanced and backward c o u n t r i e s i n terms o f P a r s o n s ' p a t t e r n v a r i a b l e s . ^ He a t t r i b u t e d t h e c a u s e s f o r a c o u n t r y b e i n g u n d e r d e v e l o p e d t o the p r e v a l e n c e o f p a r t i c u l a r i s m r a t h e r than u n i v e r s a l i s m ; the d e t e r m i n a t i o n o f r e c r u i t -ment and reward by a s c r i p t i o n r a t h e r than by achievement thus d e n y i n g t h e achievement m o t i v a t i o n i n s o c i a l a c t i v i t i e s ; and t h e c h a r a c t e r i z -a t i o n o f s o c i a l r o l e s by f u n c t i o n a l d i f f u s e n e s s r a t h e r than by f u n c t i o n a l s p e c i f i c i t y . W h i l e H o s e l i t z ' s arguments suggest t h a t an end t o u n d e r d e v e l o p -ment would r e q u i r e c e r t a i n changes i n s o c i a l r o l e s and t h a t a t l e a s t some p a r t s a l t h o u g h not t h e whole s t r u c t u r e o f t h e s o c i a l system must be c h a n g e d , a l l t h a t f o l l o w s from M c C l e l l a n d ' s a r g u m e n t s , i s t h e n e c e s s i t y o f c h a n g i n g t h e p s y c h o l o g i c a l m o t i v a t i o n s o f i n d i v i d u a l s . For M c C l e l l e n d t h e prime mover o f s o c i a l and economic development i s e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l b e h a v i o u r , the ' N - A c h i e v e m e n t ' which i s the " a u t o n -omous f o r c e s w i t h i n i n d i v i d u a l s . " Rapid development i n advanced c o u n t r i e s i s t h i s due t o t h e development o f t h e e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l m o t i v a t i o n a l complex i n a l a r g e number o f p e o p l e w h i l e t h i s has o remained i n s h o r t s u p p l y among u n d e r d e v e l o p e d c o u n t r i e s . Hagen, 5 f o l l o w i n g t h e same l i n e , has a somewhat w i d e r o u t l o o k however. He h o l d s the view t h a t backward c o u n t r i e s have c e r t a i n " u n f a v o u r a b l e " i n d i v i d u a l m o t i v a t i o n s such as h i g h n e e d - c o n f o r m i t y ; h i g h n e e d -dependency and h i g h n e e d - a f f i l i a t i o n . These s h o u l d be r e p l a c e d w i t h q h i g h N - A c h i e v e m e n t , h i g h need-dominance and h i g h need-autonomy." In t h e second a p p r o a c h , underdevelopment s o c i e t i e s a r e d e s c r i b e d as d i s i n t e g r a t e d , d u a l i s t i c s o c i e t i e s . There i s a " c a p i t a l i s t " and a n o n - c a p i t a l i s t s e c t o r ; o r an " e n c l a v e " and t h e " h i n t e r l a n d " ; o r a "modern" and a " t r a d i t i o n a l " s e c t o r J ° The two s e c t o r s a r e s e p a r a t e and r a d i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t . The ' m o d e r n , 1 ' c a p i t a l i s t ' s e c t o r i s , a c c o r d i n g t o B o e k e , the p r o d u c t o f "an i m p o r t e d s o c i a l system o f h i g h c a p i t a l i s m " o r " p e n e t r a t i o n o f t h e West i n t o t h e p r e c a p i t a l i s t i c a g r a r i a n s o c i e t i e s o f t h e E a s t . " ^ T h i s s e c t o r i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d by i t s r e c e p t i v e n e s s t o c h a n g e , i t s m a r k e t - o r i e n t e d or p r o f i t - m a x i m i z i n g b e h a v i o u r . The ' t r a d i t i o n a l ' s e c t o r , on t h e o t h e r h a n d , i s d i s t i n g -u i s h e d by a near absence o f p r o f i t s e e k i n g ; " l i m i t e d n e e d s " ; " c o n s c i o u s d i s l i k e o f i n v e s t i n g c a p i t a l " ; l a c k o f l a b o u r m o b i l i t y ; l a c k o f o r g a n i z a t i o n and d i s c i p l i n e ; " f a t a l i s m and r e s i g n a t i o n " and h i g h a b s e n t e e i s m among r e g u l a r l a b o u r e r s . Unemployment, a l t h o u g h i t i s u s u a l l y d i s g u i s e d , i s w i d e s p r e a d t h r o u g h o u t t h i s s e c t o r . The m a r g i n a l p r o d u c t o f l a b o u r i s z e r o , i f not n e g a t i v e , and income i s a t a s u b s i s t e n c e l e v e l . M o r e o v e r , t h i s s e c t o r i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a h i g h r a t e o f p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h . Under such c i r c u m s t a n c e s , 6 t h e s e t h e o r i e s c o n t e n d , t h e v i c i o u s c i r c l e o f p o v e r t y can o n l y be broken by t h e " i n f u s i o n " o f c a p i t a l and t e c h n i c a l a s s i s t a n c e from t h e West. T r a n s p l a n t e d Western c a p i t a l i s m , s u p p o r t e d by f u r t h e r t r a n s p l a n t a t i o n s o f c a p i t a l and a s s i s t a n c e , would g r a d u a l l y s u f f u s e 12 t h e p r e c a p i t a l i s t i c , i n d i g e n o u s s e c t o r . A f t e r a l m o s t t h r e e decades o f d e v e l o p m e n t , t h e weakness and s h o r t c o m i n g s o f t h e s e s o c i o l o g i c a l and economic models o f development have become more and more a p p a r e n t . M e t h o d o l o g i c a l l y , t h e t h e o r i e s t h a t urge underdeveloped s o c i e t i e s t o a s s i m u l a t e m o d e r n i z i n g t r a i t s u n t i l t h e y have a t t a i n e d the p r e s e n t s t a t e o f i n d u s t r i a l i z e d , c a p i t a l i s t i c s o c i e t i e s have been c r i t i c i z e d f o r p r e s e n t i n g a d e t e r m i n i s t i c and u n i l i n e a r v i e w o f development. Opponents c h a r g e t h a t t h e s e t h e o r i e s o f f e r an unsound c a u s a l e x p l a n a t i o n o f underdevelopment w i t h o u t any 13 s o c i a l o r h i s t o r i c a l p e r s p e c t i v e . I d e o l o g i c a l l y , t h e y are a l s o accused o f i n d u c i n g r e s i g n a t i o n t o p o v e r t y among underdeveloped c o u n t r i e s and promoting t h e b e l i e f t h a t backwardness c o u l d be o v e r -come s p o n t a n e o u s l y t h u s d i s c o u r a g i n g a t t e m p t s t o d i a g n o s e t h e r o o t causes o f a p a r t i c u l a r s o c i a l and economic s t a t e and t o f o r m u l a t e 14 d e l i b e r a t e p l a n s f o r m o b i l i z i n g t h e p e o p l e . F r a n k , who f o r m u l a t e d h i s t h e o r y o f "development o f u n d e r d e v e l o p m e n t , " was p a r t i c u l a r l y c r i t i c a l o f t h e o r i e s which o m i t t e d t h e f a c t o r o f i n t e r -n a t i o n a l i m p e r i a l i s m and c a p i t a l i s m . In h i s t h e o r i e s , poor c o u n t r i e s do not l a c k r e s o u r c e s , t e c h n i c a l know-how, modern i n s t i t u t i o n s o r c u l t u r a l t r a i t s c o n d u c i v e t o d e v e l o p m e n t , but t h e y a r e b e i n g e x p l o i t e d 7 by a w o r l d - w i d e c a p i t a l i s t system and i t s p a r t i c u l a r a g e n t s , both f o r e i g n and d o m e s t i c . Development can o n l y t a k e p l a c e when an e x p l o i t e d c o u n t r y f r e e s i t s e l f from dependency on t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l 15 c a p i t a l i s t s y s t e m . The s h o r t c o m i n g s o f t h e s e t h e o r i e s a r e more a p p a r e n t i n M a r x i a n t e r m s : t h e y d i s r e g a r d p r o d u c t i o n and s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s and i g n o r e q u e s t i o n s about modes o f p r o d u c t i o n . I t i s q u i t e o b v i o u s now t h a t t h e r e a r e no g e n e r a l l y f a v o u r a b l e and u n f a v o u r a b l e b e h a v i o u r s , d e v e l o p m e n t - p r o m o t i n g o r - h a m p e r i n g i d e a s , c u s t o m s , i n d i v i d u a l q u a l i t i e s and m o t i v a t i o n s . T h e i r r o l e , i m p a c t , and v a l u e depend on whether t h e y e x p r e s s a s o c i a l need i n a g i v e n s i t u a t i o n . I t i s indeed t h i s o b j e c t i v e s o c i a l need t h a t g i v e s r i s e o r p r i o r i t y t o t h e i d e a s and b e h a v i o u r s embodying i t . The c o n t e n t o f t h i s s o c i a l need i s , however, c o n s t a n t l y c h a n g i n g and i s d e t e r m i n e d , i n t h e l a s t a n a l y s i s , by the m a t e r i a l l i v i n g c o n d i t i o n s o f s o c i e t y , by s o c i a l e x i s t e n c e , w i t h i t s main c o n s t i t u e n t , the s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s o f p r o d u c t i o n . The p r i m a c y o f p r o d u c t i o n and p r o d u c t i o n r e l a t i o n s o v e r o t h e r s o c i a l a c t i v i t i e s and r e l a t i o n s f o l l o w s , both l o g i c a l l y and h i s t o r i c a l l y , from the p r i m a c y o f t h e .most fundamental human and s o c i a l n e e d : p h y s i c a l s u b -s i s t e n c e . S o c i e t i e s may e x i s t w i t h o u t c e r t a i n i d e a s , i n s t i t u t i o n s , customs o r p r o p e n s i t i e s , but not w i t h o u t p r o d u c t i o n . I d e a s , customs and i n d i v i d u a l q u a l i t i e s o f members o f t h e s o c i e t i e s d o , however, d e v e l o p and change under the impact o f t h e s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s o f p r o d u c t i o n . E a r l i e r t h e o r i e s f a i l e d t o r e a l i z e t h a t " s o c i a l r o l e s " 8 do not m a n i f e s t t h e m s e l v e s i n g e n e r a l terms but i n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s o f p r o d u c t i o n . R a t h e r than b e i n g independent v a r i a b l e s , they a r e d e t e r m i n e d by t h e s e r e l a t i o n s . T h u s , i n s t e a d o f an i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f s o c i o l o g i c a l phenomena i s o l a t e d from t h e r e l a t i o n s o f p r o d u c t i o n o r a m i c r o - a n a l y s i s o f the i n d i v i d u a l p s y c h o l o g i c a l m o t i v a t i o n s , t h e s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s o f p r o d u c t i o n ( o w n e r s h i p r e l a t i o n s w i t h r e s p e c t t o the means o f p r o -d u c t i o n , d i s t r i b u t i o n r e l a t i o n s , t h e a l l o c a t i o n o f " r o l e s " i n t h e s o c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n o f p r o d u c t i o n ) must be a n a l y z e d . Such an a n a l y s i s would answer q u e s t i o n s about t h e r o l e o f s o c i o l o g i c a l and p s y c h o l o g i c a l f a c t o r s and p r o v i d e a means t o a c c e s s t h e i r f a v o u r a b l e o r u n f a v o u r a b l e i m p a c t . The i n a d e q u a c i e s i n t h e s e e a r l y t h e o r i e s o f d e v e l o p m e n t ^ a r e not o n l y seen i n t h e o r e t i c a l t e r m s . C h a l l e n g e s and c r i t i c i s m s o f them a r e a l s o brought about by t h e unhappy d i s c o v e r y o f t h e f a c t t h a t d e s p i t e a l m o s t t h r e e decades o f i n t e n s i v e development e f f o r t s and v a s t i n v e s t m e n t s i n many d e v e l o p i n g n a t i o n s , n a t i o n a l economic development s t i l l e l u d e s most. In the U n i t e d N a t i o n s ' 'Development Decade' o f t h e 1 9 6 0 s , a l t h o u g h poor c o u n t r i e s as a whole exceeded the growth t a r g e t , t h e y were g e n e r a l l y w r i t t e n o f f as a f a i l u r e . 1 7 As Wu and Ip commented, " P o v e r t y , e s p e c i a l l y r u r a l p o v e r t y , have worsened i n many c o u n t r i e s and even among t h o s e n a t i o n s which have made some p r o g r e s s . The r e s u l t s have not been w i t h o u t u n f o r e s e e n c o n s e q u e n c e s . F a v o u r a b l e a g g r e g a t e n a t i o n a l economic growth have not p r e v e n t e d t h e 9 i s s u e s o f r e g i o n a l i n e q u a l i t y , r u r a l p o v e r t y and growing d i s p a r i t i e s between groups w i t h i n t h e s o c i e t y t o become more p r o m i n e n t . In s p a t i a l t e r m s , t h e s p r e a d o f m o d e r n i z a t i o n seemed i l l u s o r y as t h e p r o c e s s e s o f p o l a r i z a t i o n and i n c r e a s i n g s p a t i a l i n e q u a l i t y become t h e dominant f e a t u r e s o f the n a t i o n a l s p a t i a l economy. S p a t i a l i n t e -g r a t i o n , t h e e x p e c t e d h a l l m a r k o f d e v e l o p m e n t , t u r n s out t o be an e l u s i v e g o a l . The gloomy c o n c l u s i o n on the l a c k o f development and the i n e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f the i n d u s t r i a l and a g r i c u l t u r a l s t r a t e g i e s pursued a r e acknowledged even by t h o s e who have been t h e i r most a r d e n t p r o m o t e r s . " ^ In the m i d s t o f such a " c r i s i s " ^ i n d e v e l o p -ment s t r a t e g i e s , not o n l y a growing l i t e r a t u r e r e v i e w i n g and r e -a s s e s s i n g t h e development s t r a t e g i e s o f the p a s t decades a r e becoming more e v i d e n t , an unprecedented i n t e r e s t i n an a l t e r n a t i v e s t r a t e g y f o r development has a l s o been d i r e c t e d t o s t u d y t h e d e v e l o p m e n t a l e x p e r i e n c e s o f China which s e e m i n g l y has a v o i d e d most o f the problems by a d o p t i n g an e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t a p p r o a c h . B. S t u d i e s on C h i n e s e Development E x p e r i e n c e The s t u d i e s o f C h i n a ' s developmental e x p e r i e n c e s , however, were a l s o f i r m l y r o o t e d i n mainstream t h e o r i e s o f development s h a r i n g t h e same c o n c e r n ; t h e y e i t h e r e x p l a i n e d C h i n a ' s f a i l u r e t o modernize i n terms o f t h e absence o f c e r t a i n " m o d e r n i z i n g t r a i t s " o r p l a c e d 10 undue r e l i a n c e on i n s t i t u t i o n a l forms which had e x i s t e d i n C h i n a ' s h i s t o r y . They sought t o e x p l a i n C h i n a ' s m o d e r n i z a t i o n problems r a t h e r than p r o v i d e e v i d e n c e o f b a s i c t r e n d s . L e v y , f o r e x a m p l e , 20 a t t r i b u t e d C h i n a ' s i n a b i l i t y t o modernize t o her f a m i l y s y s t e m . E i s e n s t e i n l a t e r agreed t h a t i t was not o n l y f a m i l i s m , but a l s o t h e n a t u r e o f i n t e r n a l c o h e s i o n i n t h e f a m i l y and i t s l i n k w i t h o t h e r i n s t i t u t i o n a l s p h e r e s t h a t were r e s p o n s i b l e f o r i n h i b i t i n g C h i n a ' s 21 d e v e l o p m e n t , and her r e f o r m a t i v e and t r a n s f o r m a t i v e c a p a c i t y . C h i n , on t h e o t h e r h a n d , suggested t h a t t h e problems o f C h i n a ' s backwardness were r o o t e d i n t h e absence o f t h o s e q u a l i t i e s w h i c h 22 Parsons d e s c r i b e d i n h i s p a t t e r n v a r i a b l e s . I t was a l s o p o p u l a r f o r t h e s e t h e o r i e s o r s t u d i e s t o com-pare C h i n a ' s e x p e r i e n c e s w i t h J a p a n ' s s u c c e s s f u l m o d e r n i z a t i o n and i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n t o demonstrate how t r a d i t i o n a f f e c t s a n a t i o n ' s a b i l i t y t o respond t o c h a l l e n g e from w i t h o u t . In R e i s c h a u e r ' s v i e w , J a p a n ' s s u c c e s s was d e t e r m i n e d by t h e f a c t t h a t i t s f e u d a l i s m resembled t h a t o f E u r o p e ' s . Japan e n j o y e d a "good" k i n d o f f e u d a l i s m - - f e u d a l i s m r a t h e r than a b u r e a u c r a t i c e m p i r e . B e i n g d e -c e n t r a l i z e d , f e u d a l i s m more r e a d i l y a l l o w s m o d e r n i z i n g movements t o 23 grow than c o u n t r i e s i n which power i s v e r y c e n t r a l i z e d . J a c o b s 24 a t t r i b u t e d s i m i l a r r e a s o n s f o r C h i n a ' s slow development. Lockwood, however, viewed Japan as a case o f s u c c e s s f u l b a l a n c e between S t a t e and i n d i v i d u a l e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l a c t i v i t i e s ; w h i l e i n C h i n a , he a r g u e d , n t h e b a l a n c e was out o f l i n e and t h u s when development came, i t would be l e s s s u c c e s s f u l because i t i s l e s s a p a r t o f the w i s h e s o f t h e p e o p l e . A l l i n a l l , t h e impact o f i m p e r i a l i s m on C h i n a ' s economic development was i g n o r e d i n t h e s e e a r l y s t u d i e s . A l l e n and D o n n i t h o r n e ' s a c c o u n t has r e c e i v e d wide a c c e p t a n c e as a g e n e r a l t r e a t m e n t , but p r e d i c t a b l y i t f a i l s t o s t u d y t h e s c a l e and s o u r c e o f p r o f i t s removed from C h i n a . I t a l s o g i v e s no c o n v i n c i n g a n a l y s i s o f why t h e c o u n t r y o u t s i d e o f t h e t r e a t y p o r t s s h o u l d have been so b a c k w a r d , e x c e p t t o c i t e i n s t i t u t i o n a l b a c k w a r d n e s s . Other f a c t o r s such as forms o f p r o p e r t y o w n e r s h i p , r e l a t i o n s t o the means o f p r o d u c t i o n , and c l a s s s t r u g g l e a r e a l s o a b s e n t . The s o c i a l and economic development i n r u r a l a r e a s a r e a s i g n i f i c a n t o m i s s i o n . F e u e r w e r k e r ' s work was c l o s e t o t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e — h e s u g g e s t e d t h a t l o c a l i n s t i t u t i o n s h e l d back C h i n a ' s d e v e l o p m e n t , and t h a t t h e r e was a c o n n e c t i o n between t h e s t a t e o f peasant a g r i c u l t u r e and s l o w i n d u s t r i a l g r o w t h . Yet he f a i l e d t o see t h e e x p l o i t i v e system o f t e n a n c y as i m p o s i t i o n s on t h e 27 p e a s a n t r y and m e r e l y a c c e p t e d t h e s e as i n s t i t u t i o n a l l y " g i v e n . " P a r a l l e l t o t h e s e t h e o r i e s i s the pure economic approach t o C h i n a ' s economic development. H e r e , the economic system o f C h i n a i s o f t e n i s o l a t e d o r t r e a t e d as an independent element c o m p l e t e l y s e p a r a t e from the r e s t o f t h e s o c i a l s y s t e m , e s p e c i a l l y i t s p o l i t i c a l i n s t i t u t i o n s . The economic system o f C h i n a , i t s s t r u c t u r e , p o l i c y and changes are d i l i g e n t l y t r a c e d as an e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h e e v e n t u a l 12 28 s o c i a l i s t r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f C h i n a . Under t h i s a p p r o a c h , however, the economic system i s a l s o o f t e n viewed as an element i n c o n f l i c t w i t h t h e p o l i t i c a l s y s t e m ; an u n d e r l y i n g ' c o n t r a d i c t i o n ' i s c i t e d between the two s u b s y s t e m s - - ' p o l i t i c a l n e e d s ' w i l l always d i s r u p t the f u n c t i o n i n g o f t h e economic s y s t e m . In t h e s e t h e o r i e s , growth can be a c c e l e r a t e d o n l y when i n t e r f e r e n c e from the p o l i t i c a l s e c t o r i s kept t o a minimum. Wu's work on the economic system o f C h i n a i s a 29 prime example o f t h i s a p p r o a c h . Some o f the r e c e n t s t u d i e s o f C h i n a ' s economic development have i n h e r i t e d t h e same s h o r t c o m i n g s o f t h e s e e a r l y t h e o r i e s . E l v i n argued t h a t by t h e b e g i n n i n g o f the 1 8 8 0 s , t h e C h i n e s e c o u n t r y s i d e was becoming p r e d o m i n a n t l y a s o c i e t y o f equal i t y where t h e r e was no d i s -t i n c t s o c i a l l y dominant c l a s s . He suggested t h a t the cause f o r C h i n a ' s underdevelopment was s i m p l y the absence o f dynamic b r e a k -t h r o u g h i n t e c h n o l o g y i n which a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i v i t y per a c r e had reached i t s l i m i t s w i t h i n the framework o f t r a d i t i o n a l t e c h n o l o g y t h u s condemning C h i n a t o i t s " h i g h - l e v e l e q u i l i b r i u m t r a p " e s p e c i a l l y i n view o f p o p u l a t i o n growth and added p r e s s u r e on l a n d and m i n e r a l on r e s o u r c e s . In s i m i l a r f a s h i o n , D e r n b e r g e r , a f t e r a b s o l v i n g f o r -e i g n e r s o f blame i n C h i n a ' s economic d e v e l o p m e n t , s u p p o r t s t h e t e c h n o l o g i c a l e x p l a n a t i o n and contends t h a t China was i n a d o m e s t i c t r a p presumably w i t h l i t t l e o r no economic s u r p l u s t o a p p l y t o development and t h a t escape c o u l d o n l y be t h r o u g h a t e c h n o l o g i c a l r e v o l u t i o n . N e v e r t h e l e s s , he a l s o p o i n t s out t h a t t h e C h i n e s e 13 government i t s e l f was the most o b v i o u s and g r e a t e s t o b s t a c l e to 31 economic development. E x p r e s s i n g a s i m i l a r view t o E l v i n ' s , Meyers c o n c l u d e s t h a t t h e poor who remained poor i n C h i n a had o n l y t h e i r own l a z i n e s s and "bad d e c i s i o n s " t o b l a m e , f o r t h e r u r a l economy was 32 a l a n d o f equal o p p o r t u n i t y / P e r k i n s ' o b s e r v a t i o n , however, i s c l o s e r t o D e r n b e r g e r ' s . He b e l i e v e s t h a t C h i n a had many ( a c q u i r e d ) c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and i n s t i t u t i o n s t h a t were i d e a l l y s u i t e d t o economic d e v e l o p m e n t , w h i c h , however, o c c u r r e d o n l y f i t f u l l y b e f o r e 1949 owing t o the i n e p t n e s s and t h e l a c k o f government w i l l i n g n e s s to improve g e n e r a l w e l f a r e . " ^ Other approaches b e g i n t o emerge, however. At f i r s t g l a n c e , B a l a z s ' t h e o r y does not seem t o d i f f e r much from what we have m e n t i o n e d . A c c o r d i n g t o h i m , the f a i l u r e o f C h i n e s e economic development d e s p i t e h i g h l y f a v o u r a b l e c o n d i t i o n s was due t o t h e s t i f l i n g e f f e c t o f t h e b u r e a u c r a t i c s t a t e . On c l o s e r e x a m i n a t i o n , however, one d e t e c t s t h a t he i s c a l l i n g our a t t e n t i o n t o t h e p r i m a c y o f i n t e r n a l f a c t o r s i n h i b i t -i n g d e v e l o p m e n t , t o p e r c e i v e t h a t t h e s e were p r i m a r i l y s o c i a l r a t h e r than t e c h n o l o g i c a l , and above a l l , t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f c l a s s r e l a t i o n s and c l a s s s t r u c t u r e o f t r a d i t i o n a l C h i n a i n p r e v e n t i n g economic 34 development. R i s k i n i n h i s s t u d y o f s u r p l u s and s t a g n a t i o n i n modern China s u g g e s t s t h a t the s t a g n a t i o n was l a r g e l y due t o the f a c t t h a t some c l a s s e s e x t r a c t e d l a r g e economic s u r p l u s e s from o t h e r s and d i s s i p a t e d most o f them. Of c o u r s e , the o f f i c i a l b u r e a u c r a c y p a r t i c i -pated i n i t , he o b s e r v e s , but h i s view i s d i r e c t e d more t o t h e c l a s s 14 s t r u c t u r e o f C h i n e s e s o c i e t y and l e s s t o t h e r u l i n g c l a s s e s ' p o l i t i c a l r e f l e c t i o n , more t o the d i s s o l u t e ways o f t h e r u l i n g c l a s s e s and l e s s 35 t o t h e c o n s e r v a t i v e r e s p o n s e s o f t h e government. L i p p i t , i n a more a m b i t i o u s manner, a t t r i b u t e d t h e development o f underdevelopment i n C h i n a t o t h e d o m e s t i c c l a s s s t r u c t u r e and r e l a t i o n s o f p r o d u c t i o n and O r the i n t r u s i o n o f the West. M e a n w h i l e , a growing body o f l i t e r a t u r e i s devoted t o s t u d y -i n g t h e C h i n e s e development e x p e r i e n c e s a f t e r 1949. G r a y , G u r l e y and Robinson emphasize t h e " r a t i o n a l i t y " o f s o c i a l i s t economic and p o l i t i c a l p o l i c i e s and t h e u l t i m a t e t a r g e t o f t h e s o c i a l i s t r e v o l u t i o n — development f o r the masses and t h e c r e a t i o n o f a s o c i a l i s t "new 37 man." Wheelwright and M c F a r l a n e ' s t h e s i s , on t h e o t h e r h a n d , emphasizes t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f p o l i t i c a l economy i n t h e a n a l y s i s o f 38 C h i n e s e d e v e l o p m e n t ; G i t t i n g s r e f e r s t o h i s approach as t h e 39 " s o c i a l i s t a p p r o a c h . " Few s t u d i e s , however, have been done on C h i n a ' s s o c i a l i s t r u r a l r e c o n s t r u c t i o n . The commune system and i t s o r g a n i z a t i o n have been c a r e f u l l y examined by v a r i o u s s c h o l a r s but few a t t e m p t s have been made t o r e l a t e r u r a l development under t h e commune system t o t h e b r o a d e r i s s u e o f development. In p a r t i c u l a r , how d i d t h e commune system b r i n g about r u r a l development? And c o u l d r u r a l development s e r v e as an a l t e r n a t i v e s t r a t e g y f o r development i n t h e m i d s t o f a growing c o n c e r n o v e r a more p r a c t i c a l and r a t i o n a l approach? A s y s t e m a t i c a n a l y s i s o f t h e s e i s s u e s and o t h e r r e l a t e d ones have g e n e r a l l y been 15 m i s s i n g i n most c u r r e n t p u b l i c a t i o n s on C h i n a . I t i s not t h e purpose o f t h i s d i s s e r t a t i o n t o o f f e r a l l t h e answers t o t h e q u e s t i o n s r a i s e d i n t h e f i e l d o f d e v e l o p m e n t , nor does i t attempt t o o f f e r any s o l u t i o n t o t h e problems o f development. I t i s s i m p l y a d e t a i l e d a n a l y s i s o f how one c o u n t r y has f a c e d and coped w i t h t h e p o l i t i c a l and s o c i a l d i m e n s i o n s o f development. And i t i s hoped t h a t t h i s s t u d y may c o n t r i b u t e t o f i l l some o f the major gaps i n the f i e l d s o f development and C h i n a s t u d i e s . 16 INTRODUCTION NOTES 'See J . E . G o l d t h o r p e , The Sociology of the Third World (Cambridge: Cambridge U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 7 5 ) , pp. 146-47. W.W. Rostow, The Stages of Eoonomio Growth (Cambridge: Cambridge U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 6 0 ) . 3 See Ragnar N u r s k e , Problems of Capital Formation in Under-developed Countries ( N . Y . : Oxford U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 5 7 ) , C h a p t e r One. P . N , R o s e n s t e i n - R o d a n , "Problems o f I n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n o f E a s t e r n and S o u t h - E a s t e r n Europe" i n A . N . Agarwala and S . P . S i n g h ( e d s . ) , The Economics of Underdevelopment ( N . Y . : Oxford U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 6 3 ) . 5 A l b e r t H i r s c h m a n , The Strategy of Economic Development (New Haven: Y a l e U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 5 8 ) . H. L e i b e n s t e i n , Economic Backwardness and Economic Growth ( N . Y . : John W i l e y , 1 9 6 0 ) . ^See B e r t F. H o s e l . i t z , " S o c i a l S t r u c t u r e and Economic G r o w t h , " Economia Internationale, 6 ( 3 ) , August 1953; "Economic Growth i n L a t i n A m e r i c a , " Contributions to the First International Conference in Economic History ( S t o c k h o l m : Mouton & C o . , 1 9 6 0 ) ; " R o l e o f I n c e n t i v e s i n I n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n , " International Social Science Journal, 1 6 ( 2 ) , 1964; Sociological Factors in Economic Development ( G l e n c o e : Free P r e s s , 1 9 6 0 ) . o David M c C l e l l a n d , The Achieving Society ( P r i n c e t o n : Van N o s t r a n d , 1 9 6 1 ) ; a l s o The Achievement Motive ( N . Y . : A p p l e t o n - C e n t u r y -C r o f t , 1 9 5 3 ) ; "A P s y c h o l o g i c a l Approach t o Economic D e v e l o p m e n t , " Economic Development and Cultural Change, 1 2 ( 3 ) , A p r i l 1964. 17 " E . E . Hagen, On the Theory of Social Change (Hotnewood: Dorsey P r e s s , 1 9 6 2 ) ; a l s o "The Theory o f Economic Development," Economic Development and Cultural Change, 6 ( 3 ) , A p r i l 1957; and The Economics of Development (Homewood: Dorsey P r e s s , 1 9 6 8 ) . ^ S e e John C H . F e i and Gustov R a n i s , Development of the Labour Surplus Economy: Theory and Policy (Homewood: R.D. I r w i n , 1 9 6 4 ) ; D.W. J o u r g e n s o n , "The Development o f a Dual Economy," Economic Journal, June 1961; a l s o G a b r i e l Almond and James Coleman, The Politics of Developing Areas ( P r i n c e t o n : P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 6 0 ) ; D a n i e l L e r n e r , The Passing of Traditional Society ( G l e n c o e : Free P r e s s , 1 9 5 8 ) , C h a p t e r s 2 and 3 ; Benjamin H i g g i n s , "The ' D u a l i s t i c T h e o r y ' o f Under-d e v e l o p e d A r e a s , " Economic Development and Cultural Change, 4 ( 2 ) , J a n u a r y 1956, pp. 9 9 - 1 1 5 . . 1 1 J u l i u s Herman B o e k e , Economics and Economic Policy of Dual Societies ( M . Y . : I n t e r n a t i o n a l S e c r e t a r i a t , I n s t i t u t e o f P a c i f i c R e l a t i o n s , 1 9 5 3 ) , p. 4 0 . 1 2 S e e K e i t h G r i f f i n , "Underdevelopment i n Theory" i n C h a r l e s K. W i l b e r ( e d . ) , The Political Economy of Development and Underdevelopment ( M . Y . : Random House, 1 9 7 3 ) , pp. 1 5 - 2 5 ; a l s o G e r a l d M. M e i e r ( e d . ) , Leading Issues in Development Economics ( N . Y . : Oxford U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1976, 3 r d e d . ) . 1 3 See Henry B e r n s t e i n , " M o d e r n i z a t i o n Theory and t h e S o c i o -l o g i c a l Study o f Development," Journal of Development Studies, 7 ( 2 ) , 1971, pp. 141-160; Anke i M.M. H o o g v e l t , The Sociology of Developing Societies (London: M a c m i l l a n P r e s s , 1 9 7 6 ) ; Paul S t r e e t e n , "The L i m i t s o f Development R e s e a r c h , " World Development, 2 ( 1 0 / 1 2 ) , October/December 1974, pp. 11-34. ^ D a r c y R i b e i r o , The Americas and Civilization ( N . Y . : D u t t o n , 1 9 7 2 ) , pp. 2 2 - 2 3 . See A l s o Tamas S z e n t e s , Economic and Social Disintegration and Some Questions of Self-Help in the Developing Countries ( B u d a p e s t : C e n t e r f o r A f r o - A s i a n Research o f t h e Hungarian Academy o f S c i e n c e s , 1 9 6 7 ) ; Interpretations of Economic Underdevelop-ment ( B u d a p e s t : C e n t e r f o r A f r o - A s i a n Research o f t h e Hungarian Academy o f S c i e n c e s , 1968) and The Political Economy of Underdevelop-ment ( B u d a p e s t : Akademiai K i a d o , 1973). 15 Andre Gunder F r a n k , Capitalism and Underdevelopment %n Lat%n America ( N . Y . : M o n t h l y Review B o o k s , 1 9 6 6 ) ; a l s o "The Development o f U n d e r d e v e l o p m e n t , " Monthly Review, 1 8 ( 4 ) , September 1966, pp. 17-31 and 18 1 5 ( c o n t i n u e d ) " S o c i o l o g y o f Development and Underdevelopment o f S o c i o l o g y " r e p r i n t e d i n C o c k c r o f t , Frank and Johnson ( e d s . ) , Dependence and Underdevelopment ( N . Y . : Doubleday A n c h o r , 1 9 7 2 ) , pp. 3 2 1 - 3 9 8 . See Manning Nash ( e d . ) , Essays on Economic Development and Cultural Change in Honour of Bert F. Hoselitz ( C h i c a g o : U n i v e r s i t y o f C h i c a g o P r e s s , 1 9 7 7 ) , e s p e c i a l l y the c h a p t e r by Gustav R a n i s , " D e v e l o p -ment Theory a t T h r e e - Q u a r t e r C e n t u r y , " pp. 2 5 5 - 2 5 6 . ^ M i c h a e l L i p t o n , Why Poor People Stay Poor, A Study of Urban Bias in World Development (London: Temple S m i t h , 1 9 7 7 ) , p. 15. See a l s o Thomas B a l a g h , " F a i l u r e i n t h e S t r a t e g y A g a i n s t P o v e r t y , " World Development, 6 ( 1 ) , 1978, pp. 2 9 5 - 3 0 4 ; C h a r l e s E l l i o t , Patterns of Poverty in the Third World (New Y o r k : P r a e g e r , 1 9 7 5 ) ; K e i t h G r i f f i n and A z i z u r Rahman Khan, " P o v e r t y i n t h e T h i r d W o r l d : U g l y F a c t s and Fancy M o d e l s , " World Development, 6 ( 3 ) , 1978, pp. 2 9 5 - 3 0 4 . 1 o Chung-tong Wu and David l p , " S t r u c t u r a l T r a n s f o r m a t i o n and S p a t i a l E q u i t y : E x p e r i e n c e from C h i n a " i n Norton G i n s b e r g and C . K . Leung ( e d s ) , ( f o r t h c o m i n g ) , U n i v e r s i t y o f C h i c a g o , Department o f Geography R e s e a r c h Paper S e r i e s , 1979. 1 9 Mahbub u l Haq, "The C r i s i s i n Development S t r a t e g i e s , " World Development, 1 ( 7 ) , J u l y , 1973, pp. 2 9 - 3 1 . R e p r i n t e d i n C h a r l e s K. W i l b e r ( e d . ) , The Political Economy of Development and Underdevelop-ment ( M . Y . : Random House, 1 9 7 3 ) , pp. 3 6 7 - 3 7 2 . See a l s o Paul S t r e e t e n , "The L i m i t s o f Development R e s e a r c h , " World Development, 2 ( 1 0 / 1 2 ) , October/December 1974, pp. 11-34. 2 0 M a r i o n Levy J r . , " C o n t r a s t i n g F a c t o r s i n t h e M o d e r n i z a t i o n o f C h i n a and J a p a n , " Economic Development and Cultural Change, V o l . 2 , 1954, pp. 161-197. S i m i l a r l y , Ho a l s o s u g g e s t e d t h a t t h e c l a n system was r e s p o n s i b l e f o r C h i n a ' s f a i l u r e t o d e v e l o p a c a p i t a l i s t i c system and a c h i e v e economic development. See P i n g - t i Ho, Studies on the Population of China 1386-1953 ( C a m b r i d g e , M a s s . : Harvard U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 5 9 ) , p. 2 0 5 . 2 1 S . N . E i s e n s t a d t , " T r a d i t i o n , Change and M o d e r n i t y : R e f l e c t i o n s on t h e C h i n e s e E x p e r i e n c e " i n P i n g - t i Ho and Tang Tsou ( e d s . ) , China in .Crisis,. V o l . I , Book 2 ( C h i c a g o : U n i v e r s i t y o f C h i c a g o P r e s s , 1 9 6 8 ) , pp. 753-774. 19 22 i i J i n Y a o - j i Chuan-tung yu xian-dai 4%^ ( T r a d i t i o n and M o d e r n i t y ) ( T a i p e i : S h u i - n i u c h u - b a n r s h e , 1 9 6 8 ) . 23 Edwin 0 . R e i s c h a u e r , A New Look at Modern History (Tokyo: P u b l i s h e r Unknown, 1 9 6 4 ) ; a l s o w i t h John F a i r b a n k , A History of East Asian Civilization, Vol. 2: The Modern Transformation ( B o s t o n : Houghton M i f f i n , 1 9 6 5 ) . 24 N. J a c o b s , The Origin of Modern Capitalism and Eastern Asia (Hong Kong: Hong Kong U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 5 8 ) . 25 W i l l i a m W i l t Lockwood, The Economic Development of China and Japan ( P r i n c e t o n : U n i v e r s i t y o f P r i n c e t o n P r e s s , 1 9 6 4 ) . 26 G . C . A l l e n and Audrey G. D o n n i t h o r n e , Western Enterprise in Far Eastern Economic Development: China and Japan (London: A l l e n and U n w i n , 1 9 5 4 ) . 27 A l b e r t F e u r w e r k e r , The Chinese Economy 1921-1949 (Ann A r b o r : C e n t e r f o r C h i n e s e S t u d i e s , U n i v e r s i t y o f M i c h i g a n , 1 9 6 8 ) . no For e x a m p l e , Audrey D o n n i t h o r n e , China's Economic System (London: A l l e n & U n w i n , 1967) . 1965) 2 9 Y u a n - l i Wu, The Economy of Communist China ( N . Y . : P r a e g e r , 30 Mark E l v i n , The Pattern of the Chinese Past ( S t a n f o r d : S t a n f o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1973). See a l s o " S k i l l s and R e s o u r c e s i n L a t e T r a d i t i o n a l C h i n a " by the same a u t h o r i n Dwight H. P e r k i n s , ( e d . ) , China's Modern Economy in Historical Perspective ( S t a n f o r d : S t a n f o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1975) . 31 Robert D e r n b e r g e r , "The Role o f F o r e i g n e r s i n C h i n a ' s Economic Development" i n Dwight P e r k i n s ( e d . ) , Ibid. Ramon M e y e r s , The Chinese Peasant Economy: Agricultural Development in Hopei and Chantung, 1890-1949 ( C a m b r i d g e , M a s s . : Harvard U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 7 0 ) , p. 212. 20 "^Dwight P e r k i n s , " I n t r o d u c t i o n : The P e r s i s t e n c e o f t h e P a s t " i n P e r k i n s , op. cit. 34 E t i e n n e B a l a z s , Chinese Civilization and Bureaucracy (New Haven: Y a l e U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1972). 35 C a r l R i s k i n , " S u r p l u s and S t a g n a t i o n i n Modern C h i n a " i n P e r k i n s , ( e d . ) , op. cit. 36 V i c t o r L i p p i t , "Development o f Underdevelopment i n C h i n a , " Modern China, 4 ( 3 ) , J u l y 1978, pp. 2 8 4 - 3 2 3 . See a l s o Andre Gunder F r a n k , "Development o f Underdevelopment o r Underdevelopment o f Development i n C h i n a , " Modern China, 4 ( 3 ) , J u l y 1978, pp. 3 4 1 - 3 5 0 . 37 For e x a m p l e , J a c k G r a y , "The Economics o f Maoism" i n Henry B e r n s t e i n ( e d . ) , Underdevelopment and Development, The Third World Today (London: Penguin B o o k s , 1 9 7 3 ) , pp. 2 5 4 - 2 7 4 ; "The C h i n e s e M o d e l : Some C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f M a o i s t P o l i c i e s f o r S o c i a l Change and Economic Growth" i n A l e c Move and D.M. N u t i ( e d s . ) , Socialist Economics (London: Penguin B o o k s , 1 9 7 2 ) , pp. 4 9 1 - 5 1 0 ; "The Two Roads: A l t e r n -a t i v e S t r a t e g i e s o f S o c i a l Change and Economic Growth i n C h i n a " i n S t u a r t R. Schram ( e d . ) , Authority Participation and Cultural Change in China (Cambridge: Cambridge U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 7 3 ) , pp. 109-158 and "Mao T s e - t u n g ' s S t r a t e g y f o r t h e C o l l e c t i v i z a t i o n o f C h i n e s e A g r i c u l t u r e : An Important Phase i n t h e Development o f Maoism" i n DeKant and W i l l i a m s ( e d s . ) , Sociology and Development (London: T a v i s t o c k , 1 9 7 4 ) , pp. 3 9 - 6 6 . John G u r l e y , " M a o i s t Economic Development: The New Man i n t h e New C h i n a " i n W i l b e r ( e d . ) , op. cit., pp. 3 0 7 - 3 1 9 ; " C a p i t a l i s t and M a o i s t Economic Development" i n Friedman and S e l d e n ( e d s . ) , America's Asia ( N . Y . : Pantheon P r e s s , 1971) ; Challengers to Capitalism (Sna F r a n c i s c o : San F r a n c i s c o Book C o . , 1 9 7 6 ) ; and China's Economy and the Maoist Strategy ( N . Y . : M o n t h l y Review B o o k s , 1976) . Joan R o b i n s o n , Economic Management in China (London: A n g l o -C h i n e s e E d u c a t i o n I n s t i t u t e , 1975). 38 W h e e l w r i g h t and M c F a r l a n e , The Chinese Road to Socialism ( N . Y . : M o n t h l y Review B o o k s , 1970) . John G i t t i n g s , How to Study China's Socialist Development ( S u s s e x : P u b l i s h e r Unknown, 1975). P A R T I RURAL POVERTY IN SOUTH CHINA BEFORE LIBERATION 21 22 P A R T I RURAL POVERTY IN SOUTH CHINA BEFORE LIBERATION CHAPTER 1 THE BASIS OF RURAL GUANGDONG BEFORE LIBERATION A. Some G e o g r a p h i c a l Background Guangdong P r o v i n c e i s t h e southernmost p r o v i n c e o f C h i n a . L y i n g between l o n g t i t u d e s 3 ° 5 0 ' and 2 5 ° 2 8 ' , and l a t i t u d e s 1 0 9 ° 4 5 ' and 1 0 7 ° 2 0 ' , Guangdong embraces a t o t a l a r e a o f more than 217, 000 square m e t e r s . 1 In 1937 t h e N a t i o n a l C h i n e s e Government e s t i m a t e d the p r o v i n c e had a p o p u l a t i o n o f 3 2 , 3 8 9 , 8 0 5 , an average d e n s i t y o f 1 4 8 . 5 0 p e r s o n s per square m i l e . The heavy p r e s s u r e o f t h e man-land r a t i o upon the l i v e l i h o o d o f Guangdong's p e o p l e i s o b v i o u s . Guangdong P r o v i n c e i s p a r t o f t r o p i c a l C h i n a . I t s l o n g wet summer extends from m i d - A p r i l to m i d - O c t o b e r and i n i t s h o t t e s t month, J u l y , t e m p e r a t u r e s average 28 t o 29 d e g r e e s C e l s i u s w i t h v e r y h i g h h u m i d i t y . W i n t e r i s n o r m a l l y s h o r t w i t h p l e a s a n t , d r y , c o o l w e a t h e r ; k i l l i n g f r o s t s a r e uncommon, and snow i s v i r t u a l l y unknown. Temperatures f a l l t o 9 o r 10 degrees C e l s i u s i n t h e c o o l e s t months 3 o f December and J a n u a r y . 23 Guangdong P r o v i n c e i s one o f t h e w e t t e s t i n C h i n a . P r e -c i p i t a t i o n i s p r i n c i p a l l y from t h e annual monsoon and o c c a s i o n a l typhoons from South C h i n a sea t o t h e s o u t h . The annual r a i n f a l l averages about 1 , 5 0 0 c e n t i m e t e r s ( o r 66 i n c h e s ) , more than 40 p e r c e n t 4 o f i t c o n c e n t r a t e d d u r i n g t h e summer months. Because o f t h e warm, m i l d c l i m a t e and t h e abundance o f p r e c i p i t a t i o n , Guangdong became one o f t h e most i m p o r t a n t r i c e - p r o d u c i n g r e g i o n s i n C h i n a . In f a c t , g r a i n p r o d u c t i o n t a k e s up f o u r - f i f t h s o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n i n t h e p r o v i n c e , w h i l e f r e s h f r u i t s , s u g a r - c a n e , peanuts and o t h e r s 5 are t h e o t h e r major food o r economic c r o p s . T o p o g r a p h i c a l l y , Guangdong i s a mountainous p r o v i n c e a l o n g South C h i n a ' s c o a s t . About 33 p e r c e n t o f t h e p r o v i n c e a r e m o u n t a i n s , 25 p e r c e n t a r e h i l l y r e g i o n s , 19 p e r c e n t a r e p l a t e a u and 23 p e r c e n t are p l a i n s . The h i l l y a r e a s and mountains a r e found m o s t l y i n t h e n o r t h , o r n o r t h - e a s t e r n and s o u t h - e a s t e r n as w e l l as t h e w e s t e r n r e g i o n s o f the p r o v i n c e . The p l a i n s spread from t h e d e l t a a r e a s o f P e a r l R i v e r , West R i v e r and E a s t R i v e r , w h i l e some can be found s c a t t e r e d t h r o u g h the e a s t e r n r e g i o n near the end o f Han R i v e r . A c c o r d i n g t o the Liangguang G e o l o g i c a l Survey i n the 1 9 3 0 s , l e s s than a t h i r d o f the l a n d was c u l t i v a b l e and l e s s than a s i x t h o f the a r e a was under c u l t i v a t i o n . ^ That s u r v e y would s e t t h e c u l t i v a t e d a r e a o f t h e p r o v i n c e a t 17.7 p e r c e n t , which i s the average f o r C h i n a ' s r i c e - r e g i o n , as a g a i n s t 1 9 . 6 p e r c e n t f o r China as a w h o l e . A r e p o r t o f the M i n i s t r y o f A g r i c u l t u r e and Commerce i n t h e 1 9 3 0 s , however, .24 put the c u l t i v a t e d l a n d o f t h i s r e g i o n as low as 8 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l a r e a . ^ Guangdong P r o v i n c e f a l l i n t o f i v e g e o g r a p h i c r e g i o n s — t h e C e n t r a l , E a s t , N o r t h , West d i s t r i c t s and t h e Hainan i s l a n d . The c e n t r a l d i s t r i c t i s not o n l y t h e most i m p o r t a n t r i c e - p r o d u c i n g r e g i o n i n t h e p r o v i n c e , i t i s a l s o t h e most d e v e l o p e d r e g i o n , a g r i c u l t u r a l l y and e c o n o m i c a l l y , i n Guangdong. Here an a r e a o f more than 1 4 , 0 0 0 s q . k i l o m e t e r s encompasses the r i c h d e l t a l a n d formed by t h e W e s t , N o r t h g and East R i v e r s . F l a t c u l t i v a b l e l a n d i s more abundant i n t h i s r e g i o n than anywhere e l s e i n t h e e n t i r e p r o v i n c e . The d e l t a a r e a c o v e r s 9 , 4 0 0 s q . k i l o m e t e r s , o f w h i c h t w o - t h i r d s a r e a l l u v i a l p l a i n s . 1 ^ The c e n t r a l d i s t r i c t i s a l s o s t r e w n w i t h numerous low h i l l s o f r e d sandstone e n v e l o p e d by p o d z o l i z e d red e a r t h , a r e d a c i d s o i l o f low n a t i v e f e r t i l i t y w i t h s t r o n g l y e x p r e s s e d h o r i z o n s o f e l u v i a t i o n and i l l u v i a t i o n o f c l a y s . Because o f t h e hot c l i m a t e and heavy r a i n , and because o f i n t e n s i v e f e r t i l i z a t i o n , however, the s o i l i s made t o p r o v i d e a m u l t i - c r o p a g r i c u l t u r a l economy, f o r i t s p o p u l a t i o n . In f a c t , t h e c u l t i v a t e d l a n d here i s 28 p e r c e n t o f the t o t a l c u l t i v a t e d a r e a i n t h e p r o v i n c e . 1 1 M o r e o v e r , t w o - t h i r d s o f t h e p r o v i n c e ' s i n d u s t r i e s , o n e - t h i r d o f i t s f o o d - c r o p s , a h a l f o f i t s s u g a r - c a n e and f o u r - f i f t h s o f the p r o v i n c e ' s s i l k cocoon a l l d e r i v e from t h i s d e l t a r e g i o n . I t i s a l s o t h e r e g i o n t h a t produces most o f Guangdong's f r e s h f r u i t s . 25 A t o t a l o f n i n e t y - f o u r c o u n t i e s c o m p r i s e d the p r o v i n c e i n 1 9 t h e 1930s. Our f o c u s w i l l be on the d e l t a r e g i o n and on i t s c o u n t i e s o f Nan-hai 0 $ » v £ ) , Pan-yu ) , Shun-de ("11*$-), Zhong-shan ( * A t ) , X i n - h u i ( * t ^ ) , Dong-guan ) and K a i - p i n g ( t ) . N a n - h a i was a l o n g , narrow c o u n t y c o v e r i n g an a r e a o f 1 , 2 6 3 . 7 5 s q . k i l o m e t e r s . R e l a t i v e l y f l a t e x c e p t f o r a h i l l y r e g i o n and t h e s o u t h e r n p a r t where t h e X i - C a o Mountain (iit»$- ^ ) 1 i e s , N a n - h a i ' s p o p u l a t i o n was 1 , 0 1 0 , 8 1 2 . G r a i n p r o d u c t i o n p r o v i d e the c o u n t y ' s a g r i c u l t u r a l e n t e r p r i s e , 45 t o 50 p e r c e n t o f t h e l a n d produces o v e r 2 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 picul o f r i c e a n n u a l l y . Twenty p e r c e n t o f the c o u n t y ' s f i e l d s e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e s o u t h e r n p a r t , grew m u l b e r r y w h i l e f r e s h f r u i t s such as l y c h e e s , l o n g n a n , yangtou and huangpi were grown i n 13 4 t o 5 p e r c e n t o f t h e o t h e r f i e l d s . P a n - y u , on t h e o t h e r h a n d , was c h a r a c t e r i z e d by an abundance o f a l l u v i a l p l a i n s . H e r e , 70 p e r c e n t o f the c u l t i v a t e d l a n d were a l l u v i a l and t h e y were found m o s t l y i n the s o u t h e r n p a r t o f the c o u n t y r e f e r r e d t o as Sha-tian >7 ® (sandy f i e l d s ) . ^ Formed by sediments brought by the i n c e s s a n t r i v e r c u r r e n t and sea t i d e , t h e s e f i e l d s were sandy but e x c e e d i n g l y f e r t i l e ; w i t h p r o t e c t i o n and t h e p l a n t i n g 15 o f a c e r t a i n k i n d o f g r a s s , t h e y may be c o n v e r t e d i n t o c u l t i v a b l e f i e l d s w i t h i n t h r e e y e a r s . Pan-yu had an a r e a o f 1 , 7 9 4 . 2 5 s q . k i l o -m e t e r s , a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l a r e a o f Guangdong 1 c P r o v i n c e . I t s p o p u l a t i o n was 828,114 i n 1930. A g a i n , t h i s was a major g r a i n p r o d u c i n g r e g i o n . E i g h t y p e r c e n t o f the l a n d were 27 r i c e f i e l d s and t h e y had produced 5 t o 6 m i l l i o n p i c u l o f g r a i n each y e a r . Other produce such as sweet p o t a t o e s , p e a n u t s , c a b b a g e , t e a and f r e s h f r u i t s , i n c l u d i n g l y c h e e s , o r a n g e s , l e m o n s , p l u m s , persimmons, mangoes, p o m e l o e s , p i n e a p p l e s , g u a v a s , and s u g a r - c a n e . Shun-de c o u n t y ' s i m p o r t a n c e l i e d i n i t s s i l k r a t h e r than r i c e p r o d u c t i o n . Surrounded by m o u n t a i n s , t h e c o u n t y had a f l a t i n t e r i o r o f a l l u v i a l p l a i n s . I t s a r e a entended some 751.75 sq • k i l o m e t e r s w i t h a p o p u l a t i o n numbering. 8 4 1 , 5 9 2 d u r i n g t h e 1 9 3 0 s . 1 7 These p l a i n s were c u l t i v a t e d under l o c a l system c a l l e d "sang-ji yu-tang" $z ( m u l b e r r y banks and f i s h p o n d s ) . H e r e , t h e p u d d l e s i n t h e a l l u v i a l f i e l d s were h o l l o w e d out to form ponds f o r f i s h e r i e s w h i l e t h e mud from t h e s e f i e l d s were p i l e d up t o form t o p s o i l f o r o t h e r f i e l d s on d r y l a n d f o r growing m u l b e r r i e s . S i l k p r o d u c t i o n i s i t s major e n t e r -p r i s e , but f i s h e r i e s , m u l b e r r i e s , and s u g a r - c a n e r e t a i n c o n s i d e r a b l e i m p o r t a n c e . Z h o n g - s h a n , however, had remained an i m p o r t a n t r i c e r e g i o n with, t h e h i g h e s t g r a i n p r o d u c t i o n i n t h e p r o v i n c e d u r i n g t h e 1930s 1 g ( 6 , 3 4 6 , 5 8 1 p i c u l a n n u a l l y ) . The county was 2 , 8 7 6 . 7 5 s q - k i l o m e t e r s i n a r e a and had a p o p u l a t i o n o f 1 , 1 6 8 , 1 2 0 . I t supplemented i t s r i c e p r o d u c t i o n w i t h p o t a t o e s , sweet p o t a t o e s , c a b b a g e , b e a n s , l y c h e e s , m u l b e r r i e s and o y s t e r - h a r v e s t i n g . X i n - h u i i s a c o u n t y o f a l l u v i a l p l a i n s , about 60 to 70 p e r c e n t o f i t s l a n d i s formed by a l l u v i u m . I t s p o p u l a t i o n o f 8 8 1 , 6 0 5 peopled an a r e a o f 1 , 9 2 2 . 2 5 s q . - k i l o m e t e r s i n t h e 1930s. G r a i n p r o d u c t i o n had 28 t o t a l l e d 4 t o 5 m i l l i o n p i c u l each y e a r i n a d d i t i o n t o c r o p s o f m u l -b e r r i e s , o r a n g e s , mandarin o r a n g e s , b a n a n a s , s u g a r - c a n e and 19 t o b a c c o . Dong-guan i s s i m i l a r . Of i t s 2 , 7 2 0 . 5 0 s q . k i l o m e t e r s o f l a n d , 20 p e r c e n t were mountains and 20 p e r c e n t were h i l l s . The b u l k o f t h e l a n d was a l l u v i a l p l a i n s . Dong-guan had a g r a i n p r o d u c t i o n o f about 7 m i l l i o n p i c u l per y e a r d u r i n g t h e 1930s and a s u g a r - r e f i n i n g i n d u s t r y c a p a b l e o f p r o d u c i n g 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 p i c u l o f r e f i n e d cane sugar a n n u a l l y from i t s own h a r v e s t s . Straw f o r mat p r o d u c t i o n was a l s o s i g n i f i c a n t i n t h e c o u n t y ' s a g r i c u l t u r a l economy; each y e a r the h a r v e s t was about 4 0 0 , 0 0 0 p i c u l . F r e s h f r u i t s , such as l y c h e e s , b a n a n a s , l o n g n a n s , p e a r s , and o t h e r p r o d u c e , such as w h e a t , j u t e , 20 p o t a t o , and t o b a c c o , were grown here as w e l l . Of t h e c o u n t i e s mentioned perhaps K a i - p i n g had had most e m i g r a n t s o v e r s e a s . With a t o t a l a r e a o f 1 , 1 7 3 . 2 5 sq . k i l o m e t e r s and a p o p u l a t i o n o f 3 4 9 , 2 3 6 , K a i - p i n g ' s major c r o p remained g r a i n , w i t h an annual p r o d u c t i o n o f 1 m i l l i o n p i c u l , but i t s p r i n c i p a l 21 s o u r c e o f income had been o v e r s e a s r e m i t t a n c e . P o p u l a t i o n was h e a v i l y c o n c e n t r a t e d i n t h i s d e l t a r e g i o n . In 1963 i t was e s t i m a t e d t h a t t h e g e n e r a l p o p u l a t i o n d e n s i t y f o r t h i s 22 r e g i o n was 600 p e r s o n s per s q . k i l o m e t e r s o f l a n d . An e a r l i e r s u r v e y , however, p o i n t e d out t h a t t h e d e n s i t y c o u l d be as h i g h as 23 3 , 1 0 0 persons per square m i l e o f c r o p l a n d . More s p e c i f i c a l l y , Shun-de had t h e h i g h e s t d e n s i t y - - ! , 1 2 0 p e r s o n s per square m i l e w h i l e 29 N a n - h a i f o l l o w e d w i t h a d e n s i t y o f 800 d u r i n g e a r l y 1940s. Dung-g u a n ' s d e n s i t y was e s t i m a t e d a t 4 6 4 , P a n - y u ' s a t 462 and Zhong-shan was a t 4 0 6 . A t 394 p e r s o n s per square m i l e , X i n - h u i had t h e l o w e s t 24 d e n s i t y among the c o u n t i e s we d i s c u s s e d . With such a l a r g e p o p u l a t i o n and heavy d e n s i t y , the p r e s s u r e o f t h e man-land r a t i o i s r e a d i l y a p p a r e n t . L i a n g e s t i m a t e d t h a t i n 1 9 5 3 , f o r each person engaged i n a g r i c u l t u r e t h e r e was o n l y 2 . 7 5 mu o f c u l t i v a t e d l a n d , a r a t e which was h i g h e r than o t h e r r r e g i o n s i n t h e 25 p r o v i n c e but i n i t s e l f was s t i l l meagre. E a r l i e r s t u d i e s , however, showed t h a t t h e number was even s m a l l e r . The Guangdong Jing-ji Nian-Jian r e p o r t e d t h a t i n Pan-yu t h e r e was 1 . 6 9 mu o f c r o p l a n d per c a p i t a . In Z h o n g - s h a n , t h e number was 1 . 7 9 ; w h i l e i n S h u n - d e , i t was 1 . 0 7 ; X i n - h u i , 1 . 3 0 ; K a i - p i n g , 0 . 9 9 ; N a n - h a i , 1 . 3 6 ; and Dong-27 g u a n , 7 . 5 2 . In t h e i r s t u d y o f L o n g - y a n - d o n g , L i n and Luo a l s o 28 showed t h a t l i t t l e l a n d was a v a i l a b l e per c a p i t a . Y a n g ' s r e s e a r c h on Nanching v i l l a g e i n the same c o u n t y (Pan-yu) i n d i c a t e d a s i m i l a r s i t u a t i o n . Only 1 . 0 8 mu o r about o n e - s i x t h o f an a c r e o f c r o p l a n d 29 was p o s s i b l e f o r each p e a s a n t . A l l t h e s e f i g u r e s were not v e r y f a r from Z h a n g ' s e s t i m a t e o f the g e n e r a l man-land r a t i o o f Guangdong--30 h i s f i n d i n g was 1 . 3 5 per c a p i t a . The p r e s s u r e o f t h e man-land r a t i o upon t h e l i v e s o f t h e r u r a l p e a s a n t s , o p e r a t e d t h r o u g h s o c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s , i n p a r t i c u l a r t h o s e g o v e r n i n g t h e o w n e r s h i p and use o f l a n d . 30 B. C o n c e n t r a t i o n o f Land One o f the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f r u r a l Guangdong b e f o r e 1949 was the o v e r w h e l m i n g l y l a r g e numbers o f t e n a n t f a r m e r s . In 1925 and 1926, both Lingnan U n i v e r s i t y and t h e C e n t r a l Guangdong Farmers' A s s o c i a t i o n agreed t h a t 85 p e r c e n t o f t h e p e a s a n t s i n t h e p r o v i n c e were t e n a n t s . 1 The Canton Suburb Farmers' Union and the U n i v e r s i t y o f Guangdong e s t i m a t e d i n t h e i r s u r v e y s t h a t a t l e a s t 70 p e r c e n t o f 2 t h e p r o v i n c e ' s p e a s a n t s were t e n a n t s . In 1 9 3 0 , Zhong a l s o a s s e r t e d t h a t t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f t e n a n t s i n Guangdong was 46 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l 3 peasant p o p u l a t i o n w h i l e i n 1 9 3 4 - 1 9 3 5 , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e r a t h e r c o n s e r v a t i v e e s t i m a t e o f the n a t i o n a l i s t government, t h e t e n a n t f a r m e r s i n Guangdong was a t l e a s t 58 p e r c e n t o f the peasant 4 p o p u l a t i o n . R u r a l Guangdong, however, was a l s o c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a c o n s i d e r -a b l e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f l a n d i n t h e hands o f a few. Sun r e p o r t e d i n 1933 i n h i s s t u d y o f the problems o f l a n d c o n c e n t r a t i o n i n t h e p r o v i n c e , l a n d l o r d s who made up 2 p e r c e n t o f t h e peasant p o p u l a t i o n i n Guangdong and owned 53 p e r c e n t o f t h e l a n d i n t h e p r o v i n c e . R i c h p e a s a n t s r e p r e s e n t e d 4 p e r c e n t o f t h e peasant p o p u l a t i o n but had 13 p e r c e n t o f t h e l a n d , and m i d d l e p e a s a n t s , who c o n s t i t u t e d 20 p e r c e n t o f a l l p e a s a n t s , h e l d 15 p e r c e n t o f t h e l a n d . Poor p e a s a n t s made up the m a j o r i t y o f t h e peasant p o p u l a t i o n , t h a t i s , a t o t a l o f 74 5 p e r c e n t , y e t owned o n l y 19 p e r c e n t o f the l a n d . 31 In the d e l t a r e g i o n , t h e s i t u a t i o n o f l a n d c o n c e n t r a t i o n was s i m i l a r . The I n s t i t u t e o f A g r i c u l t u r a l S c i e n c e s a t Guangdong U n i v e r -s i t y a s s e s s e d t h a t i n 1921-22 i n Shun-de c o u n t y , 80 p e r c e n t o f the p e a s a n t s engaged i n f a r m i n g were t e n a n t s ; i n Dong-guan c o u n t y , t h e f i g u r e was 60 p e r c e n t . ^ The Farmers' A s s o c i a t i o n i n the d e l t a r e g i o n r e p o r t e d l a t e r i n 1925-26 t h a t i n Shun-de c o u n t y , t h e number o f t e n a n t s were 70 p e r c e n t o f the f a r m e r s ' p o p u l a t i o n . In Pan-yu d i s t r i c t , the p e r c e n t a g e remained as h i g h as 70 p e r c e n t w h i l e i n Dong-guan, 45 p e r c e n t o f t h e f a r m e r s were t e n a n t s . ^ In 1932, the C h i n e s e Economic Yearbook r e v e a l e d t h a t i n Pan-yu t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f t e n a n t s showed no s i g n o f d e c r e a s i n g and was s t i l l 70 p e r c e n t , w h i l e i n N a n - h a i t h e Q p r o p o r t i o n was a l s o 70 p e r c e n t and i n X i n - h u i , 65 p e r c e n t . The s u r v e y c a r r i e d out by t h e C u l t u r a l I n s t i t u t e o f Zhong-shan U n i v e r s i t y i n 1934 c o n f i r m e d t h a t t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f t e n a n t s i n Shun-de a r e a was s t a y i n g here a t 7 6 . 9 2 p e r c e n t , w h i l e Zhong-shan d i s t r i c t had a s i m i l a r d i s t r i b u t i o n o f 71.97 p e r c e n t . I t d i d r e p o r t , however, t h a t Q K a i - p i n g ' s p r o p o r t i o n o f t e n a n t s was o n l y 4 0 . 6 p e r c e n t . At t h e v i l l a g e l e v e l , Zhao, i n h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f C i - x i %-'•% v i l l a g e i n X i n - h u i , found a somewhat d i f f e r e n t s i t u a t i o n i n 1927. He noted t h a t i n the v i l l a g e , l a n d l o r d s who l i v e d e x c l u s i v e l y on r e n t i n g out t h e i r l a n d c o n s t i t u t e d 25 p e r c e n t o f the v i l l a g e p o p u l a t i o n , w h i l e 17 p e r c e n t o f t h e f a r m e r s worked on t h e i r own l a n d w i t h o u t h a v i n g t o r e n t a d d i t i o n a l f i e l d s t o s u p p o r t t h e i r l i v i n g . Only about 18 p e r c e n t o f t h e t e n a n t s owned no l a n d a t a l l ; the r e s t had t h e i r own l a n d , no m a t t e r how l i t t l e , and t h e y used some k i n d o f t e n a n c y f o r v a r i o u s r e a s o n s . 1 ^ O b v i o u s l y , Zhao was e m p l o y i n g a d i f f e r e n t approach o f a n a l y s i s — a t e n a n t , o w n e r - t e n a n t , and owner-c u l t i v a t i o n a n a l y s i s r a t h e r than t h e more p o p u l a r approach i n terms o f a r i c h , m i d d l e , and poor p e a s a n t . A p r o b a b l y more a c c u r a t e p i c t u r e , however, can be o b t a i n e d from C h e n ' s s u r v e y o f t e n r e p r e s e n t a t i v e v i l l a g e s i n t h e Pan-yu d i s t r i c t i n 1 9 3 3 . 1 1 H e r e , t h e m a j o r i t y ( 4 4 . 7 p e r c e n t ) o f r u r a l p e a s a n t s were poor p e a s a n t s , t h o s e whose number o f c u l t i v a t e d mu f e l l below t h a t r e q u i r e d f o r s e l f - s u f f i c i e n c y and had t o r e l y upon a wage income o r some income o f an a u x i l l i a r y n a t u r e . Only 16 p e r c e n t o f t h e p e a s a n t s were m i d d l e p e a s a n t s . These l a n d h o l d i n g s were b a r e l y s e l f - s u p p o r t i n g and were n e i t h e r d i r e c t l y e x p l o i t e d b y , nor e x p l o i t i n g , o t h e r s . On t h e o t h e r h a n d , 8 . 8 p e r c e n t were r i c h p e a s a n t s d e f i n e d as t h o s e who h i r e d a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o r e r s by t h e d a y , season o r y e a r d u r i n g busy t i m e s i n e x c e s s o f t h e l a b o u r r e q u i r e d by an average m i d d l e peasant f o r s e l f -s u p p o r t , o r t h o s e whose c u l t i v a t e d l a n d s u r p a s s e d the average l a n d used by m i d d l e p e a s a n t s f o r s e l f - s u p p o r t . L a n d l o r d s numbered 2 . 9 p e r c e n t w h i l e 6 . 9 p e r c e n t were a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s who d i d not c u l t i v a t e any l a n d , e i t h e r own o r l e a s e d , but h i r e d t h e m s e l v e s o u t o r c u l t i v a t e d a p a t c h o f l a n d but s u p p o r t e d t h e m s e l v e s c h i e f l y by s e l l i n g . t h e i r l a b o u r power. 33 In a d d i t i o n , Chen a l s o found t h a t among p e a s a n t s , e x c l u d i n g l a n d l o r d s , r i c h p e a s a n t s , who made up 11.6 p e r c e n t o f t h e p e a s a n t r y , owned 4 9 . 6 p e r c e n t o f t h e c u l t i v a t e d f i e l d s ; m i d d l e p e a s a n t s , who formed 2 0 . 9 p e r c e n t o f t h e v i l l a g e p e a s a n t s , owned 2 8 . 3 p e r c e n t o f t h e l a n d . The b u l k o f the peasant p o p u l a t i o n i n t h e s e v i l l a g e s , 5 8 . 5 12 p e r c e n t , were poor peasants who owned a mere 22.1 p e r c e n t o f a l l l a n d . And among t h e s e p e a s a n t s , 44 p e r c e n t o f t h e r i c h p e a s a n t s owned 5 t o 20 mu , w h i l e about 50 p e r c e n t o f t h e m i d d l e p e a s a n t s owned under 5 mu, and 6 0 . 4 p e r c e n t o f t h e poor p e a s a n t s owned no l a n d a t a l l . For t h e r i c h p e a s a n t s , t h e average number o f mu owned per f a m i l y was 1 1 . 3 3 . Among m i d d l e p e a s a n t s , t h e average was 3.57 mu, and poor p e a s a n t s had 13 t h e average o f o n l y 1 mu per f a m i l y . M o r e o v e r , i n terms o f t h e q u a l i t y o r t y p e s o f l a n d owned by t h e s e d i f f e r e n t p e a s a n t s , a c c o r d i n g t o C h e n , i n the Pan-yu r e g i o n , 6 1 . 3 p e r c e n t o f t h e l a n d owned by l a n d -l o r d s were i r r i g a t e d f i e l d s h i g h l y v a l u e d because o f the r e l a t i v e l y easy a v a i l a b i l i t y and a c c e s s i b i l i t y o f w a t e r . The same was t r u e f o r t h e r i c h p e a s a n t s - - 6 3 p e r c e n t o f t h e i r l a n d was o f t h e same t y p e . F i e l d s owned by m i d d l e p e a s a n t s , on t h e o t h e r h a n d , were 5 3 . 6 p e r c e n t i r r i g a t e d and 4 6 . 4 p e r c e n t n o n - i r r i g a t e d o r d r y l a n d s . S i g n i f i c a n t l y , 6 2 . 7 p e r c e n t o f t h e l a n d owned by poor p e a s a n t s f e l l i n t o t h e c a t e g o r y o f 14 d r y l a n d s , . More s p e c i f i c a l l y , Wu and Huang, i n t h e i r work on the Feng-huang ^ ' I L V i l l a g e i n t h e Pan-yu d i s t r i c t , p o i n t e d out t h a t i n the v i l l a g e , e x c e p t f o r seven f a m i l i e s who c o u l d be s e l f - s u p p o r t i n g w o r k i n g 34 on t h e i r own f i e l d s , t h e r e s t o f the peasant p o p u l a t i o n c o n s i s t e d o f s i x t y - n i n e t e n a n t f a m i l i e s and t w e n t y - f o u r f a m i l i e s who worked as 15 a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s . In a n o t h e r v i l l a g e o f the same c o u n t y , Luo and L i n o b s e r v e d t h a t t h e l a n d o w n e r s h i p p a t t e r n conformed t o most e a r l y s t u d i e s . They found t h a t 52 p e r c e n t o f t h e p e a s a n t s i n t h e 1 C v i l l a g e were t e n a n t s and a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s . Yang i n h i s much l a t e r s t u d y o f Nanching v i l l a g e o f t h e same d i s t r i c t , r e p o r t e d t h a t l a n d d i s t r i b u t i o n d i d not change much even i n 1945. He i n d i c a t e d t h a t 1 3 . 3 p e r c e n t o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n i n t h e v i l l a g e were l a n d l o r d s and r i c h p e a s a n t s , t h e former r e f e r r i n g t o t h o s e who p o s s e s s e d o v e r 30 mu o r o p e r a t e d a farm o f o v e r 30 mu o f owned o r r e n t e d l a n d . The 3 0 . 5 p e r c e n t who were m i d d l e p e a s a n t s p o s s e s s e d 6 t o 20 mu o r o p e r a t e d a farm o f s i m i l a r s i z e . The l a r g e s t group was s t i l l poor p e a s a n t s , 4 3 . 5 p e r c e n t o f t h e v i l l a g e p o p u l a t i o n who owned a p p r o x i m a t e l y 5 mu o r l e s s or were o p e r a t i n g a farm o f s i m i l a r s i z e . ^ There were b i g i n d i v i d u a l l a n d l o r d s i n Shun-de where f i f t e e n l a n d l o r d s owned o v e r 1 , 0 0 0 mu o f c u l t i v a t e d l a n d s e a c h , and i n P a n - y u , where a t l e a s t two t o t h r e e l a n d l o r d s each owned 5 , 0 0 0 to 1 0 , 0 0 0 mu o f c u l t i v a t e d f i e l d s and a n o t h e r t e n who each owned 1 , 0 0 0 t o 3 , 0 0 0 18 mu, p l a n t a t i o n economy was never p r e v a l e n t i n r u r a l Guangdong's d e l t a a r e a because l a r g e h o l d i n g s were broken i n t o s m a l l p a r c e l s t o be r e n t e d out and not farmed and managed i n b i g u n i t y . The s t a t i s t i c s p o i n t out some o f the b a s i c f a c t s about r u r a l Guangdong: l a n d o w n e r s h i p was c o n c e n t r a t e d among t h e upper groups 35 and l o w e r groups had l i t t l e o r no l a n d . These f i g u r e s , however, d i d not t e l l t h e whole s t o r y . For one t h i n g i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o r e c o g n i z e two t y p e s o f l a n d o w n e r s h i p : p r i v a t e and c o l l e c t i v e . And c o l l e c t i v e h o l d i n g s o f l a n d d i d p l a y an i m p o r t a n t p a r t i n r u r a l l i f e i n Guangdong. 1 . C l a n Land and t h e Power o f C l a n s Those c h i e f c o r p o r a t i o n s h o l d i n g l a n d s w e r e , i n g e n e r a l , t e m p l e s , hui ^ ( a s s o c i a t i o n s , t h e government and c l a n s . Land which belonged t o temples was r e f e r r e d to as Si-miao-tian -M*!» (temple l a n d ) . Land owned by a s s o c i a t i o n s and o r g a n i z e d on t h e b a s i s o f o c c u p a t i o n , r e l i g i o n , neighbourhood and r e c r e a t i o n were c a l l e d hui-tian ® ( a s s o c i a t i o n l a n d ) ; t h o s e p o s s e s s e d by t h e government f o r the purpose o f s u b s i d i z i n g and m a i n t a i n i n g p u b l i c s c h o o l s were guan-di " ^ ( g o v e r n -ment l a n d ) o r xue-tian & ( e d u c a t i o n l a n d ) . Land owned by t h e s e p u b l i c b o d i e s and c h a r i t y o r g a n i z a t i o n s composed an i n s i g n i f i c a n t p r o p o r t i o n o f Guangdong. A c c o r d i n g t o the N a t i o n a l Land Commission o f 1937, e d u c a t i o n l a n d i n Zhong-shan c o u n t y 19 was o n l y 0.1 p e r c e n t o f the t o t a l c r o p l a n d . C h e n , i n h i s r e s e a r c h on problems o f a g r a r i a n Guangdong a l s o r e v e a l e d t h a t temple l a n d i n Zhong-shan xian c o n s t i t u t e d o n l y 0 . 0 0 3 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l c u l t i v a t e d 20 l a n d s . Land owned by a s s o c i a t i o n s c o u l d more o f t e n be found i n t h e s o u t h w e s t e r n d i s t r i c t o f t h e p r o v i n c e . I t was v i r t u a l l y a b s e n t from t h e d e l t a a r e a . 36 The s i n g l e d o m i n a t i n g form o f c o l l e c t i v e o w n e r s h i p o f l a n d i n G u a n g d o n g , , t h e n , was c l a n l a n d . C l a n l a n d was o f t e n r e f e r r e d t o as Zheng-chang-tian « , zu-ohang-tiani-$\*) o r most p o p u l a r l y , tai-gong-tian y*> ( a n c e s t o r ' s l a n d ) . In i t s i n i t i a l s t a g e , t h e s e l a n d s were o n l y s m a l l p o r t i o n s o f p r o p e r t i e s owned by r i c h c l a n s s e t a s i d e f o r t h e purpose o f g e n e r a t i n g income f o r s a c r i f i c i a l c e r e m o n i e s t o t h e a n c e s t o r s , upkeep o f a n c e s t o r a l h a l l s , and o t h e r a c t i v i t i e s connected w i t h a n c e s t o r w o r s h i p . When the p r o p e r t i e s were d i v i d e d among c l a n members l a t e r , t h e s e l a n d s were e n t r u s t e d t o c e r t a i n members t o manage as c o l l e c t i v e p r o p e r t y f o r the purpose o f g e n e r a t i n g p r o f i t s . Through such p r o f i t s , more l a n d was accumulated and t h i s became t h e most i m p o r t a n t form o f c o l l e c t i v e ownership o f l a n d i n the p r o v i n c e . The Guangdong Nian-jian fk p o i n t e d out t h a t r o u g h l y about o n e -p i t h i r d o f t h e c u l t i v a t e d l a n d i n t h e p r o v i n c e was owned by c l a n s . Amano gave a s i m i l a r a c c o u n t o f the d i s t r i b u t i o n o f c l a n l a n d s i n Guangdong. He s t a t e d t h a t about 30 p e r c e n t o f t h e c o u n t i e s he 22 s u r v e y e d had 40 p e r c e n t o f t h e i r l a n d owned by c l a n s . In the d e l t a r e g i o n , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e Guangdong P r o v i n c e P e a s a n t s ' A s s o c i a t i o n Survey i n 1 9 2 5 , 60 p e r c e n t o f t h e l a n d i n Nan-hai were c l a n l a n d ; and i n P a n - y u , 50 p e r c e n t were c l a n - o w n e d w h i l e i n S h u n - d e , t h e p r o p o r t i o n was 35 p e r c e n t . Dong-guan had a s m a l l e r p e r c e n t a g e , 20 p e r c e n t and Zhongr-shan had 21 p e r c e n t , but i n X i n - h u i 23 57 p e r c e n t o f the l a n d were owned by c l a n s . T h i s f i n d i n g was r e c o n f i r m e d by C h e n ' s l a t e r r e s e a r c h . Chen a s s e r t e d t h a t on t h e 37 a v e r a g e , i n P a n - y u , o n e - h a l f o f t h e c u l t i v a t e d l a n d belonged t o c l a n s . In the v i l l a g e s o f Nan-pu , t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f c l a n l a n d i 24 was 70 p e r c e n t ; i n M e i - t i a n , i t was as h i g h as 75 p e r c e n t . Luo and L i n o b t a i n e d a s i m i l a r p i c t u r e i n t h e v i l l a g e o f Long-yan-dong o f P a n - y u . They r e p o r t e d t h a t out o f the 2 , 1 1 3 . 2 mu o f c u l t i v a t e d l a n d i n the v i l l a g e , e x c e p t f o r t h e 770.6 mu which were owned 25 p r i v a t e l y , t h e r e s t o f t h e 1 , 3 4 2 . 6 mu were a l l c l a n l a n d s . W h i l e t h e r e were d i f f e r e n c e s i n the n a t u r e o f c o l l e c t i v e and p r i v a t e o w n e r s h i p o f l a n d , t h e r e was l i t t l e d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e system o f t e n a n c y or r e n t i n g t h e l a n d e x c e p t t h a t some c l a n s would make l a n d a v a i l a b l e t o t e n a n t s e x c l u s i v e l y from w i t h i n the c l a n — e i t h e r by r o t a t i o n (lun-zhong ) or by a p p o r t i o n m e n t {fen-geng ) - - w h i l e the c l a n would s e t as a k i n d o f j o i n t l a n d l o r d . A p p o r t i o n m e n t was the method employed i n P o - t s u n v i l l a g e . Yang found t h a t i n t h i s v i l l a g e about 50 p e r c e n t o f t h e l a n d were c l a n l a n d . For each d e s -cendant o f t h e c l a n , one was e n t i t l e d t o r e n t 1 . 5 mu o f l a n d from t h e c l a n a t an annual nominal f e e o f about 7 p e r c e n t o f t h e average y i e l d , o r 40 c a t t i e s o f unhusked r i c e per mu. Yang, however, remarked t h a t t h i s was an unusual c a s e ; o t h e r v i l l a g e s e n v i e d t h i s v i l l a g e as "an example o f good f o r t u n e bestowed by t h e d e p a r t e d a n c e s t o r s , w h i l e l a m e n t i n g t h e p o v e r t y o f t h e i r own c l a n from a l a c k o f low r e n t c l a n l a n d . " 2 6 When a c l a n had c o m p a r a t i v e l y l i t t l e l a n d , t h e f a m i l i e s i n t h e c l a n would o r g a n i z e t h e m s e l v e s i n t o s m a l l groups t o a p p l y f o r 38 t h e l e a s e o f c l a n l a n d , and the l a n d was n o r m a l l y l e a s e d t o t h e member groups i n r o t a t i o n . In some c a s e s under t h i s s y s t e m , the t e n a n t member whose t u r n n o r m a l l y r a n f o r about a y e a r , had t o pay n e i t h e r r e n t nor d e p o s i t f o r t h e c l a n l a n d . I n s t e a d , he would be r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e expenses o f a n c e s t o r w o r s h i p and t h e p r o v i s i o n o f f o o d s t u f f s 27 such as c h i c k e n , r i c e , pork and duck f o r t h e s e c e r e m o n i e s . In e i t h e r c a s e , be i t by a p p o r t i o n m e n t o r by r o t a t i o n , when t h e t e n a n t d i d not f u l f i l l h i s o b l i g a t i o n s o r pay h i s r e n t , r i g h t s t o c u l t i v a t e c l a n l a n d would be w i t h h e l d . T h i s was r e f e r r e d to as• ge-geng. ( e x p e l l e d from c u l t i v a t i o n ) . C l a n l a n d c o u l d a l s o , however, be l e a s e d to p e o p l e o u t s i d e the c l a n t h r o u g h b i d d i n g .{tou-keng i%H ) . H e r e , n o t i c e o f l e a s e - b i d d i n g was u s u a l l y announced e i t h e r t w i c e a y e a r ( i n the f i r s t o r e l e v e n t h month o f the l u n a r c a l e n d e r , o r t h e second o r e i g h t h month) o r .once a y e a r i n autumn. Under t h i s s y s t e m , advance r e n t was r e q u i r e d to pay e i t h e r i n f u l l or by two i n s t a l l m e n t s . In a d d i t i o n , a u s u a l 28 20 p e r c e n t o f t h e r e n t was r e q u i r e d f o r as a d e p o s i t . When c l a n o r p r i v a t e l a n d was l e a s e d out en bloc by b i d d i n g , t h e system o f bau-zhu t M ( l a n d c o n t r a c t i n g ) o r bau-dian L*i® ( t e n a n t c o n t r a c t i n g ) d e v e l o p e d i n t o a c o m p l i c a t e d system o f e x p l o i t a t i o n . T h i s system was e s p e c i a l l y p o p u l a r i n the Sha-gu i y t l a r e a o f the d e l t a , where f i e l d s o f a l l u v i u m were most f e r t i l e , and where f i e l d s were most e a s i l y c l a i m e d by i n f l u e n c i a l , r i c h c l a n s t h r o u g h f o r c e o r 29 power. 39 Because l a n d h e r e , sometimes as much as s e v e r a l thousands o r t e n s o f thousands o f mu, was l e a s e d en bloc a n d , as a r u l e , advance r e n t was r e q u i r e d t o be p a i d i n f u l l , i t was e v i d e n t t h a t o n l y r i c h merchants and p o w e r f u l g e n t r y c o u l d a f f o r d t o b i d and were c a p a b l e o f l e a s i n g t h e l a n d d i r e c t l y . I t was commonly known t h a t i n Dong-guan, l a n d owned by t h e c l a n o r g a n i z a t i o n M i n g - l u n Tang tfi&i was l e a s e d t o a s i n g l e powerful g e n t r y , Zhou T i e n - b a n g 1*18^f who a l s o was a com-p r a d o r , and had s e t up a bank and o t h e r b u s i n e s s e n t e r p r i s e s . And i n Z h o n g - s h a n , l a n d owned by t h e X i n - y i i t % Temple, a n o t h e r c l a n o r g a n i z a t i o n d e s p i t e i t s name, was l e a s e d t o companies s e t up by t h e g e n t r y and r i c h merchants t o monopolize t h e l e a s i n g o f c l a n l a n d . The X i n g - y e - ^ ^ Company had c a p i t a l a s s e t s o f 1 6 0 , 0 0 0 yuan, w h i l e t h e 30 Q-ing-f;eri" ^ C o m p a n y was e q u a l l y p o w e r f u l . When l e a s e s had been s e c u r e d by merchants o r g e n t r y , o r t h e i r c o m p a n i e s , l a n d would f i r s t be e n c l o s e d a g a i n s t t i d e o r b a n d i t s , then r a t h e r be c u l t i v a t e d o r managed by t h e owners t h e m s e l v e s , would be s u b -l e a s e d i n s e p a r a t e h o l d i n g s — s o m e t i m e s d i r e c t l y t o t h e c u l t i v a t o r s , but more f r e q u e n t l y t o a s e r i e s o f t e r t i a r y l a n d l o r d s who were r e f e r r e d t o as fen-yi-nong %Mn&. ( p r o f i t - s h a r i n g p e a s a n t ) and da-keng-zaiKWty ( f i r s t - f a r m i n g p e r s o n ) . On t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e y c o u l d a l s o employ l a b o u r e r s , u s u a l l y t h e dan-min'\h ( e m i g r a n t s who were o f non-Han a n c e s t r y and l i v e d on b o a t s . N o r m a l l y , t h e y were w i l l i n g to work f o r v e r y low w a g e s ) , t o grow s u g a r - c a n e o r r i c e under a form o f c o n t r a c t w h i c h i n some r e s p e c t s resembled a l e a s e . In t h i s system 40 o f bau-qing tfi ( h a r v e s t c o n t r a c t ) t h e l a b o u r e r worked from t h e f i r s t month t i l l t h e m i d d l e o f t h e n i n t h month o f t h e l u n a r c a l e n d e r and were r e s p o n s i b l e f o r a l l work i n t h e f i e l d s e x c e p t h a r v e s t i n g . They would be p a i d 8 yuan per mu o r 24 yuan f o r each q u a r t e r y e a r when 31 f i e l d s were r e a d y t o be h a r v e s t e d . In t h i s p r o c e s s o f s u b - l e a s i n g a s e r i e s o f e x p l o i t a t i o n s o c c u r r e d . When l a n d was l e a s e d t o t h e f i r s t l a n d l o r d , t h e t e n u r e u s u a l l y extended o v e r a p e r i o d o f t e n y e a r s , and sometimes even f o r twenty t o t h i r t y y e a r s . When t h e s u b - l e a s i n g took p l a c e , however, t e n u r e s would o f t e n be s h o r t e n e d t o f i v e y e a r s o r l e s s , even t o a s i n g l e y e a r i n some c a s e s . N e e d l e s s t o s a y , a h i g h e r r e n t was charged a t a l m o s t e v e r y s t a g e o f s u b - l e a s i n g , and w i t h v i r t u a l l y e v e r y renewal o f t e n u r e , r e n t i n c r e a s e d . Chen e s t i m a t e d t h a t i n the d i s -t r i c t o f Z h o n g - s h a n , t h e r e were about 1 , 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 mu i n the Sha-gu a r e a and a t l e a s t 95 p e r c e n t o f them were under a s t a g e o f s u b l e a s e . At each s t a g e o f s u b - l e a s i n g , an a d d i t i o n a l r e n t o f 2 yuan per mu was common. I t was no s u r p r i s e i n t h e end t o see t h a t t h e amount c o l l e c t e d from the f i n a l t e n a n t was d o u b l e what t h e o r i g i n a l l a n d l o r d 32 r e c e i v e d . When common l a n d was r e n t e d i n . r o t a t i o n , t h e r e f o r e , t h e r i g h t o f weak f a m i l i e s i n a c l a n appeared t o be r e l a t i v e l y s e c u r e , but when i t was managed c e n t r a l l y and e x p l o i t e d on a b u s i n e s s b a s i s , abuses a r o s e t o d e r o g a t e from the r i g h t s o f men remote from t h e l o c u s o f l i n e a g e power. C l a n h e a d s , c h i e f s and t r u s t e e s , a l t h o u g h t h e y 41 were s e l e c t e d on t h e b a s i s o f age and g e n e r a t i o n s t a t u s , were m e r e l y h o n o r a r y p o s i t i o n s . Real power was e x e r c i s e d by managers {li-shi t t "f ) , t r e a s u r e r s and a c c o u n t a n t s [li-shu . They were e l e c t e d t o t h e i r o f f i c e s sometimes by the v a r i o u s s u b - c l a n s , a n d , more o f t e n , by c l a n members a t l a r g e on t h e o c c a s i o n o f t h e i r common a n c e s t o r a l w o r s h i p . They were always from t h e s o - c a l l e d s t r o n g branches o f t h e c l a n , t h a t i s , t h o s e composed o f t h e l a r g e s t number o f f a m i l i e s and i n d i v i d u a l s . The o f f i c e r s t h e m s e l v e s were supposed t o be " r i c h and r e l i a b l e " and " l e a r n e d and r a t i o n a l . " T h u s , p o s i t i o n s o f t e n went t o t h o s e who had passed t h e c i v i l e x a m i n a t i o n i n t h e i r e a r l y y e a r s , and t h o s e who had g r a d u a t e d from a c e r t a i n p r o v i n c i a l s c h o o l , r e t i r e d b u r e a u c r a t s , a n d , o f c o u r s e , t h e r i c h . Tenure o f o f f i c e was n o r m a l l y one y e a r but an o f f i c e r c o u l d be r e a p p o i n t e d y e a r a f t e r y e a r - - e v e n a p p o i n t e d f o r l i v e o r as a h e r e d i t a r y p o s i t i o n i n some p l a c e s . The t o t a l income o f t h e l i n e a g e , c o n s i s t i n g l a r g e l y o f r e n t s from f i s h p o n d s , houses and l a n d s , and from i n t e r e s t on l o a n s , was c o n t r o l l e d by the l i n e a g e t r e a s u r e r o r a c c o u n t a n t who h e l d whatever remained a f t e r the payment o f t a x e s , . r e l i g i o u s and s e c u l a r expenses l i k e r e p a i r i n g temples and c l a n p r o p e r t i e s , and v a r i o u s s u b s i d i e s f o r l o c a l e d u c a t i o n and s c h o o l s . Most c l a n t r e a s u r e r s never p u b l i s h e d a d e t a i l e d a c c o u n t . W h i l e t h e g r e a t m a j o r i t y o f p e a s a n t s were i g n o r a n t o f what was g o i n g o n , t h e more p r o s p e r o u s peasant f a m i l i e s were o f t e n i n d i g n a n t , because t h o s e who c o n t r o l l e d t h e c l a n fund a l s o c o n t r o l l e d t h e means o f l e g a l r e d r e s s . 42 H e r e , an i n t e r e s t i n g q u e s t i o n emerges: how d i d t h e c l a n s a r r i v e a t t h e i r powerful p o s i t i o n s i n r u r a l C h i n a ? To answer t h i s q u e s t i o n , a b r i e f e x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e power s t r u c t u r e o f t h e v i l l a g e communities i n r u r a l Guangdong i s n e c e s s a r y . T r a d i t i o n a l l y , C h i n a ' s b u r e a u c r a c y s e n t i t s o f f i c e r s no l o w e r than t h e c o u n t y s e a t . The c o u n t y m a g i s t r a t e was t h e immediate p o i n t o f c o n t a c t between t h e r u r a l p o p u l a t i o n and the s c h o l a r l y a d m i n i s -t r a t i v e s y s t e m . In R e p u b l i c C h i n a , t h e f o r m a l p o l i t i c a l s t r u c t u r e c o n s i s t e d o f t h e c e n t r a l government, t h e c o u n t y government, and t h e s u b - d i s t r i c t {Qu i l - ) o f f i c e s which were t h e o p e r a t i o n a l a g e n c i e s o f t h e c o u n t y government. The v i l l a g e s t o o d as a h i g h l y autonomous, s e l f - g o v e r n i n g u n i t . P o l i t i c a l o r d e r w i t h i n t h e c o u n t y f u n c t i o n e d c h i e f l y t h r o u g h i n f o r m a l l o c a l community l e a d e r s h i p , w i t h t h e c o u n t y government as the s u p e r v i s i n g a g e n t . T h e o r e t i c a l l y one c o u l d see why t h i s was so s t r u c t u r e d . Given the s t r o n g c l a n o r g a n i z a t i o n s and d i a l e c t d i f f e r -e n c e s , s e l f - g o v e r n i n g was encouraged t o p r e v e n t c o n f l i c t s as w e l l as t o promote b u r e a u c r a t i c i m p a r t i a l i t y o f t h e c o u n t y government. In 1932, t h e N a t i o n a l i s t government r e v i v e d t h e c o l l e c t i v e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y system o f bao-jia i n the name o f p r e p a r i n g f o r " d e m o c r a t i c c o n s t i t u t i o n a l r u l e " w h i l e a c t u a l l y u s i n g the system i n an e f f e c t t o combat t h e s p r e a d o f communism. Under t h i s s y s t e m , t e n f a m i l i e s formed a bao 4 * ; and t e n bao formed a jia f . S e v e r a l jia would then form a xiang ]i\ o r an 43 a d m i n i s t r a t i v e v i l l a g e sometimes composed o f s e v e r a l v i l l a g e s . The xiang was s u b o r d i n a t e d t o the s u b d i s t r i c t o f f i c e o f e i t h e r the c o u n t y o r m u n i c i p a l government. To s e l e c t i t s l e a d e r s h i p , each f a m i l y s e n t a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e to e l e c t t h e head o f a bao--the bao-zhang ^-fe. - - a n d t h e heads o f jia and xiang--the jia-zhang and xiang-zhang %\%~ . (See F i g u r e 1) The bao-zhang was i n t h e o r y t o r e p o r t r e g u l a r l y to h i s s u p e r -i o r s a l l c a s e s o f " r o b b e r y , r e l i g i o u s h e r e s y , g a m b l i n g , r u n a w a y s , k i d n a p p i n g , c o u n t e r f e i t i n g , s a l e and t r a n s p o r t a t i o n o f c o n t r a b a n d g o o d s , s w i n d l i n g , o r g a n i z a t i o n o f s e c r e t s o c i e t i e s , unknown and s u s p i c i o u s c h a r a c t e r s . " C o l l e c t i n g census d a t a and c h e c k i n g t r a n s i e n t r e s i d e n t s were h i s r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s a l s o . He was e x p e c t e d t o h e l p , as w e l l , i n t h e c o l l e c t i o n o f v a r i o u s t a x e s . In sum, he s t o o d between the government agents and the p e o p l e ; h i s d u t i e s were s e m i -o f f i c i a l and h i s p o s i t i o n t h e c o r n e r s t o n e o f l o c a l government i n 33 C h i n a . 15 In r e a l i t y , however, v i l l a g e l i f e o p e r a t e d l a r g e l y t h r o u g h i t s own l o c a l power s t r u c t u r e and was but w e a k l y i n t e g r a t e d i n t o the system o f a u t h o r i t y . F i r s t o f a l l , the bao-zhang and jia-zhang were g e n e r a l l y u n t r a i n e d i n government a f f a i r s , and t h e y r e c e i v e d no r e n u m e r a t i o n f o r t h e i r s e r v i c e s . In f a c t , when 5 0 . 2 p e r c e n t o f t h e males i n s o u t h C h i n a had no s c h o o l i n g and 49.1 p e r c e n t o f them had a t t e n d e d s c h o o l o n l y l o n g enough t o l e a r n t o read a common l e t t e r 34 (an average o f f o u r y e a r s ) , most o f t h e s e heads o f the bao and jia 44 P r o v i n c e H X i a n s e v e r a l Qu X i a n g J i a B a o 1 0 - 1 5 \ 1 0 0 - 1 0 0 0 i 1 0 I I 1 1 0 Hu Qu X i a n g Xian Chu g o v e r n -m e n t J i a B a o Gong-suo Jia-zhang Hu Bao-zhang S o u r c e : K a t o Y u z o # > « - $ M & =- , Chugoku-no Toahi Kaikaku-to Noson Shakai •T* i <>) A i * e i . d £ i *± ^ ( L a n d R e f o r m i n C h i n a a n d A g r a r i a n S o c i e t y ) , p . 7 0 . N o t e s : X i a n # . : c o u n t y C h u H : b u r e a u Qu & : d i s t r i c t G o n g - s u o 'A 1-<J : o f f i c e X i a n g 5*j> : a d m i n i s t r a t i v e z h a n g -ft. : h e a d v i l l a g e D 3 B a o \%. J i a ^ Hu Y : h o u s e h o l d F i g u r e 1 Bao-jia S y s t e m i n T r a d i t i o n a l R u r a l C h i n a 45 were presumably i l l i t e r a t e p e a s a n t s i n c a p a b l e o f r e a d i n g any e l a b o r a t e government documents. O b v i o u s l y t h e y r e c e i v e d l i t t l e r e s p e c t from the community, e s p e c i a l l y from t h e g e n t r y and t h e r i c h . Men o f power and w e a l t h i n the community shunned p o s t s a t such a low l e v e l . At t h e same t i m e , t o o , t h e bao-zhang's r o l e as t a x c o l l e c t o r s o f t e n made them hated f i g u r e s i n the v i l l a g e . As s e r v a n t s o f the b u r e a u c r a c y , . t h e y were l i a b l e t o i n c u r t h e d i s p l e a s u r e o f both t h e r u l e r and t h e r u l e d ; c o n s e q u e n t l y , t h e i r l e g i t i m a c y was v e r y p r e c a r i o u s and many o f them c o u l d not o r d i d not c a r r y o u t t h e i r d u t i e s . I t was under such c i r c u m s t a n c e s t h a t t h e c l a n d e v e l o p e d i t s s t r a t e g i c i m p o r t a n c e i n the v i l l a g e community. Not o n l y was the fundamental c l a n power d e r i v e d from an i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d a c c e p t a n c e o f the c l a n ' s a u t h o r i t y by t h e k i n s m e n , but a l s o many o f t h e kinsmen had t o depend on t h e c l a n f o r numerous s o c i a l and economic n e e d s . They h a d , t h e n , t h e l e g i t i m a c y t o m a i n t a i n peace and o r d e r i n the v i l l a g e and s e r v e d a l m o s t as a j u d i c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n . C l a n o r g a n i z a t i o n s were r e s p o n s i b l e f o r d e f e n c e , s e t t i n g up t h e i r own m i l i t i a u n i t , t h e min-tuan lV3 i n w h i c h t h e " s o l d i e r s " were equipped w i t h arms and were r e c r u i t e d on a m e r c e r n a r y b a s i s . They a l s o m a i n t a i n e d c o m m u n i c a t i o n s , c a r r i e d out p u b l i c p r o j e c t s such as t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f r o a d s , d i k e s , w a t e r c h a n n e l s and c o n t r o l l e d common p r o p e r t i e s . The l e g i t i m a c y o f t h e c l a n was f u r t h e r r e i n f o r c e d by t h e government when t h e bao-jia system d i d not work e f f e c t i v e l y . C l a n o f f i c e r s were then a p p o i n t e d t o h a n d l e t h e t a x on c l a n l a n d as w e l l 46 as t o c o l l e c t t h e t a x f o r the p r o v i n c i a l government from t h e p r i v a t e f a m i l i e s i n t h e i r c l a n . Xue and Chen both p o i n t e d o u t t h a t i n many c a s e s when t h e p r o v i n c i a l government was c o n c e r n e d s o l e l y w i t h t h e revenues from t a x a t i o n , i t a c c e p t e d b i d s from e i t h e r t a x c o l l e c t i n g merchants o r c l a n s f o r a monopoly on t h e c o l l e c t i o n o f t a x e s . Compan-i e s were t h e n o r g a n i z e d f o r t h i s monopoly. R e c e i p t s o f payment o f t a x e s p r e p a r e d by the xian o f f i c e s were f i r s t g i v e n t o t h e c l a n company or the merchant t o d i s t r i b u t e to the p e a s a n t s when t a x e s were c o l l e c t e d . Very o f t e n , however, t h e s e r e c e i p t s were never d i s t r i b u t e d and t h e a c t u a l sums c o l l e c t e d by t h e s e agents were s e v e r a l t i m e s , sometimes as much as t e n t i m e s , what the government r e c e i v e d . These t a x c o l l e c t i n g companies o r c l a n o r g a n i z a t i o n s t h u s became p a r t o f t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e a p p a r a t u s and formed t h e b a s i s f o r an a l l i a n c e o f power among t h e r i c h m e r c h a n t s , t h e c l a n s , and the government a u t h o r i t y . Independent o r d i n a n c e s i s s u e d by t h e s e companies or c l a n o r g a n i z a t i o n s t o a s s e s s and c o l l e c t t a x e s were not uncommon, nor were t h e i n s t i t u t i o n o f t h e i r own systems o f i n s p e c t i o n and enforcement o f 35 t h e i r a c t i o n s by u n i t s o f t h e i r own m i l i t i a . F u r t h e r m o r e , w h i l e the heads o f s u b - d i s t r i c t s and a d m i n i s t r a -t i v e v i l l a g e s as w e l l as t h e i r s u b o r d i n a t e s were f o r t h e most p a r t recommended by t h e a u t h o r i t i e s o f t h e powerful c l a n s , many o f t h e c l a n o f f i c e r s t h e m s e l v e s d i d become such heads c o n c u r r e n t l y . The.. Ming-lun-tang i n Dong-guan which we mentioned e a r l i e r was a good 47 example o f an o r g a n i z a t i o n l o o k e d upon as a " s e m i - o f f i c i a l " government by t h e p e a s a n t s , s i n c e t h e c l a n o f f i c e r s always had some p o s i t i o n s w i t h t h e government. As Kulp w r i t e s i n h i s s t u d y o f the Phoenix V i l l a g e i n t h e p r o v i n c e , " s p e a k i n g t h e o f f i c i a l language and a b l e to move among t h e o f f i c i a l s , " the s c h o l a r s and g e n t r y who u s u a l l y came from t h e powerful c l a n s formed " a w o r k i n g nexus between the v i l l a g e and t h e o u t s i d e w o r l d which t h e o r d i n a r y v i l l a g e r seldom comes i n t o 37 c o n t a c t . " U n d o u b t e d l y , t h e r e were o t h e r forms o f l o c a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s i n t h e v i l l a g e s . The headsmen and c o u n c i l s , as d e s c r i b e d by Wakeman and o t h e r s , however, had f a l l e n i n t o d i s a r r a y because o f i t s i n c r e a s i n g i n a b i l i t y t o a t t r a c t s u p p o r t from t h e c e n t r a l a u t h o r i t i e s as w e l l as 38 from t h e c l a n a u t h o r i t y . L o c a l m i l i t i a below t h e c o u n t y l e v e l , b e i n g p o o r l y armed and l o o s e l y o r g a n i z e d , were a l s o l e f t l a r g e l y i n 39 t h e hands o f t h e l o c a l v i l l a g e r u l e . S e c r e t s o c i e t i e s and b a n d i t r y were i n e x i s t e n c e , but t h e y were more concerned w i t h e x t r a c t i n g p r o f i t s from p r o t e c t i o n r a c k e t s r a t h e r than i n v o l v i n g t h e m s e l v e s i n 40 any p o l i t i c a l i n t e r e s t . The o n l y o t h e r l o c a l o r g a n i z a t i o n which had made a p o l i t i c a l impact i n r u r a l Guangdong was t h e peasant »/~* 41 a s s o c i a t i o n , nong-hui W * l . But how e f f e c t i v e was t h e peasant a s s o c i a t i o n i n d e a l i n g w i t h t h e promise and t h e c o m p l e x i t y o f t h e Guangdong r u r a l scene? H o f h e i n z p o i n t e d o u t t h a t i n c e r t a i n p a r t s o f Guangdong, p a r t i c u l a r l y i n the West R i v e r s e c t i o n and on the E a s t e r n s e a c o a s t , t h e peasant a s s o c i a t i o n s s u c c e s s f u l l y i n c o r p o r a t e d about h a l f o f t h e r u r a l p o p u l a t i o n i n t o i t s o r g a n i z a t i o n , r a i s e d s i z a b l e l o c a l f o r c e s , and f o r a b r i e f p e r i o d c o n t r o l l e d l o c a l g o v e r n -ment. In o t h e r p a r t s , most n o t a b l y i n t h e populuous d i s t r i c t s around the p r o v i n c i a l c a p i t a l and t h e d e l t a r e g i o n , t h e a s s o c i a t i o n s never c a p t u r e d more than 5 p e r c e n t o f t h e p e a s a n t r y and remained 42 c o n s t a n t t h r e a t from i n t e r n a l and e x t e r n a l o p p o n e n t s . I t was under such s i t u a t i o n s the c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f l a n d and the a l l i a n c e o f power and w e a l t h among t h e c l a n s , the r i c h and t h e g e n t r y , p r o v i d e d a b a s i s on which an e x p l o i t i v e system o r e x p l o i t i v e r e l a t i o n s network were b u i l t and d e v e l o p e d . 49 CHAPTER "1 NOTES A. Some G e o g r a p h i c a l Backgrounds ^The f i g u r e was quoted from China Yearbook 1938 c i t e d i n Kanton Nippon S h o k o k a i - i s h o . Kanton no Genjo i-*'LM (The P r e s e n t C o n d i t i o n o f Guang-dong)(Canton: /k * 3 £ ^  ^ f 4 " , 1 9 4 4 ) , p. 19. Other s o u r c e s , however, i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e r e was a c t u a l l y no common agreement on the e x a c t a r e a o f Guangdong p r o v i n c e : Year Source A r e a 1932 Guangdong Jing-ji Nian-Jian (Guangdong Economic Yearbook) 1933 p. B - 4 - 6 1940 Guangdong Nian-Jian ^ i * . (Guangdong Y e a r b o o k ) , p. 82 1942 Guangdong Jing-ji Nian-Jian 1956 L i a n g R e n - c a i Guangdong Jing-ji Di-U ft. £ ;'"> (Economic Geography o f Guangdong), p. 1 . 1973 Wu Yu-wen , Guangdong Di-li Gai-feng % **< l « * (General Geography o f Guangdong), p. 1 . 214,038 s q . k i l o m e t e r s 221,307 s q . k i l o m e t e r s 2 1 8 , 6 0 0 s q . k i l o m e t e r s 218,615 s q . k i l o m e t e r s 230,000+ s q . k i l o m e t e r s 220,000+ s q . k i l o m e t e r s 2 The p o p u l a t i o n o f Guangdong i s a g a i n a m a t t e r o f o p i n i o n . The f i g u r e c i t e d was from Ibid., p. 3 5 . Other f i g u r e s g i v e n by o t h e r s o u r c e s a r e summarized i n t h e f o l l o w i n g t a b l e : Year Source P o p u l a t i o n 1934 Guangdong Government 3 3 , 1 7 9 , 0 7 8 1934 The N a t i o n a l Government I n t e r n a l A f f a i r s 3 2 , 4 2 7 , 6 2 6 50 2 ( c o n t i n u e d ) Year Source P o p u l a t i o n 1935 Guangdong P r o v i n c e I n v e s t i g a t i o n Bureau c i t e d i n Ibid., p. 34 3 3 , 1 6 8 , 3 3 7 1951 C . K . Y n a g , A Chinese Village in Transition, p. 4 2 6 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 1956 L i a n g R e n - c a i , Ibid., p. 1 2 6 , 7 7 0 , 0 0 0 1973 Wu y u - w e n , Ibid. 4 2 , 8 0 0 , 0 0 0 Wu Yu-wen X , Guangdong Be-li Gai-fang % i -<*^1 General Geography o f Guangdong)(Canton: Guangdong Ren-min C h u - p a n - s h e , 1 9 7 3 ) , pp. 11-12. \ i a n g R e n - c a i , Guangdong Jing-ji Di-li % f M l 3 ) * < i ^ l (Economic Geography o f Guangdong)(Peking: Ke-xue C h u - p a n - s h e , 1 9 5 6 ) , p. 3 . E n g l i s h t r a n s l a t i o n i s p u b l i s h e d by US J P R S , 1958. 5 S e e Zhongguo De-tu Ce + ( A t l a s o f C h i n a ) ( B e i j i n g : D e - t u c h u - p a n - s h e , 1 9 7 6 ) , p. 2 2 . See a l s o Wu, op. cit., p. 7 . ^Ibid. 7 C . K . Y a n g , A Chinese Village in Transition ( C a m b r i d g e , M a s s . : MIT P r e s s , 1 9 5 9 ) , p. 4 . o George C r e s s e y , China's Geographic Foundations ( N . Y . : 1 9 3 4 ) , p. 3 5 4 . g L i a n g , op. cit., p. 5 3 . Ibid., p. 2.. However, t h e r e a r e o t h e r d i f f e r e n t f i g u r e s c o n c e r n i n g t h e a r e a o f t h e d e l t a r e g i o n : Year Source A r e a 1942 Guangdong Jing-ji Nian-jian, p. A-10 3 , 6 0 0 s q . k i l o m e t e r s 1959 Y a n g , op. cit., p. 4 2 , 8 9 0 s q . k i l o m e t e r s 1973 Wu, op. cit., p. 9 9 , 4 0 0 s q . k i l o m e t e r s 51 ''Kanto no genjo, p. 2 8 . 12 Guangdong Jing-ji Nian-Jian, 1941, p. A - 2 2 . A c c o r d i n g t o Kanto no Genjo, however, t h e r e were o n l y n i n e t y - f o u r c o u n t i e s i n Guangdong. See pp. 2 8 - 9 . ^3Ibid., p. A - 8 3 . See a l s o Zhuo Zheng-feng £ l ¥ ; " N a n - h a i X i a n D i a o - c h a Pao-gao" & t ( " R e p o r t on an i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n N a n - h a i C o u n t y " ) i n Guangdong Nang-ye Gai-feng Diao-oha Bao-gao Shu Xu-pidn xia-juan >%t%^. -i*]±#fc-*--ii//$&*£( R e s e a r c h R e p o r t on the General C o n d i t i o n o f A g r i c u l t u r e i n Guangdong, Book 2 , V o l . 2) (Guang-z h o u : Zhong-shan Da-Xue Nong-xue-yuan * f X % ft , 1 9 3 0 ) , pp. 123-132. T h i s a r t i c l e , a l o n g w i t h o t h e r s i n t h e same v o l u m e , was a l s o t r a n s l a t e d i n Kanton-sho Noson Chosa Shiryo )\ $ to % *Wi **f ( R e f e r e n c e M a t e r i a l s on I n v e s t i g a t i o n s i n Guangdong V i i 1 ages)(Guangzhou: Its?* , 1 9 4 3 ) , pp. 311-324. ^Ibid., p. A - 8 4 . See a l s o Zhou Zheng-feng % t. , " P a n - y u X i a n Nong-ye G a i - f e n g D i a o - c h a Bao-gao" £ t . * * X * * ) * ( R e p o r t on an I n v e s t i g a t i o n on A g r i c u l t u r e i n Pan-yu C o u n t y " ) i n Ibid., pp. 1 3 - 2 3 . Japanese t r a n s l a t i o n i n Ibid., pp. 215-228. ^ L i a n g Guang-shang ^ ^ * ) , "Dong-guan S h a - t i a n Nong-ye S h i - c h a Bao-gao" sr* % :%*lfk*h J£ ( " R e p o r t on a V i s i t t o S h a - t i e n i n Dong-guan C o u n t y " ) , i n Nong-sheng % T ( P e a s a n t V o i c e s ) , j o i n t i s s u e o f No. 179/180, December 1934, pp. 104-121. T r a n s l a t e d i n t o J a p a n e s e - i n Z a i Kanton Nippon S o - R y o j i k a n ( e d . ) , Ibid., pp. 3 9 5 - 4 0 8 . 1 g Zhou, op. ait., note 14. ^Guangdong Jing-ji Nmn-Jian, 1941, pp. A - 8 8 . See a l s o Zhou Z h e n g - f e n g , "Shun-de X i a n Nong-ye D i a o - c h a Bao-gao" ^ 5 * ( " R e p o r t on an I n v e s t i g a t i o n on A g r i c u l t u r e i n Shun-de C o u n t y " ) i n Zhong-shan Da-Xue Nong-xue-yuan ( e d . ) , op. cit., pp. 141-148. Japanese t r a n s l a t i o n i s i n Ibid., pp. 3 2 5 - 3 3 4 . I o Ibid., pp. A - 9 2 . See a l s o Zhou Z h e n g - f e n g , "Zhong-shan X i a n Nong-ye D i a o - c h a Bao-gao" -fo. H ( " R e p o r t on an I n v e s t i g a t i o n on A g r i c u l t u r e i n Zhong-shan County") i n Zhong-shan Da-Xue Nong-xue-yuan ( e d . ) , op. ait., pp. 141-148. Japanese t e x t i s i n Ibid., pp. 3 3 5 - 3 4 6 . 52 ^Ibid., pp. A - 9 6 . A l s o Chen Z e - l i n % , " X i n - h u i X i a n Nong-ye D i a o - c h a Bao-gao" *HtH ?'1 £ ( " R e p o r t on an I n v e s t i -g a t i o n i n X i n - h u i County") i n Zhong-shan Da-xue Nong-xue-yuan ( e d . ) , Guangdong Sheng Nong-ye Gai-feng Diao-cha Bao-gao-Shu % * WL'<^ iki^h-ZZ ( R e p o r t s on I n v e s t i g a t i o n s i n A g r i c u l t u r a l C o n d i t i o n s i n Guangdong P r o v i n c e ) ( G u a n g z h o u : Zhong-shan Da-xue N o n g - x u e - y u a n , 1 9 3 0 ) , pp. 271-290. 20lbid., pp. A - 9 9 . A l s o see Chen G a n - j i ?i ?f and Huang X i - c h o u 4 % *>k , "Dong-guan X i a n Nong-ye D i a o - c h a Bao-gao" % % - ( " R e p o r t on an I n v e s t i g a t i o n on A g r i c u l t u r e i n Dong-guan County") i n Zhong-shan Da-xue Nong-xue-yuan ( e d . ) , op. cit., Book 2 , pp. 149-160. Japanese t e x t i n Z a i Kanton Nippon So R y o j i k a n ( e d . ) , op. cit., pp. 3 7 9 - 3 9 4 . 21 Ibid., pp. A - 1 0 2 . A l s o , Zhou Z h e n g - f e n g , " K a i - p i n g X i a n Nong-ye G a i - f a n g D i a o - c h a Bao-gao" ( I S ) * * * - %"% ^ f i * | * ( " R e p o r t on an I n v e s t i g a t i o n i n the General A g r i c u l t u r a l C o n d i t i o n s i n K a i - p i n g C o u n t y " ) i n Zhong-shan Da-xue Nong-xue-yuan ( e d . ) , op. cit., V o l . 2 , Bk. 2 , pp. 4 8 - 5 5 . 22 L i a n g , op. cit., pp. 14 and 5 4 . 23 C i t e d i n Yang, op. cit., p. 4 . 24 Z a i Kanton Nippon S o - R y o j i k a n ( e d . ) , op. cit., pp. 2 9 - 3 0 . 25 L i a n g , op. cit., p. 2 3 . 26 Guangdong Jing-ji Nian-jian 1941, pp. B - 1 8 - 2 0 . 2'11bid. 2 8 L u o D a - f a n f ^ R & L i n Zuan-chun , "Guangdong Pan-yu Long-yan-dong N o n g - j i a J i n g - j i G a i - f a n g Y e n - j i u " k. % % »(!•. %. %. il 1% z*r ii ( " R e s e a r c h on the General Economic C o n d i t i o n s o f Peasant F a m i l i e s i n Long-yan-dong V i l l a g e , Pan-yu County") i n Z a i Kanton Nippon S o - R y o j i k a n ( e d . ) , op. cit., p . . 2 3 2 . C h i n e s e o r i g i n a l t e x t i s i n G u o - l i Zhong-shan Da-xue Nong-xue-yuan N o n g - l i n Yen j i u Wei-yuan hui l i l t + a - i ?L&.Mrfc't ( e d . ) , Nong-ye Jing-ji Zhuan kan <&\ lrz i"T? %• *) ( S p e c i a l I s s u e on A g r i c u l t u r a l E c o n o m i c s ) , No. 3 , 1937. 53 Y a n g , op. cit., pp. 1 5 - 1 6 . "^Zhang X i n - y i , zhongguo Nong-ye Gai-fang Gu-ji ^m%% c&3o'^ <-fr-rr (An E s t i m a t e o f C h i n a ' s Farms and C r o p s ) ( N a n j i n g : U n i v e r s i t y o f N a n k i n g , 1 9 3 2 ) . 54 B. C o n c e n t r a t i o n o f Land ^D.H. J e f f e r s o n Lamb , The Development of the Agrarian Movement and Agrarian Legislation in China ( S h a n g h a i : Commercial P r e s s , 1 9 3 4 ) , p. 4 0 . 2 Ibid. o Zhong X i n - y i V^^-, Tong-ji Yue-bao ( S t a t i s t i c a l M o n t h l y ) , 2 9 ( 6 ) , 1930. See a l s o Shen-bao Nian-jian f f & 4 / f £ . (Shen-bao Y e a r b o o k ) , 1934, pp. K - 3 4 . 4 J>-F i g u r e s were g i v e n by Zhong-yang Nong-ye Shi-yan-suo i ^  %$<*\. See Shen-bao Nian-jian, 1934, pp. K - 3 6 . ^Sun X i a o - c u n , " X i a n - d a i Zhong-guo T u - d i W e n - t i " -Vffli- *•&. I ' - H * ("Land Problems o f Modern C h i n a " ) , i n Jiao-yu lu Min-zhong * C\ ^ ( E d u c a t i o n and t h e P u b l i c ) , 8 ( 3 ) , November 1936. The s o u r c e has 12 p e r c e n t , but t h i s must be an e r r o r . ^Guangdong Nong-min Yun-dong *t ^ 3 . ( P e a s a n t Movements i n Guangdong)(Guangzhou: Zhong-hua Quan-guo J i - d u - j i a o X i e - j i n - h u i J i - d u -hua J i n g - j i G u a n - x i W e i - y u a n - h u i 4 ^ T ' f i s - K , « ' * >w<M-*^ 1 9 3 7 ) , p. 2 8 . 7Ibid., p. 27. 8 i-Zhong-guo Jing-ji Nian-j'ian >)• iS) ii ' f t - 4 ^ ( C h i n e s e Economic Yearbook) 1932, pp. G-236. 9 Shen-bao Nian-jian, 1 9 3 5 , pp. K - 2 8 . ^ Z h a o C h e n g - x i n ^ i - k i t , "Guangdong X i n - h u i C i - x i T u - d i F e n - p e i D i a o - c h a " / l i H T l M t l ^ n ^ t i ^ * ( " R e s e a r c h on Land D i s t r i b u t i o n i n C i - x i V i l l a g e o f X i n - h u i C o u n t y , Guangdong P r o v i n c e ) i n She-hui Xue-jie H't'Tf >f ( S o c i o l o g y W o r l d ) , V o l . 5 , 1929. E x c e r p t s c i t e d i n Feng H e - f a i t ( c o m p . ) , Zhong-guo Nong-eun Jing-ji Zi-liao 'f i*) =ftIi i% 3*$ ( R e f e r e n c e M a t e r i a l s on C h i n e s e V i l l a g e Economy)(Shanghai: L i -ming S h u - d i a n , 1 9 3 3 ) , pp. 9 3 6 - 9 5 1 . Japanese t r a n s l a t i o n i s i n Z a i Kanton Nippon So R y o j i k a n ( e d . ) , op. ait., pp. 4 5 7 - 4 7 6 . 55 Chen Han-seng i ^ - ^ V i , Agrarian Problems in Southernmost China ( S h a n g h a i : K e l l y & W a l s h , 1 9 3 6 ) , pp. 7 - 8 , a l s o p. 131. The book was a l s o p u b l i s h e d as Landlord and Peasant in China ( N . Y . : I n t e r n a t i o n a l P u b l i s h e r s , 1 9 3 6 ) . I t i s a l s o r e p r i n t e d i n 1973 by H y p e r i o n P r e s s , W e s t p o r t , C o n n e c t i c u t . ^ZIbid., p. 126, T a b l e 9 . 13 Ibid., p. 127, T a b l e 11. 0 . 8 7 mu i s t h e e x a c t average number o f l a n d owned by t e n a n t s per f a m i l y . ^Ibid., p. 131, T a b l e 2 1 . 1 5 Wu R u i - l u n & Huang E n - l i e n ^ t ^ h t » j - j u Feng-husng Cun D i a o - c h a Bao-gao" % >V-tt ?A * Sk.-\ ( " R e p o r t on an I n v e s t i g a t i o n o f Old Phoenix V i l l a g e " ) i n Z a i Kanton Nippon So R y o j i k a n ( e d . ) , op. cit., p. 276. 1 c Luo and L i n , op. cit., p. 2 3 3 . ^ Y a n g , op. cit., p. 4 1 . 18 i 2_ i V i J . See Amano Motonosuke: ^ &1> , Shina Nogyo Kezai Ron * t i * , ' f t * £ (On C h i n a ' s A g r i c u l t u r a l Economy), V o l . 1 (Tokyo: K a i z o - s h a c v & k , 1 9 4 2 ) , pp. 175-176. ^9Ibid., p. 9 2 . 20 C h e n , op. cit., p. 2 5 . 21 Guangdong Nian-jian 1940, p. 5 5 . 22 Amano, op. cit., pp. 3 7 - 3 8 . 23 Guangdong Jing-ji Nian-jian 1941, pp. G-47-48. 24 C h e n , op. cit., p. 3 2 . 2 5 L u o and L i n , op. cit., pp. 229 and 232. 56 9fi Yang, op. cit., p. 4 8 . 27 Guangdong Jing-ji Nian-Jian 1941, pp. G-47-48. 28Ibid. See Dong-guan Xian-zhi $ IL ^" ( G a z e t t e e r o f Dong-guan C o u n t y ) , V o l . 9 9 , Sha-tian Zhi >'!r>a^ r ( H i s t o r y o f S h a - t i a n ) ( B e i j i n g : P u b l i s h e r Unknown, 1911). Al so Pan-yu-Xian Xu-Zhi f ( G a z e t t e e r o f Pan-vu County C o n t i n u e d ) , V o l . 12-Shi-ue Zhi ( H i s t o r y o f M a n u f a c t u r i n g ) ^ % £. ( B e i j i n g : P u b l i s h e r Unknown, 1911). Japanese t r a n s l a t i o n o f Dong-guan S h a - t i a n Zhi i s i n Zai Kanton Nippon So R y o j i n k a n ( e d . ) , op. cit., pp. 4 0 9 - 4 2 9 . 30 Feng H e - f a , op. cit., p. 9 2 8 . See a l s o Amano, op. cit., pp. 5 3 9 - 5 4 1 . 31 Amano, op. cit., p. 538. C h e n , op. cit., pp. 4 8 - 4 9 . See Kato Yuzo ^» ^ , Chugoku no Tochi Kaikaku to Noson Shakai ^\t\ <^i-t^;K% t %te H^r (Land Reform o f C h i n a and the A g r a r i a n S o c i e t y ) ( T o k y o : A s i a n Economic R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e , 1 9 7 2 ) , pp. 7 0 - 7 4 . 34 / John L. B u c k , Land Utilization in China ( N . Y . : The C o u n c i l on Economic and C u l t u r a l A f f a i r s , 1 9 5 6 ) , p. 373. 3 5 C h e n , op. cit., pp. 7 4 - 7 5 . See a l s o Xue Mu-qui & % ^ , Zhong-guo Nong-Cun Jing-ji Chang-Shi * WftH i\ (Common F a c t s o f C h i n e s e V i l l a g e Economy)(Shanghai: X i n - Z h i S h u - d i a n , 1 9 3 6 ) . 36 F e n g , op. cit., pp. 9 2 8 . A l s o Zhong-guo Jing-ji Nian-jian 1934, pp. G-236. 37 D.H. K u l p , Country Life in South China: The Sociology of Familism, Vol. 1, Phoenix Village, Kwangtung, China ( N . Y . : Paragon Book G a l l e r y , 1972, r e p r i n t e d ) . 38 F r e d e r i c k Wakeman, J r . and C a r o l y n G r a n t ( e d s . ) , Conflict and Control in Imperial China ( B e r k e l e y : U n i v e r s i t y o f C a l i f o r n i a P r e s s , 1975) . 57 For a d i s c u s s i o n on l o c a l m i l i t i a i n South C h i n a b e f o r e 1911, see P h i l i p A. Kuhn, Rebellion and Its Enemies in Late Imperial China ( C a m b r i d g e , M a s s . : Harvard U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1970) . See a l s o , Khun, " L o c a l S e l f - g o v e r n m e n t Under the R e p u b l i c " i n Wakeman, J r . and G r a n t ( e d s . j , Ibid., pp. 2 8 7 - 2 9 5 . ^ u Y a n g , op. cit., p. ^ S e e Yamamoto. Hideo ^ £ n } xinai Chugoku Nomin Kakumei-no Genryu Kaiho-ni Okeru Nomin Undo t '3 & C\ lF y^ « i"t i*u - *t i - <t 5 & i x 3 ' i * (The O r i g i n o f Modern C h i n e s e Peasant Movement—The Peasant Movement i n K a i h o ) ( T o k y o : A s i a n Economic R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e , 1 9 6 9 ) ; a l s o Hai-lu-feng Nong-min Yun-tung i W £ &iV>11# (The Peasant Move-ments i n H a i - l u - f e n g ) ( G u a n g z h o u : Guangdong Ren-min C h u - b a n - s h e , 1957) . See a l s o Roy H o f h e i n z , The Broken Wave, The Chinese Communist Peasant Movement 1922-1928 ( C a m b r i d g e , M a s s . : Harvard U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1977). H o f h e i n z , Ibid., p. 125. CHAPTER 2 THE RURAL EXPLOITIVE SYSTEM A. Land 1 . The Changing Tenancy System 1 2 As p o i n t e d out by Huang, Chang et al. and F e u e r w e r k e r , as p a r t o f the p r o c e s s o f m o d e r n i z a t i o n o f p r o p e r t y c o n c e p t s i n r u r a l C h i n a , the system o f permanent t e n a n c y {yong-tian-ji ^-{*a^|), o r fen-zhi-ji as i t was b e t t e r known i n Guangdong, was b e g i n n i n g t o break down. Under t h i s s y s t e m , t h e l a n d l o r d had no r i g h t t o use o r abuse t h e l a n d , h i s o n l y r i g h t was t h e c o l l e c t i o n o f d e p o s i t s o r r e n t . Nor c o u l d he i n c r e a s e t h e r e n t o r t e r m i n a t e the t e n u r e o f t h e t e n a n t u n l e s s the t e n a n t f a i l e d t o pay t h e r e n t . The t e n a n t , t h e r e -f o r e , had t h e freedom t o s u b l e a s e h i s r e n t e d l a n d and renew h i s l e a s e i n d e f i n i t e l y so l o n g as he p a i d h i s r e n t d u i t i f u l l y . A s i m i l a r system o f t e n a n c y known as the kou-tou-ji , o r a l agreement s y s t e m , was a l s o f a d i n g i n Gungdong. H e r e , t h e p r o -s p e c t i v e t e n a n t , i n o r d e r t o o b t a i n l a n d t o f a r m , had to v i s i t the l a n d l o r d t o d i s c u s s t h e terms o f h i s t e n u r e p e r s o n a l l y . When t h e y came to an agreement on r e n t and o t h e r d e t a i l s , the l a n d would be l e a s e d t o t h e t e n a n t on t h e b a s i s o f t h i s o r a l agreement. U s u a l l y , 58 t h e term o f t e n u r e was l e f t open which meant t h a t t h e t e n a n t c o u l d work on the l e a s e d f i e l d s i n d e f i n i t e l y so l o n g as he p a i d the r e n t . I t a l s o meant, however, t h a t i f t h e t e n a n t owed any r e n t , t h e t e n u r e would be t e r m i n a t e d i m m e d i a t e l y . M o r e o v e r , t h e l a n d l o r d r e s e r v e d the r i g h t t o w i t h d r a w h i s l e a s e and i t was t h u s not uncommon t o f i n d t h a t t e n a n t s under t h i s system r e l u c t a n t t o a p p l y any type o f f e r t i l i z e r t o t h e i r f i e l d s because t h e y f e a r e d t h e l a n d l o r d would w i t h d r a w t h e l a n d , i f he knew t h e f i e l d s were f e r t i l i z e d . R e p l a c i n g t h e s e systems was a l e s s permanent system o f w r i t t e n c o n t r a c t s , qi-yue-ji ^1-^*0 H e r e , not o n l y t h e term o f the l e a s e was s p e c i f i e d , b u t o t h e r arrangements were a l s o made e x p l i c i t : r e n t must be p a i d on t i m e ; i f r e n t were p a i d i n t h e form o f g r a i n , t h e g r a i n had t o be o f good grade and had t o be d e l i v e r e d t o t h e home o f t h e l a n d l o r d ; f i e l d maintenance remained t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f t h e t e n a n t ; when the t e n a n t f a i l e d to pay h i s r e n t , t h e f i e l d s c o u l d be t a k e n back and t h e l e a s e t e r m i n a t e d i m m e d i a t e l y . Other o b l i g a t i o n s were a l s o added: g i f t s f o r t h e l a n d l o r d f a m i l i e s were s t i p u l a t e d i n the form o f c h i c k e n , duck o r g r a i n and were e x p e c t e d a n n u a l l y . The w r i t t e n c o n t r a c t was s a f e l y i n t h e p o s s e s s i o n o f t h e l a n d l o r d ; no copy o r r e c e i p t was i s s u e d t o t h e t e n a n t . The a r b i t r a r i n e s s o f t h e s e c o n t r a c t s prompted t e n a n t s t o f e r t i l i z e t h e i r f i e l d s o n l y t h e f i r s t two y e a r s . They f e a r e d t h e l a n d l o r d would no l o n g e r r e c o g n i z e t h e w r i t t e n c o n t r a c t and would e i t h e r t r y t o i n c r e a s e t h e r e n t o r t o t e r m i n a t e the c o n t r a c t , i f t h e i r g r a i n p r o d u c t i o n i n c r e a s e d . 60 Under t h i s s y s t e m , a l t h o u g h i t was common f o r l a n d l o r d s t o l e a s e t h e i r l a n d t o t e n a n t s f o r a p e r i o d o f f o u r t o f i v e y e a r s , v e r y o f t e n t h i s meant annual o r b i e n n i a l c o n t r a c t s . The N a t i o n a l Land Commission Survey o f 1935 p o i n t e d out t h a t i n Guangdong, t h e d u r a t i o n o f t e n u r e was not f i x e d i n 8 0 . 6 6 p e r c e n t o f t h e l e a s e s u s u a l l y s i g n i f y -i n g annual o r b i e n n i a l c o n t r a c t s . Only 8 . 5 6 p e r c e n t f e l l i n t o t h e c a t e g o r y o f a f i x e d t e n u r e o f f i v e t o t e n y e a r s , and t h e "permanent 5 t e n a n c y " dropped t o a low o f 1 . 6 8 p e r c e n t . A l t h o u g h i n 1930 t h e - L a n d Law c o n t a i n e d a p r o v i s i o n t h a t t h e t e n a n t had t h e r i g h t t o extend h i s l e a s e i n d e f i n i t e l y u n l e s s t h e l a n d l o r d took t h e l a n d back a t t h e e x p i r a t i o n o f t h e c o n t r a c t and farmed i t h i m s e l f , no e f f o r t was made t o e n f o r c e t h e l a w . Hence, i n -s e c u r i t y o f t e n u r e u n d o u b t e d l y c o n t i n u e d t o be a p r o b l e m . The i n s e c u r i t y o f annual o r b i e n n i a l c o n t r a c t s , m o r e o v e r , put t h e p e a s a n t s a t a c o n s i d e r a b l e d i s a d v a n t a g e and a l l o w e d t h e l a n d l o r d t o impose a d d i t i o n a l burdens i n t h e form o f l a n d d e p o s i t s ( a l l e g e d l y a g a i n s t r e n t d e f a u l t s ) and h i g h e r r e n t s , Chen found t h a t 3 4 . 2 p e r c e n t o f the p e a s a n t r y i n Guangdong were r e q u i r e d t o pay a d e p o s i t , but t h e 1934 C h i n e s e Economic Yearbook r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e number m i g h t be h i g h e r because o u t o f t h e t e n xian t h e y s u r v e y e d , seven o f them r e q u i r e d v a r i o u s forms o f d e p o s i t s from t e n a n t s . 7 In West Guangdong, t h e d e p o s i t ranged from 10 t o 15 yuan per. mu p l u s g i f t s i n the form o f p o u l t r y , b e e f , pork and w i n e , a l l o f w h i c h were t o be d e l i v e r e d when t h e l e a s e was drawn. In N o r t h Guangdong, t h e r a t e s ranged from 61 15 t o 30 yuan per mu. But i n terms o f t h e t o t a l h a r v e s t v a l u e , Amano s u g g e s t e d t h a t i n t h e P e a r l R i v e r d e l t a r e g i o n , f o r e x a m p l e , 70 p e r -o c e n t were demanded i n T a i - s h a n vJJ-» , A c c o r d i n g to t h e Guangdong Jing-ji Nien-jian (Guangdong Economic Yearbook) 1942, i n P a n - y u , d e p o s i t s were sometimes p a i d i n the form o f a "banquet f e e , " jiu-xi-jin i f t f t ^ 3 t o t h e l a n d l o r d , v i r t u a l l y a g i f t . T h i s " f e e " sometimes g amounted t o 90 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l r e n t . f In a d d i t i o n t o d e p o s i t s , t h e r e was a l s o a system o f advance r e n t , yu-zu ^ H * J i o r shang-qi-zu w h i c h r e q u i r e d t e n a n t s t o pay t h e i r r e n t i n a d v a n c e , e i t h e r b e f o r e h a r v e s t o r when t h e l e a s e was drawn. T h i s system was most p o p u l a r i n the d e l t a r e g i o n , e s p e c i a l l y i n Dong-guan, Zhong-shan and N a n - h a i . The r e n t , amounting t o 20 t o 30 yuan per mu, was e x p e c t e d a t a s p e c i f i e d t i m e b e f o r e h a r v e s t . I f t h e t e n a n t f a i l e d t o do so when t h e c r o p s were ready t o be h a r v e s t e d , t h e l a n d l o r d had t h e r i g h t to send h i s own l a b o u r e r s to h a r v e s t and keep the t o t a l y i e l d . ^ A l t h o u g h the r e n t d e p o s i t system e x a c t e d a heavy t o l l , the t e n a n t s ' r e a l burden d e r i v e d from t h e r e n t system and i t s s t r u c t u r e . 2 . Rent Rents were p a i d g e n e r a l l y i n t h r e e forms under the t e n a n c y s y s t e m — c a s h , c r o p and share r e n t . W i t h the e x c e p t i o n o f n o n - i r r i g a t e d l a n d s f o r which a c a s h r e n t was demanded i n most c a s e s , r e n t payment i n g r a i n was t h e p r e v a l e n t p r a c t i c e i n Guangdong. An e s t i m a t e d 5 8 . 4 62 p e r c e n t o f t h e peasants i n the p r o v i n c e p a i d t h e i r r e n t i n g r a i n , w h i l e o n l y 2 3 . 9 p e r c e n t p a i d i n c a s h , and o n l y 17.7 p e r c e n t , under t h e system o f s h a r e r e n t . ^ Cash r e n t , however, was dominant where c r o p s o t h e r than r i c e were p l a n t e d . Even i n t h o s e r e g i o n s , when r i c e was p l a n t e d , t h e form o f payment was always i n g r a i n . In t h e d e l t a r e g i o n , t h e r e f o r e , cash r e n t was most w i d e s p r e a d i n Shun-de where the major c r o p s were m u l b e r r i e s and s i l k c o c o o n s ; i t was a l s o p o p u l a r i n a major p a r t o f Z h o n g - s h a n , h a l f o f X i n - h u i and N a n - h a i , w h i l e i n Pan-yu and K a i - p i n g , payment i n c r o p s o r g r a i n was always p r e f e r r e d . Rent payment was not a • s i m p l e m a t t e r . For one t h i n g , a c o m b i n a t i o n o f cash and g r a i n r e n t f o r the same l a n d under t h e same l e a s e was p r a c t i c a l l y unknown i n Guangdong p r o v i n c e . I t was q u i t e common, however, t h a t t h e l a n d l o r d was p a i d i n c a s h b u t t h e amount o f r e n t was f i x e d i n terms o f g r a i n , i . e . , the a c t u a l money payment was e q u i v a l e n t t o t h e v a l u e o f a f i x e d amount o f g r a i n , e s t i m a t e d a t t h e p r i c e p r e v a i l i n g a t t h e time o f h i g h e s t q u o t a t i o n , i n t h e s p r i n g . M o r e o v e r , a l t h o u g h t h e second o r t h i r d l a n d l o r d m i g h t pay a c a s h r e n t , t h e f i n a l t e n a n t o r c u l t i v a t o r always p a i d h i s r e n t i n g r a i n . I t i s easy t o u n d e r s t a n d why l a n d l o r d s p r e f e r r e d r e n t i n g r a i n . They w e r e , i n most c a s e s , s p e c u l a t o r s i n g r a i n t h e m s e l v e s . The m i d d l e - o r r i c h p e a s a n t s who had s u f f i c i e n t means and who c o u l d h a n d l e a c o m m e r c i a l i z e d c r o p p r e f e r r e d t o pay t h e i r r e n t w i t h a d e f i n i t e amount o f c a s h . Poor p e a s a n t s p a i d t h e i r r e n t i n g r a i n because t h e y seldom c o u l d r a i s e enough c a s h and had t o pay whatever t h e y h a r v e s t e d . 63 Cash r e n t was u s u a l l y f i x e d r e n t . In terms o f c a s h per mu, a c c o r d i n g t o t h e s t a t i s t i c s o f Nong-qing Bao-gao 3 25 p e r c e n t o f the t e n a n t s i n Guangdong were p a y i n g f i v e t o t e n yuan per mu i n 1935, and a n o t h e r 25 p e r c e n t were p a y i n g t h e h i g h e s t amount t h e r e p o r t r e c o r d e d — o v e r t e n yuan (See T a b l e 1 ) . The h i g h e s t r e n t i n t h e p r o v i n c e averaged t o be 1 8 . 8 yuan per mu a n n u a l l y , w h i l e the average r e n t f o r one mu o f an o r d i n a r y f i e l d was about 6 . 7 yuan, t h e l a t t e r 12 f i g u r e b e i n g t h e h i g h e s t i n the n a t i o n a t t h a t t i m e . In f a c t , i n most c o u n t i e s i n t h e d e l t a a r e a , t h e r e n t f o r each mu o r good i r r i g a t e d f i e l d was always i n the range o f 17 t o 20 yuan (See T a b l e 2 ) . For t h e f e r t i l e i r r i g a t e d f i e l d s i n t h e Sha-gu r e g i o n s , r e n t s were even h i g h e r , 13 r a n g i n g from 20 t o 30 yuan per mu. TABLE 1 D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Cash Rent i n Guangdong P r o v i n c e Ranges o f Rent Rent per mu 0.1-1 1 . 1 - 2 2 . 1 - 3 3 . 1 - 4 4 . 1 - 5 5 . 1T6 yuan % o f Tenants 6 . 8 11.4 6 . 8 6 . 8 11.4 6 . 8 Rent per mu 6 . 1 - 7 7 . 1 - 8 8 . 1 - 9 9 . 1 - 1 0 o v e r 10 yuan % o f t e n a n t s 2 . 3 1 3 . 6 2 . 3 6 . 8 2 5 . 0 S o u r c e : C i t e d i n Amano Motonosuke ^ViXj^H , Shina Nogyo Keizai-ron t i - L i $ S ( O n t h e A g r i c u l t u r a l Economy i n C h i n a ) , V o K 1 , p. 416. See a l s o Zhang B a i - y u ^ * & » ^ ) and Wang Y i n - y u a n >}-fiL Zhong-guo- Rong-dian Wen-ti ® %. i^-CI '(The Problem, o f Tenancy i n " C h i n a ) , p. 8 2 . TABLE 2 Cash Rent i n the D e l t a Region f o r I r r i g a t e d F i e l d s County Z h o n g - s h a n a n b Dong-guan N a n - h a i c Shun-de^ X i n - h u i e K a i - p i n g ^ P a n - y u 9 Rent per mu: Grade.-A 20 20 10-20 20 20-40 17-22 18 yuan Grade B 10-15 6 5-12 10+ - 15-16 yuan S o u r c e s : a Zhou Zheng-feng ^ 5 ? , "Zhong-shan X i a n Nong-ye D i a o - c h a Bao-gao" & t * M * ^ i n Guangdong Nong-ye Gai-feng Diao-cha Bao-gao-shu Xu-pian «t * f f l**i-*ft*£(R e s e a r C n Report on t h e General C o n d i t i o n o f A g r i c u l t u r e i n Guangdong, Book 2 ) , p.. 140. b Chen G a n - j i ^ & Huang Xi-chou-M% e ^ , "Dong-guan X i a n Nong-ye D i a o - cha Bao-gao" ^ • i f l t * * ^ in Ibid.} p. 151. c Zhou Z h e n g - f e n g , " N a n - h a i X i a n Nong-ye D i a o - c h a Bao-gao" fri&ibti^in iMci., p. 123. d , "Shun-de X i a n Nong-ye D i a o - c h a B a o - g a o " » t t f t * * i M " * » 9 * i n -#>*d., p. 134. e Chen Z e - l i n •?£ i f £ , " X i n - h u i X i a n Nong-ye D i a o - c h a Bao-gao" 4fr$H Mffl+th-t i n Guangdong-Sheng Nong-ye Gai-feng Diao-cha Bao-gao-shu '•Z>i\*\f$'hJz. 4 , p. 290. f Z h o u Z h e n g - f e n g , " K a i - p i n g X i a n Nong-ye G a i - f e n g D i a o - c h a Bao-gao" /*lf A't * ^ i n Guangdong Nong-ye Gai-feng Diao-cha Bao-gao-shu Xu-pian Xia-guan A $ J&it p. 5 1 . 9 , " P a n - y u X i a n Nong-ye G a i - f e n g D i a o - c h a Bao-gao" I b i d . , p. 14. 65 Rent i n g r a i n , on t h e o t h e r h a n d , may or may not be o f a f i x e d amount. When i t i s not a f i x e d t o t a l , the l a n d l o r d and t h e t e n a n t would d i v i d e t h e h a r v e s t a c c o r d i n g t o some d e f i n i t e p r o p o r t i o n under the s h a r e r e n t s y s t e m , fen-zu'Hl®. . Over t h e p r o v i n c e as a whole t h i s system was not commonplace, e s p e c i a l l y i n the d e l t a r e g i o n . Zhang and Wang r e p o r t e d t h a t about 73.7 p e r c e n t o f t h e l a n d l o r d s i n t h e p r o v i n c e took 40 t o 50 p e r c e n t o f the t e n a n t s ' h a r v e s t under the 14 system o f s h a r e r e n t , a l t h o u g h Chen found t h a t i s some o t h e r , 15 s p e c i f i c c a s e s , t h e l a n d l o r d took as much as 60 p e r c e n t . When t h e t e n a n t s p a i d t h e i r r e n t s i n f i x e d terms i n g r a i n , however, r e n t s were not much l o w e r . In h i s r e s e a r c h Amano found t h a t i n 1930 the p e a s a n t s i n Guangdong who p a i d t h e i r r e n t s i n g r a i n under the f i x e d system were a c t u a l l y p a y i n g about 5 9 . 4 p e r c e n t o f t h e i r h a r v e s t f o r a p i e c e o f f i r s t grade i r r i g a t e d f i e l d . For a second grade o f i r r i g a t e d f i e l d , the amount was j u s t as h i g h - - 5 9 . 2 p e r c e n t o f t h e annual h a r v e s t ; f o r the l o w e s t grade o f : i r r i g a t e d f i e l d s , i t was 1 fi s t i l l 5 0 . 7 p e r c e n t . In t h e d e l t a a r e a , Chen o b s e r v e d t h a t i n Pan-yu c o u n t y t e n a n t s o r d i n a r i l y p a i d about 55 p e r c e n t o f t h e i r h a r v e s t f o r r e n t but r a r e l y exceeded 60 p e r c e n t . In T a i - s h a n , t h e p e r c e n t a g e was around f i f t y . 1 7 In P a n - y u , s p e c i f i c a l l y i n t h e Long-yan-dong v i l l a g e , t h e r a t e was 50 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l annual y i e l d r e g a r d l e s s 18 o f t h e grade o f t h e f i e l d . C o n v e r t i n g t h e s e p e r c e n t a g e s t o monetary t e r m s , Zhang and Wang found t h a t i n 1934 the m a j o r i t y o f t e n a n t s i n Guangdong p a i d 66 5 t o 10 yuan o f r e n t f o r one mu (See T a b l e 3 ) . They a l s o noted t h a t t h e h i g h e s t r a t e o f r e n t t e n a n t s were p a y i n g was 15 yuan, w h i l e the a v e r a g e was 7 . 5 yuan. When compared t o t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e r e n t o f 4 . 2 yuan per mu, r e n t s i n Guangdong were c l e a r l y t h e most e x p e n s i v e 19 i n C h i n a . T h i s c o i n c i d e s w i t h Amano's o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t p e a s a n t s i n Guangdong p a i d t h e h i g h e s t average r e n t i n 1934, o n l y Yun-nan P r o v i n c e 20 averaged t h e same. TABLE 3 D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Rent i n G r a i n i n Monetary Terms i n Guangdong Range o f Rent Rent i n Cash 0 . 1 -1 • 1 . 1 - 2 2 . 1 - 3 2 . 1 - -4 ' 4 . 1 - 5 5 . 1 - 6 yuan/mu % o f Tenants 2 . 5 1 0 . 0 5 . 0 2 . 5 1 5 . 0 Rent i n Cash 6 . 1-7 7 . 1 - 8 8 . 1 - 9 9 . 1 - -10 Over 10 yuan/mu % o f Tenants 12. 5 1 0 . 0 17 .5 1 5 . 0 1 0 . 0 S o u r c e : Zhang B a i - y u & N a n g Y i n - y u a n >i-fi^ , Zhong-guo Nong-dian Wen-ti ^ffl&l® P'] -il (The Problem o f Tenancy i n C h i n a ) , p. 8 7 . 3 . The Burden o f Rent Not s u r p r i s i n g l y r e n t s i n Guangdong amounted to more than o n e -h a l f o f t h e t o t a l c o s t o f p r o d u c t i o n . Tawney commented t h a t r e n t s were s a i d t o absorb a p p r o x i m a t e l y 55 t o 60 p e r c e n t o f the produce on s m a l l 67 farms i n G u a n g d o n g / 1 And a c c o r d i n g t o t h e r e p o r t s u b m i t t e d by t h e I n s t i t u t e o f A g r i c u l t u r e o f t h e N a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t y o f Guangdong i n 1 9 2 5 , the c o s t o f p r o d u c t i o n per mu o f sugar cane i n t h e Sha-gu a r e a 22 o f Pan-yu was as f o l l o w s : For the f i r s t y e a r : Rent H i r e d Labour S e e d l i n g s , 1 , 4 0 0 p i e c e s P e a n u t - c a k e f e r t i l i z e r , 150 c a t t i e s For t h e second y e a r : Rent H i r e d Labour P e a n u t - c a k e f e r t i l i z e r , 120 c a t t i e s The C h i n e s e N a t i o n a l E v a n g e l i c a l C h r i s t i a n A s s o c i a t i o n e s t i m a t e d i n 1927 t h a t i n a t y p i c a l p o o r - p e a s a n t f a m i l y b u d g e t , r e n t was not o n l y t h e b i g g e s t expense i t e m i n terms o f c o s t o f p r o d u c t i o n , i t was a l s o e s t i m a t e d t o be more than f a m i l y e x p e n s e s : Rent (8 yuan per mu, 10 mu b e i n g t h e minimum o f l a n d a f a m i l y needed f o r s u b s i s t e n c e ) 80 yuan F e r t i l i z e r 20 S e e d l i n g s 6 Maintenance o f Farm T o o l s 5 F a m i l y Expenses 60 T o t a l 171 yuan 7 1 . 0 yuan 6 . 0 5 . 6 8 . 2 5 17.0 yuan 5 . 0 6 . 6 For 10 mu o f medium-low grade l a n d , annual g r a i n p r o d u c t i o n would not be more than 27 picul, w h i l e t h e market p r i c e f o r each picul o f g r a i n was o n l y 6 yuan. The annual income o f t h e poor peasant f a m i l y was t h u s o n l y 162 yuan. In o t h e r w o r d s , the f a m i l y was 9 yuan s h o r t o f 23 s u b s i s t e n c e . For a poor peasant f a m i l y who c o u l d not a f f o r d to r e n t as much as 10 mu o f f i e l d s o f average g r a d e , s u b s i s t e n c e became more d i f f i c u l t . An a r t i c l e i n Zhong-guo Nong-min i3) %. Z\ ( C h i n e s e P e a s a n t s ) s u g g e s t e d t h a t a t y p i c a l poor peasant f a m i l y c o u l d be a t l e a s t 72 yuan s h o r t o f s u b s i s t e n c e a n n u a l l y because o f the h i g h r e n t which a c c o u n t e d f o r 50 p e r c e n t o f h i s income from t h e g r a i n 24 p r o d u c t i o n : E x p e n s e s : Rent 45 yuan S e e d l i n g s F e r t i l i z e r s 6 30 Farm T o o l s Maintenance F e e d i n g f o r D r a f t A n i m a l s F a m i l y Expenses 2 3 80 T o t a l 166 yuan Income: 15 p i c u l o f g r a i n a t 6 yuan each 90 yuan Supplementary income from g r a s s - c u t t i n g 4 T o t a l 94 yuan 69 S t a t i s t i c s from the n a t i o n a l i s t government i n 1932 a l s o i n d i c a t e d t h a t i t was common t h a t the poor peasant were u n a b l e t o make ends meet. In a s u r v e y o f expenses o f r u r a l p e a s a n t s i n Guangdong p r o v i n c e , i t showed t h a t f o r t e n a n t s who had l e s s than 5 25 mu o f f i e l d s t o work on were 42 yuan s h o r t o f s u b s i s t e n c e a n n u a l l y , w h i l e t e n a n t s who c o u l d a f f o r d t o have 5 t o 10 mu t o farm c o u l d make a s m a l l m a r g i n o f s u r p l u s . Luo and L i n , i n t h e i r s t u d y o f the Long-yan-dong i n P a n - y u , drew a s i m i l a r p i c t u r e . They found t h a t o f t h e p e a s a n t s ' c o s t o f p r o d u c t i o n about 5 7 . 3 p e r c e n t went f o r r e n t , w h i l e l a b o u r r e p r e s e n t e d o n l y 1 7 . 3 p e r c e n t and f e r t i l i z e r took up o n l y 1 8 . 5 p e r c e n t . In t h e Old Phoenix V i l l a g e o f the same d i s t r i c t , Wu and Hunag noted t h a t w h i l e r e n t payment d i d not go up t o h a l f o f t h e c o s t o f p r o d u c t i o n , i t 27 n e v e r t h e l e s s absorbed t h e l a r g e s t s h a r e o f t h e c o s t - - 3 1 . 7 p e r c e n t . I f the e s t i m a t e s mentioned above a l l seem a b i t too s i m p l i s t i c , Yang gave t h e most d e t a i l e d a p p r o x i m a t i o n o f p r o d u c t i o n , consumption and income o f d i f f e r e n t peasant c l a s s e s i n h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f Nan-28 c h i n g v i l l a g e i n P a n - y u . He f i r s t e s t a b l i s h e d t h e d i f f e r e n t expenses i n v o l v e d i n the p r o d u c t i o n o f g r a i n : T a x e s : main t a x 50 c a t t i e s = 7.1% o f y i e l d (unhusked r i c e ) l o c a l government 35 5 . 0 ' c r o p p r o t e c t i o n ' 5 0.7 f e e R e n t : 1 mu o f medium 300 4 3 . 0 grade 70 F e r t i l i z e r : 20 c a t t i e s o f human e x c r e t a o r 50 c a t t i e s o f soya cakes 40 5.7 S e e d s : 10 1 . 4 Adding up a l l t h e s e i t e m s , t h e c o s t o f p r o d u c t i o n f o r one mu o f r i c e l a n d owned and farmed by t h e peasant h i m s e l f was about 20 p e r c e n t o f the y i e l d ; but f o r one mu o f r i c e l a n d r e n t e d from o t h e r s but farmed by the peasant h i m s e l f , t h e c o s t was 51 p e r c e n t . And t h i s e x c l u d e d expenses i n v o l v e d i n h i r i n g l a b o u r e r s , m a i n t e n a n c e , and r e p l a c e m e n t o f farm t o o l s and o t h e r m i s c e l l a n e o u s i t e m s . Yang f u r t h e r p o s t u l a t e d t h a t a v e r a g i n g heavy consumption d u r i n g busy and s l a c k p e r i o d s , t h e food needs f o r an a d u l t male were about 365 c a t t i e s (485 pounds) o f r i c e a y e a r . When a v e r a g i n g t h e d i f f e r -ences between sex and a g e , each p e r s o n was e s t i m a t e d t o be equal t o 0 . 7 5 o f an a d u l t male i n h i s p r i m e . T h u s , the food consumption o f an average f a m i l y o f 4 . 8 persons would be t h a t o f 3 . 6 p e r s o n s ; and the minimum need f o r an average peasant f a m i l y y e a r l y would be about 1 ,314 c a t t i e s o f husked r i c e f o r f o o d . Adding 30 p e r c e n t o f t h i s amount f o r o t h e r n e c e s s i t i e s , t h e t o t a l minimum need would than be 29 2.141 c a t t i e s o f husked r i c e . Assuming t h a t a poor peasant f a m i l y n o r m a l l y c u l t i v a t e d about 6 mu o f l a n d o f which he owned 20 p e r c e n t and r e n t e d t h e r e s t , he would have about 2 , 3 1 8 c a t t i e s o f unhusked r i c e o r 1 ,507 c a t t i e s 71 o f husked r i c e (100 c a t t i e s o f unhusked r i c e was e s t i m a t e d t o equal about 65 c a t t i e s o f husked r i c e ) , 672 c a t t i e s from h i s own l a n d and 1 , 6 4 6 c a t t i e s o f unhusked r i c e from h i s r e n t e d l a n d . A g a i n s t t h e 30 minimum n e e d , h i s t o t a l y i e l d was about 30 p e r c e n t s h o r t o f s u b -s i s t e n c e , even b e f o r e he s e t a s i d e any r e i n v e s t m e n t c a p i t a l f o r the c r o p s o f t h e f o l l o w i n g y e a r . In t h e c a s e o f a m i d d l e p e a s a n t , a c c o r d i n g t o Y a n g , h i s p o s i t i o n was a l s o r a t h e r p r e c a r i o u s . He noted t h a t t h e m i d d l e peasant o p e r a t e d a farm o f 10 mu i n w h i c h 30 p e r c e n t was h i s own l a n d and t h e r e m a i n i n g r e n t e d from o t h e r s , h i s t o t a l n e t y i e l d would be 1 , 6 0 8 c a t t i e s from h i s own l a n d and 2 , 4 0 0 c a t t i e s from the r e n t e d l a n d a f t e r d e d u c t i n g r e n t and p r o d u c t i o n c o s t . H i s t o t a l g r o s s y i e l d o f 4 , 0 8 0 c a t t i e s o f unhusked r i c e , o r 2 , 6 5 2 c a t t i e s o f husked r i c e , when 31 compared t o t h e 2,141 c a t t i e s minimum consumption f o r a f a m i l y , seemed on t h e s u r f a c e t o g i v e t h e m i d d l e peasant a margin o f s a v i n g s t o s p a r e . However, s i n c e t h e m i d d l e peasant u s u a l l y employed some h i r e d hands and a p a r t o f t h e net income had t o be put a s i d e f o r r e i n v e s t m e n t i n t h e n e x t y e a r ' s c r o p s , h i s m a r g i n o f s a f e t y even f o r normal l i v i n g was p r e c a r i o u s . In monetary t e r m s , Luo and L i n p o i n t e d out t h a t i n t h e L o n g - y a n -dong V i l l a g e o f t h e same c o u n t y , l i f e was not easy f o r t h e l o w e r s t r a t a o f t h e p e a s a n t r y . They found t h a t 71.1 p e r c e n t o f t h e p e a s a n t s i n the v i l l a g e had an average annual income o f l e s s than 150 yuan 72 ( T a b l e 4 ) . A c c o r d i n g t o F e n g ' s c a l c u l a t i o n t h e b a s i c r e q u i r e m e n t 32 f o r a peasant f a m i l y ' s s u b s i s t e n c e was 150 yuan, and t h u s an o v e r -whelming m a j o r i t y o f t h e v i l l a g e was beneath p o v e r t y l i n e . TABLE 4 Average Annual Income Groups i n Long-yan-dong V i l l a g e Income Range Over One Year Yuan Under 100 100-200 200-300 3 0 0 -400 400 500 500-1 , 0 0 0 Over 1 , 0 0 0 T o t a l P e r c e n t 2 4 . 4 2 7 . 5 1 9 . 2 1 2 . 6 6 . 3 8 . 4 •1 .6 Average F a m i l y -Income 3 1 . 9 9 0 . 3 119.9 168.1 2 3 1 . 8 3 6 9 . 3 6 6 7 . 6 1 3 2 . 6 Average I n d i v i d -ual Income 9 . 9 2 2 . 6 2 9 . 0 31.1 3 5 . 3 5 2 . 8 8 0 . 9 2 9 . 2 S o u r c e : Luo and L i n , op. cit., p. 2 4 5 , T a b l e 14. A l t h o u g h t h e s i t u a t i o n i n t h e Old Phoenix V i l l a g e , w h i c h Wu and Huang s u r v e y e d , was not as g r i m as t h e c a s e we j u s t d i s c u s s e d , Wu and Huang n e v e r t h e l e s s found t h a t 34 p e r c e n t o f the f a m i l i e s t h e y i n t e r -viewed was 14.73 yuan s h o r t o f making ends m e e t , w h i l e 38 p e r c e n t had a 7 4 . 3 3 yuan margin o f s u r p l u s . A l t h o u g h t h e l a t t e r had a s u r p l u s , t h e i r p o s i t i o n was p r e c a r i o u s i f t h e r e s h o u l d be e x p e n d i t u r e s 73 f o r an annual o c c a s i o n l i k e i l l n e s s , m a r r i a g e , o r d e a t h , i f t h e r e were too many mouths t o f e e d i n t h e f a m i l y ; o r i f t h e r e were a 33 p a r t i a l c r o p l o s s from damage by storm o r i l l - t i m e d r a i n s . B. C r e d i t 1 . R u r a l P o v e r t y When a c o n s i d e r a b l e s e c t i o n o f t h e p e a s a n t r y had t o l i v e on minimum s u b s i s t e n c e w i t h a p r e c a r i o u s margin o f s a f e t y , and t h e m a j o r -i t y c o u l d not make enough income from t h e farm a l o n e to p r o v i d e even bare s u b s i s t e n c e f o r the f a m i l y because o f t h e heavy burden o f h i g h r e n t , r u r a l p o v e r t y w a s , not s u r p r i s i n g l y , the major c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f Guangdong v i l l a g e s . In f a c t , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e Land Commission i n 1937, about 40 p e r c e n t o f the peasant f a m i l i e s i n Guangdong, t h e i r annual income was under 200 yuan (see T a b l e 5 ) ; and i t was not u n -r e a s o n a b l e t o a c c e p t 200 yuan as the c u t t i n g l i n e f o r minimum s u b -s i s t e n c e . 1 In an e a r l i e r s u r v e y by t h e Land Commission a l s o found t h a t 5 2 . 0 8 p e r c e n t o f t h e peasant f a m i l i e s i n the p r o v i n c e were unable t o make ends meet ( T a b l e 6 ) . A c c o r d i n g t o B u c k ' s e s t i m a t e , 52 p e r c e n t o f the peasant f a m i l i e s i n South China were i n d e b t , and 2 t h e average amount o f debt was about 8 2 . 6 6 yuan. The Zhong-yang Non-ye Shi-yan-Suo's "% %. fff e s t i m a t e s o f peasant f a m i l y 3 i n d e b t e d n e s s ran to 60 p e r c e n t . TABLE 5 D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Annual Peasant F a m i l y Income i n Guangdong Income Range Income 0-•25 2 5 . 4 9 . 9 5 0 - 7 4 . 9 7 5 - 9 9 . 9 100-149.9 150- 1 9 9 . 9 200--249.9 yuan F a m i l i e s 0 06 0 . 7 0 2 . 4 8 4 . 9 8 12.56 16. 60 16 61 % Income 350 2 9 9 . 9 3 0 0 - 3 4 9 . 9 3 5 0 - 3 9 9 . 9 4 0 0 - 4 9 9 . 9 500+ yuan F a m i l i e s 13 56 9 . 8 2 6.47 7 . 9 6 8.17 % S o u r c e : Amano, op. cit., V o l . 2 , p. 206. 75 TABLE 6 D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Indebtedness o f Peasant F a m i l i e s i n Guangdong S u r p l u s B a l a n c e d In Debt No I n f o r m a t i o n 34.57 13.32 5 2 . 0 8 0 . 0 3 p e r c e n t S o u r c e : Amano, op. cit.j Vol . 2 , p. 207 The c r u s h i n g burden o f i n d e b t e d n e s s and i t s p e r v a s i v e n e s s i n t h e p r o v i n c e c o u l d be f u r t h e r i l l u s t r a t e d by a s u r v e y c a r r i e d out by t h e Zhong-shan C u l t u r a l and E d u c a t i o n I n s t i t u t e and Lingnan U n i v e r s i t y i n 1933. Of t h e 1 , 2 0 9 f a m i l i e s i n t e r v i e w e d , not o n l y were 5 8 . 9 p e r c e n t o f t h e poor peasant f a m i l i e s i n Pan-yu d i s t r i c t i n d e b t , but among t h e m i d d l e p e a s a n t s 5 2 . 8 p e r c e n t were i n c a p a b l e o f making ends meet w i t h o u t b o r r o w i n g from d i f f e r e n t s o u r c e s . ^ Chen a l s o found t h a t i n h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f s i x t y - s e v e n v i l l a g e s i n Pan-yu c o u n t y , 50 o f them had s e v e n t y o r more p e r c e n t o f t h e i r peasant f a m i l i e s i n d e b t . S p e c i f i c -a l l y , he p o i n t e d out t h a t e i g h t e e n o f them had 90 p e r c e n t o f t h e peasant f a m i l i e s i n d e b t , w h i l e , s i x t e e n o f them had 80 p e r c e n t , n i n e 5 had 70 p e r c e n t , and f i v e had 60 p e r c e n t . In Shun-de c o u n t y , t h e p i c t u r e was s i m i l a r — a b o u t 70 p e r c e n t o f t h e peasant households had t o l i v e on borrowed means; i t was t y p i c a l as w e l l as a l l t h e d i s t r i c t s i n t h e P e a r l R i v e r d e l t a . C h e n ' s s t a t i s t i c s , however, o f t e n where l o w e r 76 than what t h e y r e a l l y s h o u l d be because o f p a r t i c u l a r d i f f i c u l t i e s i n v o l v e d i n i n v e s t i g a t i n g i n d e b t e d n e s s . 2 . C r e d i t S o c i e t y With such w i d e s p r e a d p o v e r t y , i t was not uncommon t o see t h a t most poor p e a s a n t s had t o r e s o r t t o l o a n s t o s u b s i s t . W h i l e Buck noted t h a t i n Guangdong, 6 3 . 6 6 p e r c e n t o f t h e p e a s a n t s ' l o a n s had been i n c u r r e d t o meet household consumption r a t h e r than p r o d u c t i o n u s a g e s , 7 Yang was more s p e c i f i c i n p o i n t i n g out t h a t i n h i s s t u d y , t h e poor p e a s a n t s i n Nanching V i l l a g e g e n e r a l l y borrowed t o meet i m m e d i a t e , p r e s s i n g n e e d s - - s u c h as p a y i n g r e n t , b u y i n g f o o d , seeds o r f e r t i l i z e r to keep the f a m i l y o r the farm g o i n g - - w h i l e the m i d d l e p e a s a n t s commonly borrowed t o meet c r i t i c a l s i t u a t i o n s o f f a m i l y l i f e such as m a r r i a g e , P f u n e r a l , b i r t h d a y and c e l e b r a t i o n o f t h e b i r t h o f c h i l d . There were d i f f e r e n t c h a n n e l s f o r b o r r o w i n g — d e p e n d i n g on t h e s i z e o f the s i z e o f t h e l o a n as w e l l as t h e c r e d i t s t a n d i n g o f t h e d e b t o r . For s m a l l e r sums and f o r p e r s o n s who had good c r e d i t s t a n d i n g among f r i e n d s and r e l a t i v e s , t h e most p o p u l a r method was t o o r g a n i z e a c r e d i t s o c i e t y commonly c a l l e d qi-hui o r zuo-hui . The emergence o f t h i s t y p e o f c r e d i t s o c i e t y d a t e s back to t h e Tang d y n a s t y . I t s p e r s i s t e n c e and i t s p o p u l a r i t y were a r e f l e c t i o n o f t h e s e v e r e s h o r t a g e o f c a p i t a l as w e l l as t h e p e a s a n t s ' d e s p e r a t e need. 77 In t h i s , groups o f p e o p l e p a i d sums o f money a t r e g u l a r i n t e r -v a l s , t h e c o l l e c t i o n b e i n g p l a c e d a t t h e d i s p o s a l o f i n d i v i d u a l members i n t u r n . There were many v a r i a t i o n s o f t h i s t y p e o f c r e d i t s o c i e t y i n Guangdong and i n o t h e r p a r t s o f C h i n a as w e l l - - t h e yao-hui 44^t" , 9 f o r e x a m p l e , s u b s t i t u t e d g r a m f o r money. In any c a s e , t h e o p e r a t i n g p r i n c i p l e was e s s e n t i a l l y s i m i l a r . F e i gave the b e s t summary o f how i t o p e r a t e d : 1 ^ T h i s s o c i e t y i s a s o r t o f s a v i n g s y s t e m , i n t o which each member pays a c e r t a i n amount a t c e r t a i n i n t e r v a l s and from which he i s p a i d a c e r t a i n sum on a s p e c i f i e d d a t e . The s i z e o f t h e pay-ment t o be made by each p a r t i c i p a n t and the time a t which he w i l l be p a i d a r e p r e a r r a n g e d . Anyone i n need o f money may o r g a n i z e a s o c i e t y by e n l i s t i n g t e n o t h e r members. Each w i l l pay a p r e d e t e r m i n e d sum o f the one hundred d o l l a r s which t h e o r g a n i z e r r e c e i v e s . . . . T h e r e a f t e r , t h e s o c i e t y meets e v e r y s i x m o n t h s , u s u a l l y i n March and September, a t which time one member r e c e i v e s one hundred d o l l a r s and t h e r e s t make t h e i r payments. Members o t h e r than t h e o r g a n i z e r pay sums d i r e c t l y p r o p o r t i o n a t e t o t h e o r d e r i n which t h e y a r e p a i d , so t h a t , i n e f f e c t , t h e f i r s t f i v e a r e p a y i n g i n t e r e s t f o r l o a n s t h e y have r e c e i v e d , w h i l e the l a s t f i v e a r e r e c e i v i n g i n t e r e s t f o r money t h e y have d e p o s i t e d . The o r g a n i z e r , on the. o t h e r h a n d , r e -pays j u s t one hundred, d o l l a r s d u r i n g t h e f i v e - y e a r l i f e o f t h e s o c i e t y and has thus s e c u r e d a l o a n w i t h o u t i n t e r e s t . But he i s o b l i g e d t o o f f e r a f e a s t a t each meeting and has t h e r e s p o n -s i b i l i t y o f c o l l e c t i n g t h e money. F u r t h e r m o r e , i n c a s e o f d e f a u l t by any o f t h e s u b s c r i b e r s , he i s h e l d a c c o u n t a b l e . The f u n c t i o n s o f t h i s system depends on the i n v a r i a b l e d i s c h a r g e o f t h e i r o b l i g a t i o n s by t h e s u b s c r i b e r s , and t h i s i s s e c u r e d o n l y by e x i s t i n g t i e s o f f r i e n d s h i p and k i n s h i p . To i l l u s t r a t e how t h i s worked o u t , we can t a k e a l o o k a t t h e f o l l o w i n g t a b l e : 78 Time o f M e e t i n g 1 s t 2nd 3rd 4 t h 5th 6 t h 7 t h 8 t h 9 t h 10th 11th T o t a l O r g a n i z e r 0 18 16 14 12 10 10 8 6 4 2 100 Member 1 18 0 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 180 2 16 16 0 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 160 3 14 14 14 0 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 140 4 12 12 12 12 0 12 12 12 12 12 12 120 5 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 10 100 6 10 10 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 ' 1 0 100 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 0 8 8 8 80 8 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 0 6 6 60 9 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 0 4 40 10 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 20 R e c e i v e 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 In t h i s c a s e , member one who r e c e i v e d h i s hundred d o l l a r s a t t h e meeting f o l l o w e d i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r t h e i n i t i a l one was a c t u a l l y p a y i n g 180 d o l l a r s w h i l e member t e n who e v e n t u a l l y would r e c e i v e h i s share o f money was p a y i n g o n l y twenty d o l l a r s t o t a l , t h e e i g h t y d o l l a r s net p r o f i t he would r e c e i v e a t t h e end would be h i s share o f i n t e r e s t f o r t h e money he p a i d o u t . A qi-hui r a r e l y exceeded a 100 yuan amount and t h e term o f t h e s o c i e t y n o r m a l l y ran f o r under f i v e y e a r s ( T a b l e 7 ) . T h e o r e t i c a l l y , a person o f good c r e d i t s t a n d i n g c o u l d o r g a n i z e o r b e l o n g t o s e v e r a l s o -c i e t i e s and o b t a i n a s i z a b l e l o a n by c o m b i n i n g t h e proceeds from the 79 d i f f e r e n t s o c i e t i e s , but when t h e r e was a g e n e r a l s h o r t a g e o f c a p i t a l , one c o u l d not e a s i l y f i n d many members t o o r g a n i z e o r j o i n a s o c i e t y , When t h i s f a i l e d , one had t o go t o o t h e r s o u r c e s f o r l o a n s . TABLE 7 S i z e and Terms o f Loans o f C r e d i t S o c i e t i e s i n Guangdong Amount o f Loan Under 100 100-200 200-400 400-600 600+ yuan 51.1% 22.9% 17.1% 2.8% 5.7% Term Under 5 5-10 Over 10 y e a r s 5 3 . 9 % 30.8% 15.3% S o u r c e : Nong-qing. Bao-gao fc^**."* , 2 ( 1 ) , November 1934. C i t e d i n Amano, op. ait., V o l . 2 , p. 2 9 6 . 3 . Loans and I n t e r e s t Rates Buck p o i n t e d out t h a t i n g e n e r a l most p e a s a n t s i n Guangdong went t o t h e i r f r i e n d s and r e l a t i v e s when t h e y were i n need o f a l o a n ( T a b l e 8 ) . Presumably by u s i n g a d i f f e r e n t s e t o f c a t e g o r i e s and d i f f e r e n t c r i t e r i a f o r d e f i n i n g c a t e g o r i e s , t h e s t a t i s t i c s o f Nong-qing Bao-gao i n d i c a t e d t h a t peasants i n t h e p r o v i n c e , assumed t o be o t h e r 80 than f r i e n d s and r e l a t i v e s , o b t a i n e d t h e i r l o a n s m o s t l y from l a n d -l o r d s , pawnshops, and merchants ( T a b l e 9 ) . A c c o r d i n g t o the Shen-bao Nian-jian, however, i t was t h e r i c h p e a s a n t s who p r o v i d e d most o f t h e l o a n s t o needy peasants ( T a b l e 1 0 ) . These r e p o r t s seem, t o be c o n f u s i n g , but we can i n f e r t h a t a peasant i n need o f a l o a n went f i r s t t o h i s f r i e n d s and r e l a t i v e s ; but s i n c e t h e r e was a g e n e r a l s h o r t a g e o f c a p i t a l , he would o f t e n have t o seek h e l p t h r o u g h o t h e r c r e d i t c h a n n e l s . TABLE 8 P e a s a n t s ' Sources o f Loans i n Guangdong Channels o f C r e d i t Tung-x i a n g F r i e n d R e T a t i v e Merchant Pawnshop S t o r e P e r c e n t a g e 3 . 3 3 5 4 . 0 0 4 . 5 0 0 . 3 3 14.67 Channels o f C r e d i t L a n d l o r d Neighbour Nearby V i l l a g e Others P e r c e n t a g e 4 . 0 0 4 . 1 7 5 . 0 0 3 . 6 7 aTung-xiang i*ltff r e f e r s t o persons from t h e same v i l l a g e . S o u r c e : John L. B u c k , Land Utilization in China, Statistics, 1937. 81 TABLE 9 D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Sources o f Loans i n Guangdong Channels o f C r e d i t L o c a l Bank Co-op Pawn Shop Bank S t o r e L a n d l o r d R i c h Peasant Merchant P e r c e n -age 5 . 5 0 . 3 1 8 . 4 3 . 2 1 3 . 2 2 6 . 9 1 2 . 4 20.1 S o u r c e : Nong-qing Bao-gao, 2 ( 1 1 ) , November 1934. C i t e d i n Amano, op. cit., V o l . 2 , p. 227. When l o a n s were extended from s o u r c e s o t h e r than f r i e n d s and r e l a t i v e s , i n t e r e s t r a t e s were g e n e r a l l y u s u r i o u s . T h i s c e r t a i n l y was a r e f l e c t i o n o f t h e h i g h r i s k o f d e f a u l t and t h e absence o f a l t e r n a t i v e l e n d i n g f a c i l i t i e s . A c c o r d i n g t o t h e s t a t i s t i c s o f Nong-quing Bao-gao TABLE 10 D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Sources o f Loans i n Guangdong Channels o f C r e d i t Co-op F r i e n d / R e l a t i v e Land-l o r d R i c h Peasant Merchant L o c a l Bank Others P e r c e n t . . tage • 0 . 6 1 0 . 2 5 . 8 5 2 . 9 1 6 . 6 5 . 7 8 . 2 S o u r c e : Shen-bao Nian-jian ^ k - t ^ ' S - (Shen-bao Y e a r b o o k ) , V o l . 2 , 1934, p. 726. 82 o f 1934, t h e b u l k o f t h e p e a s a n t s ' l o a n s i n Guangdong p r o v i n c e , 4 8 . 2 p e r c e n t , had an annual i n t e r e s t r a t e o f 20 t o 30 p e r c e n t imposed on them w h i l e a n o t h e r 3 0 . 4 p e r c e n t had a h i g h e r i n t e r e s t r a t e o f 30 t o 40 p e r c e n t a n n u a l l y . 1 1 In the P e a r l R i v e r d e l t a r e g i o n , Luo and L i n ' s s t u d y o f Long-yan-dong v i l l a g e i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e normal i n t e r e s t r a t e f o r l o a n s was 20 p e r c e n t per month, but i t was not uncommon t o 12 f i n d numerous c a s e s where peasants were p a y i n g 40 t o 50 p e r c e n t . Yang r e v e a l e d t h a t even i n 1948 t h e i n t e r e s t r a t e f o r l o a n s i n Nanching v i l l a g e was n o r m a l l y 20 p e r c e n t f o r s i x months and 40 p e r -c e n t per a n n u m . ^ M o r e o v e r , most o f t h e l o a n s o b t a i n e d from t h e s e s o u r c e s would r e q u i r e some k i n d o f s e c u r i t y , m o r t g a g e , o r a t l e a s t a g u a r a n t o r ; even though most o f t h e s e l o a n s were s h o r t - t e r m l o a n s o f s i x t o t w e l v e months. The Nong-qing Bao-Gao p o i n t e d out t h a t 51.1 p e r c e n t o f t h e l o a n s i n Kuangtung p r o v i n c e was mortgage c r e d i t ; 2 1 . 6 p e r c e n t was g u a r a n t o r c r e d i t , w h i l e p e r s o n a l c r e d i t a c c o u n t e d f o r o n l y 2 7 . 3 14 p e r c e n t . The Land Commission i n 1937 i n d i c a t e d a s i m i l a r s t a t i s -t i c a l p i c t u r e : 47 p e r c e n t o f t h e l o a n s c o n t r a c t e d i n t h e p r o v i n c e r e q u i r e d a mortgage o f l a n d , 2 2 . 7 p e r c e n t r e q u i r e d a mortgage o f p r o p e r t y l i k e h o u s e s , and 11.3 p e r c e n t r e q u i r e d some k i n d o f p e r s o n a l items such as j e w e l l e r y , e t c . f o r s e c u r i t y w h i l e p e r s o n a l c r e d i t o n l y 15 a c c o u n t e d f o r 19 p e r c e n t . The terms o f t h e s e l o a n s were n o r m a l l y s h o r t : 53 p e r c e n t o f t h e l o a n s i n t h e p r o v i n c e was extended f o r s i x 1 g t o t w e l v e m o n t h s , and 15.7 p e r c e n t was under s i x months. 83 L o a n s , however, were not o n l y l i m i t e d t o c a s h . Loan on c r o p s were a l s o common. The s t a t i s t i c s o f a s u r v e y o f 49 xian i n Kuangtung p r o v i n c e r e p o r t e d t h a t 52 p e r c e n t o f t h e peasant f a m i l i e s was i n debt under c r o p - l o a n s , 1 7 and more than 50 p e r c e n t o f t h e s e l o a n s were o b t a i n e d from r i c h p e a s a n t s . ( T a b l e 11) TABLE 11 D i s t r i b u t i o n o f Sources o f C r o p - l o a n s i n Guangdong Channel o f F r i e n d / R i c h C r e d i t R e l a t i v e L a n d l o r d Peasant Merchants Others P e r c e n t a g e 1 5 . 4 11.1 5 0 . 4 1 . 5 4 7 .7 S o u r c e : Nong-qing Bao-gao, 2 ( 4 ) , A p r i l 1934. C i t e d i n Amano, op. cit.} V o l . 2 , p. 2 6 3 . The u s u a l i n t e r e s t charged on a l o a n i n g r a i n was 30 p e r c e n t f o r s i x 18 m o n t h s , a c c o r d i n g t o C h e n ' s e s t i m a t i o n . However, i n many c a s e s a much h i g h e r r a t e would r e s u l t because o f t h e l e n d e r ' s m a n i p u l a t i o n o f p r i c e and w e i g h t . 4 . Pawn Shops For the poor peasants w i t h o u t a good c r e d i t s t a n d i n g , t h e most common c h a n n e l s o f c r e d i t were t h e pawn shop and a temporary t r a n s -f e r e n c e o f t h e i r own l a n d , i f t h e y had a n y . There were t h r e e t y p e s 84 of pawnshops, t h e dang % , an and ya 3 o f f e r i n g d i f f e r e n t time p e r i o d s o r l i m i t s f o r redeeming t h e pawns. The dang u s u a l l y was s e t up w i t h a l a r g e c a p i t a l and t h e r e f o r e s e t up a l o n g e r t i m e p e r i o d o f t h r e e y e a r s s i n c e t h e y c o u l d a f f o r d t o s u s t a i n a l o n g e r rhythm o f c a p i t a l c i r c u l a t i o n . However, t h e y u s u a l l y engaged i n pawns o f h i g h v a l u e and q u a l i t y , i tems which were l o c a t e d m o s t l y i n the c i t i e s . The an and ya f i x e d terms a t two y e a r s and one y e a r r e s p e c -t i v e l y , but t h e r e was a l s o a t y p e o f ya known as xiao-ya +*f which s e t i t s redemption p e r i o d a t o n l y t h r e e months. A l l o f t h e s e pawn shops c o n d u c t e d b u s i n e s s by g r e a t l y u n d e r -a s s e s s i n g t h e v a l u e o f the pawns. A t t h e same time t h e y a l s o c h a r g e d e x h o r b i t a n t i n t e r e s t r a t e s . Yang o b s e r v e d t h a t . i n 1 9 4 8 - 1 9 4 9 , i n a nearby v i l l a g e o f N a n c h i n g , a r a t e o f 20 p e r c e n t f o r e v e r y t h r e e m o n t h s , o r 80 p e r c e n t per annum, was c h a r g e d . And t h i s , when 19 compared t o t h o s e i n o t h e r r e g i o n s , was r e l a t i v e l y l o w . Chen s u g g e s t e d t h a t t h e i n s t i t u t i o n o f ya was s p r e a d i n g o v e r t h e e n t i r e p r o v i n c e . Most o f t h e customers o f ya were t h e l e a s t w e l l - t o - d o p e a s a n t s . The m a j o r i t y o f a r t i c l e s pawned proved t o be l i v i n g n e c e s s i t i e s such as c l o t h i n g , c o t t o n q u i l t s , and a g r i c u l t u r a l implements such as h o e s , r a k e s , harrows and p l o u g h s . T h i s was i n d i c a t i v e o f the meagre r e s o u r c e s 20 t h e peasant f a m i l i e s had. When a peasant t e m p o r a r i l y t r a n s f e r r e d h i s l a n d i n o r d e r t o o b t a i n a l o a n , i t was c a l l e d dian-tian A® . Here t h e c r e d i t o r c o u l d 85 farm the l a n d h i m s e l f o r c o u l d r e n t i t out i n s t e a d o f c h a r g i n g i n t e r e s t , but t h e deed remained i n t h e hands o f t h e d e b t o r and t h e d e b t o r kept t h e l e g a l o w n e r s h i p . Many f a m i l i e s , a c c o r d i n g t o Y a n g , i n t h e v i l l a g e o f Nanching h a d , mortgaged t h e i r l a n d t h i s way and Chen found t h a t i n the t e n r e p r e s e n t a t i v e v i l l a g e s he s u r v e y e d i n t h e d i s t r i c t o f P a n - y u , t h e p e a s a n t s had mortgaged and s o l d 5 p e r c e n t o f t h e i r l a n d a r e a w i t h i n 21 f i v e y e a r s . 5 . Money Lenders S t i l l more c o m p l i c a t e d were t h e u s u r y p r a c t i c e s o f t h e p r o -f e s s i o n a l money l e n d e r s . There were many v a r i a t i o n s o f cash u s u r y i n Guangdong. " J i u - c h u S h i - s a n G u i " i-<& + r e f e r s t o t h e p r a c t i c e where t h e b o r r o w e r , i f he asked f o r a l o a n o f one yuan, would e x p e c t t o r e c e i v e o n l y 90 p e r c e n t o f t h e l o a n b u t , a f t e r one month, would have t o pay back t h e sum t o t a l o f 1 .13 yuan. " T a n g - f a n g - 1 i " t^%*'i on t h e o t h e r h a n d , demanded a monthly i n t e r e s t o f 25 p e r c e n t w h i c h was compounded e v e r y s i x months. " T o u - q i a n " meant t h e i m p o s i t i o n o f an annual i n t e r e s t o f 9 to 11 yuan f o r a 10 yuan l o a n . In t h e P e a r l R i v e r d e l t a t h e most w i d e l y p r a c t i c e d h i g h - i n t e r e s t l o a n , gao-li-dai 3 was " B u - q i a o - 1 i " . H e r e , i f one borrowed one yuan, he would be e x p e c t e d t o pay a d a i l y i n t e r e s t r a t e o f 10 p e r c e n t and 22 had up t o f i v e days t o pay back h i s l o a n w i t h i n t e r e s t . 86 6 . C r e d i t C o o p e r a t i v e s I t w a s , t h e r e f o r e , not easy f o r poor p e a s a n t s w i t h u n f a v o u r a b l e c r e d i t s t a n d i n g s t o improve t h e i r s i t u a t i o n by b o r r o w i n g . T h i s d i f f i -c u l t y was augmented by the l a c k o f a l t e r n a t i v e c r e d i t c h a n n e l s t h a t c o u l d o f f e r l o a n s w i t h r e l a t i v e l y low i n t e r e s t . T a b l e s 10 and 11 show t h a t o n l y a v e r y s m a l l p o r t i o n ( 0 . 3 and 0 . 6 p e r c e n t r e s p e c t i v e l y ) o f c a s h l o a n s i n r u r a l Guangdong was o b t a i n e d from c o o p e r a t i v e s , w h i l e t h e need f o r low i n t e r e s t l o a n s was o b v i o u s l y much g r e a t e r . Even when t h e r e were c r e d i t c o o p e r a t i v e s , needy p e a s a n t s d i d not have easy a c c e s s t o them due t o t h e o f t e n l o n g and c o m p l i c a t e d p r o c e d u r e s o f a p p l y i n g f o r and o b t a i n i n g a l o a n . In o r d e r t o a p p l y f o r a l o a n from t h e c r e d i t c o o p e r a t i v e s s e t up by t h e government f o r t h e purpose o f r e v i t a l i z i n g t h e v i l l a g e economy, t h e a p p l i c a n t would f i r s t have t o f i l l i n an e l a b o r a t e p e t i t i o n form w h i c h had t o be p r o c e s s e d t h r o u g h t h e b u r e a u c r a c y h i e r a r c h y b e f o r e an a c t u a l g r a n t was made. The o f f i c i a l s o f t h e l o c a l c o o p e r a t i v e , a c t i n g upon t h e p e t i t i o n s o f t h e i r members, had t o f i l l out a n o t h e r s e t o f forms t o hand t o t h e c o o p e r a t i v e ' s d i r e c t o r , who i n t u r n would have t o submit i t t o t h e d i r e c t o r o f t h e d i s t r i c t . A f t e r d e l i b e r a t i o n , t h e l a t t e r s i g n e d a f u r t h e r p e t i t i o n which would be p l a c e d b e f o r e the Committee o f C o o p e r a t i v e s o f t h e P r o v i n c i a l Government. T h i s committee c o l l e c t e d a l l p e t i t i o n s and n e g o t i a t e d w i t h t h e P r o v i n c i a l A g r i c u l t u r a l Banks f o r l o a n s . These 87 banks had been e s t a b l i s h e d by t h e p r o v i n c i a l government w i t h funds from t h e P r o v i n c i a l T r e a s u r y , funds which had been d e r i v e d from s u r -t a x e s on l a n d and o t h e r forms o f s i m i l a r a s s e s s m e n t s . From t h e P r o v i n c i a l A g r i c u l t u r a l B a n k s , s p e c i a l i n v e s t i g a t o r s were s e n t t o a s c e r t a i n t h e l o a n s i t u a t i o n and o n l y a f t e r the bank had s a t i s f i e d i t -s e l f as t o t h e soundness o f t h e s e c u r i t y , was t h e l o a n g r a n t e d through t h e same c h a n n e l s as t h e a p p l i c a n t was made. The whole p r o c e s s from t h e i n i t i a l p e t i t i o n t o t h e f i n a l g r a n t would t a k e a t l e a s t t h r e e months and v e r y o f t e n h a l f a y e a r . F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e r e were r e g u l a t i o n s which l i m i t e d a c o o p e r a t i v e member t o a l o a n o f not more than 15 yuan a t a t i m e . T h i s was o b v i o u s l y too s m a l l t o a l l o w f o r any improvement i n farm methods. M o r e o v e r , i n o r d e r t o l o w e r the r i s k s o f d e f a u l t s , t h e c o o p e r a t i v e s i n t r o d u c e d a system o f c o l l e c t i v e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r l o a n s . F a i l u r e t o meet a payment meant a burden on a l l o t h e r members. Even when l o a n s were g r a n t e d , t h e y were supposed t o be r e s t r i c t e d t o e x p e n d i t u r e s on a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n such as s e e d s , f e r t i l i z e r , and o t h e r a g r i c u l -t u r a l i m p l e m e n t s , thus t h e y were o f l i t t l e v a l u e t o most poor peasant who m o s t l y needed l o a n s f o r d a i l y n e c e s s i t i e s . With a l l t h e s e r e s t r i c t i o n s , t h e advantages c o o p e r a t i v e s might have t o o f f e r c o u l d e a s i l y be o f f s e t . A c o n c r e t e advantage was o n l y t o be found i n t h e c o m p a r a t i v e l y l o w e r i n t e r e s t r a t e o f f e r e d t o members: a l i t t l e l e s s than 20 p e r c e n t per annum w h i l e t h e p r e v a i l i n g r u r a l i n t e r e s t r a t e was o v e r 30 t o 40 p e r c e n t . 88 T h i s a d v a n t a g e , however, was not n e c e s s a r i l y shared by t h e poor and needy p e a s a n t s . In t h e f i r s t p l a c e , t h e s e c o o p e r a t i v e s were p r i m a r i l y t h e work o f the v i l l a g e g e n t r y . With a system o f c o l l e c t i v e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r d e f a u l t s , t h e management o f t h e c o o p e r a t i v e v e r y o f t e n r e j e c t e d memberships from poor p e a s a n t s who had few p o s s e s s i o n s and a poor c r e d i t s t a n d i n g . C o n s e q u e n t l y , i t was not unusual t o f i n d t h a t members were m i d d l e p e a s a n t s o r s m a l l l a n d l o r d s who had t h e b a s i c r e s o u r c e s o f p r o d u c t i o n and t h a t the membership o f c o o p e r a t i v e 23 was g e n e r a l l y s m a l l i n number. And n e e d l e s s t o s a y , when t h e 24 m a j o r i t y o f t h e peasant p o p u l a t i o n as i l l i t e r a t e , not o n l y was i t easy f o r t h e g e n t r y t o c o n t r o l t h e c o o p e r a t i v e s f o r t h e i r own purposes but t h i s a l s o d e v e l o p e d a n o t h e r a l l i a n c e o f power, w e a l t h , and p r e s t i g e among t h e g e n t r y , l a n d l o r d s , and r i c h p e a s a n t s . With easy a c c e s s t o t h e s e c h a n n e l s o f c r e d i t , t h e y c o u l d b o t h s e c u r e l o a n s t o a v o i d payment o f b u s i n e s s t a x e s and s u b - l o a n t o t h e poor i n o r d e r t o 25 e x t o r t u s u r i o u s i n t e r e s t . C. M a r k e t s 1 . L o c a l i z e d M a r k e t s and Crop P r i c e s In o r d e r t o meet c a s h o b l i g a t i o n s such as r e n t , t a x e s , and many b a s i c n e c e s s i t i e s , p e a s a n t s depended a g r e a t deal upon t h e s a l e o f h i s c r o p s . A g e n e r a l p r a c t i c e had been t o s e l l q u a l i t y produce w h i l e t h e i n f e r i o r was m o s t l y consumed a t home. 1 The p r o s p e r i t y o f 89 the p e a s a n t s depended upon t h e margin between c o s t s and p r i c e , a n d , more i m p o r t a n t , the c h a r a c t e r o f t h e m a r k e t i n g s y s t e m . The m a r k e t i n g s i t u a t i o n d i d not r e l i e v e any o f t h e burdens o f t h e poor p e a s a n t s . In most c a s e s t h e peasant had no c h o i c e but to s e l l i n t h e l o c a l m a r k e t . Other than i n a few l i m i t e d a r e a s , t h e peasant was kept from more d i s t a n t markets not o n l y by i n a d e q u a t e and thus c o s t l y t r a n s p o r t a t i o n , but a l s o by an i n f o r m a t i o n b a r r i e r . The u s u a l means o f t r a n s p o r t a t i o n were c a r t s , wheelbarrows o f a s i z e which a l m o s t made them c a r t s p u l l e d by men, and. t h e s h o u l d e r s o f human b e i n g s . Buck i n v e s t i g a t e d t h i r t e e n l o c a l i t i e s i n t h e Guangdong and F u j i a n a r e a s and found t h a t p e a s a n t s i n t h e s e d i s t r i c t s s o l d 62 p e r c e n t o f t h e i r produce a t t h e l o c a l market t o w n s , 24 p e r c e n t a t xian towns and 4 p e r c e n t i n t h e same v i l l a g e i n which t h e y were grown. Only 10 p e r c e n t were s o l d i n d i s t a n t m a r k e t s . Buck a l s o o b s e r v e d t h a t 75 p e r c e n t o f t h e p e a s a n t s were u s i n g t h e i r own energy r a t h e r than a n i m a l s t o c a r r y t h e i r produce t o t h e m a r k e t s ; w a t e r t r a n s p o r t v i a 3 man-operated j u n k s was a l s o p o p u l a r . C o n s e q u e n t l y , a m u l t i t u d e o f l i t t l e , l o c a l i z e d markets e x i s t e d / i n which p r i c e s f l u c t u a t e d v i o l e n t l y w i t h e v e r y change i n l o c a l s u p p l y . The UN R e l i e f and R e h a b i l i t a t i o n A d m i n i s t r a t i o n noted i n t h e i r w e e k l y r e p o r t on Guangdong i n 1946 t h a t " i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t o o b s e r v e t h e wide spread o f r i c e p r i c e s t h r o u g h o u t t h e p r o v i n c e . . . . One i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r i s o f c o u r s e t h e . d e p l o r a b l e l a c k o f t r a n s p o r t 90 and communications which tends t o d i v i d e t h e c o u n t r y i n t o s e m i - w a t e r -t i g h t s e p a r a t e economic u n i t s . T h i s and t h e r e l a t i o n o f s u p p l y t o 4 demand a r e o f c o u r s e c h i e f i n f l u e n c e s . " In t h e P e a r l R i v e r d e l t a r e g i o n , one would f i n d i n N a n - h a i , t h e p r i c e per p i c u l i n 1946 was CN$ 5 1 , 2 0 0 ( C h i n e s e n a t i o n a l c u r r e n c y ) , w h i l e i n P a n - y u , t h e p r i c e was CN$ 41 , 0 0 0 . R a t h e r than c a r r y h i s produce t o t h e l o c a l m a r k e t , the peasant c o u l d s e l l i t t o t h e middlemen who o f t e n came t o t h e v i l l a g e . Buck noted t h a t i n Guangdong and F u j i a n , 94 p e r c e n t o f t h e produce not s o l d a t t h e l o c a l markets was purchased by m i d d l e m e n , w h e r e a s , 2 p e r c e n t was 5 purchased by l o c a l consumers and 4 p e r c e n t by l o c a l p e a s a n t s . The peasant w a s , however, i n a weak p o s i t i o n t o d r i v e a b a r g a i n . L a c k i n g r e s e r v e s o f g r a i n and money and h a v i n g t o meet debt payments, he would o f t e n have t o s e l l h i s produce i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r h a r v e s t when t h e market p r i c e was f a l l i n g . Or because t h e peasant had borrowed money b e f o r e t h e h a r v e s t by p l e d g i n g h i s p r o s p e c t i v e c r o p o r s o l d i t o u t -r i g h t a t a g r e a t d i s c o u n t b e f o r e i t was c u t , he c o u l d not even get a f a i r p r i c e f o r h i s c r o p . He was a l s o i g n o r a n t o f t h e p r i c e s r u l i n g i n o t h e r d i s t r i c t s . O b l i g e d t o s e l l t o buyers i n h i s immediate n e i g h b o u r h o o d , he was thus easy p r e y f o r l o c a l g u i l d s , which had f i x e d p r i c e s and f o r b i d d e n o v e r - b i d d i n g among t h e m s e l v e s t o e n s u r e maximized p r o f i t s . S t o r a g e o f produce was an a d d i t i o n a l e x p e n s e ; l o s s e s c o u l d o c c u r t h r o u g h i n s e c t s , r o d e n t s , dampness, f i r e and t h e f t . T h i s h e l p e d 91 t o a c c o u n t f o r h i g h e r g r a i n p r i c e s s e v e r a l months a f t e r h a r v e s t , a t i m e when p e a s a n t s ' g r a i n r e s o u r c e s were a t t h e i r l o w e s t . The s m a l l peasants o f Guangdong, s u b j e c t t o s l o w t u r n o v e r , h i g h r e n t , and l a c k o f r e s o u r c e s , were o f t e n not a b l e t o s u r v i v e t h e i n t e r v a l between sowing and h a r v e s t i n g w i t h o u t b o r r o w i n g g r a i n a t a much h i g h e r p r i c e than t h e y had been p a i d f o r i t . W h i l e t h e s e p e a s a n t s a l r e a d y had t o pay h i g h i n t e r e s t r a t e s f o r t h e i r l o a n s i n g r a i n , t h e y were f a c e d w i t h s t i l l h i g h e r i n c r e a s e s i n t h e , i n t e r e s t r a t e from a g e n e r a l 28 p e r c e n t monthly i n 1938 t o 3 9 : p e r c e n t per month i n 1946 f o r a t h r e e month l o a n . For a s i x month l o a n , t h e r a t e r o s e even h i g h e r , i n c r e a s i n g from 42 p e r c e n t t o 63 p e r c e n t monthly d u r i n g t h e y e a r s between 1939-1946 ( T a b l e 1 2 ) . TABLE 12 I n t e r e s t Rates f o r Loans i n G r a i n , 1939-1946 Year 3 Month Loan 6 Month Loan Year 3 Month Loan 6 Month Loan 1.938 28 42 1943 31 511 1939 27 42 1944 38 63 1940 26 41 1945 35 59 1941 25 41 1946 39 63 1942 26 41 - -S o u r c e : Zhong-hua Min-guo Tong-ji Nian-jian 't& ® (The S t a t i s t i c s Yearbook o f t h e R e p u b l i c o f C h i n a ) , 1947, pp. 9 3 -9 4 . 92 CHAPTER 2 NOTES A. L a n d : The Changing Tenancy System Huang Y i n - s e n g , Chang H s i - c h a n g et al., "Change i n Land Owner-s h i p and t h e Fate o f Permanent Tenancy" i n Agrarian China: Selected Source Materials from Chinese Authors (London: A l l e n & U n w i n , 1 9 3 9 ) , pp. 2 5 - 2 6 . A l b e r t F e u e r w e u r k e r , The Chinese Economy 1912-1949 (Ann A r b o r , M i c h i g a n : The U n i v e r s i t y o f M i c h i g a n , C e n t e r f o r C h i n e s e S t u d i e s , M i c h i g a n Papers i n C h i n e s e S t u d i e s , No. 1 , 1 9 6 8 ) . See a l s o Zhong-guo Jing-ji Nien-jian 1934, pp. G-236. 3 Guangdong Jing-ji Nian-jian 1942, pp. G-46. 4 Ibid.. See a l s o F e n g , op. cit., p. 9 3 2 . 5 Amano, op. cit., p. 3 4 5 ; see a l s o pp. 4 7 8 - 5 2 0 . 6 Chen Zheng-mo ^ , Zhong-guo Ge-sheng Di-zu "t >3 (Land Rents i n t h e C o u n t i e s o f C h i n a ) ( S h a n g h a i : Commercial P r e s s , 1 9 3 6 ) , p. 6 1 . ~^Zhong-guo Jing-ji Nian-jian 1934, pp. G - 4 9 - 5 0 . o Amano, op. cit., p. 426. 9 Guangdong Jing-ji Nian-jian 1942, pp. G-48. ^ C h e n H a n - s e n g , op. cit., p. 132. ^ A m a n o , op. cit., p. 3 5 6 ; a l s o p. 357: a c c o r d i n g t o t h e N a t i o n a l Land Commission R e p o r t , i n Guangdong p r o v i n c e , 1 5 . 3 4 p e r c e n t o f peasants p a i d cash r e n t , 8 4 . 6 0 p e r c e n t p a i d r e n t i n g r a i n and o n l y 0 . 0 3 p e r c e n t was under share r e n t s y s t e m . Buck, , i n h i s Land Utilization in China, s u g g e s t e d t h a t t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n i n South C h i n a was: Cash r e n t , 3 9 . 1 4 p e r c e n t ; i n g r a i n , 6 0 . 4 3 p e r c e n t and s h a r e r e n t , 0 . 4 3 p e r c e n t . C i t e d i n Amano, Ibid., p. 3 5 9 . 93 Shina Nogyo Kiso Tokei Shiryo: Ni * ? r & * & * ^ *£ i*\ • *-( B a s i c R e f e r e n c e M a t e r i a l s on C h i n e s e A g r i c u l t u r a l S t a t i s t i c s , V o l . 2 ) , (Tokyo: To-a K e n k y u - s h o , 1 9 4 4 ) , p. 143. 13 Zhong-guo Jing-ji Nian-jian 1934, pp. G-235. ^ Z h a n g B a i - y u ^ - ^ 1 ^ & Wang Y i n - y u a n - ; i ft , Zhong-guo Nong-dian Wen-ti 1-# f-11* (The Problem o f Tenancy i n C h i n a ) ( S h a n g h a i : Commercial P r e s s , 1 9 4 6 ) , p. 9 0 . 15 Chen H a n - s e n g , op. cit., pp. 56--S8. 1 c Amano, op. cit., p. 447. ^ C h e n H a n - s e n g , op. cit., pp. 6 0 - 6 1 . 18 Luo and L i n , op. cit., p. 2 4 3 . 19 Zhang & Wang, op. cit., p. 87. 20 Amano, op. cit., p. 4 5 0 . 21 R . H . Tawney, Land and Labour in China ( B o s t o n : Beacon P r e s s , 1 9 6 6 ) , p. 6 6 . 22 Chen H a n - s e n g , op. cit., p. 6 3 . 23 F e n g , op. cit., p. 9 4 3 . See a l s o Guangdong Nong-min Yun-dong, p. 70. 24 Zhong-guo Nong-min ^ h g & f t ( C h i n e s e P e a s a n t s ) , 1926. 25 F e n g , op. cit., p. 2 3 5 . For t e n a n t s who had more than 10 mu o f l a n d t o f a r m , the b a l a n c e was: Income P r o d u c t i o n C o s t Other Expenses Rent S u r p l u s 1782 368 561 632 241 yuan For t e n a n t s who had 5-10 mu: Income P r o d u c t i o n C o s t Other Expenses Rent S u r p l u s 945 174 333 352 86 yuan 94 2 5 ( c o n t i n u e d ) However, by c l o s e e x a m i n a t i o n , we f e e l t h a t t h e s u r p l u s e s might be a r e s u l t o f o v e r - e s t i m a t i n g the a c t u a l income r e c e i v e d by t h e p e a s a n t s I f we a c c e p t t h e e s t i m a t e t h a t f o r 10 mu o f medium-low grade l a n d , t h e annual g r a i n p r o d u c t i o n would be no more than 27 p i c u l and t h a t t h e average p r i c e f o r g r a i n per p i c u l a t t h e market was 6 yuan, t h e s u r p l u s e s a r e o b v i o u s l y g r o s s l y e x a g g e r a t e d , even i f we have doubled t h e income assuming t h a t t h e y c o u l d a f f o r d t o r e n t h i g h - g r a d e l a n d f o r t h e i r f a r m i n g . Luo and L i n , op. ait., p. 241. Wu and Hunag, op. d t . 3 pp. 2 6 1 - 2 6 2 . Y a n g , op. d t . 3 pp. 5 4 - 5 8 . The source, has 2,141 c a t t i e s but t h i s must be i n c o r r e c t . T h i r t y p e r c e n t added t o 1 ,314 c a t t i e s s h o u l d be 1 , 7 0 8 . 2 c a t t i e s . 30 A g a i n , t h e p e r c e n t a g e s h o u l d be 11.77 p e r c e n t . 31 The c o r r e c t f i g u r e s h o u l d be about 5 5 . 2 p e r c e n t . However, we c o u l d a l s o assume t h a t the h i g h e r income peasant f a m i l i e s had a l a r g e r s i z e o f 5 . 2 persons r a t h e r than 4 . 8 based on Wu and Huang's o b s e r v a t i o n i n t h e Old Phoenix V i l l a g e i n the same c o u n t y . See Wu and Huang, op. dt.3 p. 262. 3 2 F e n g H e - f a >3>*-t£ , Nong-oun She-hui-xue Da-gang % ^ M ^ ' ^ K ^ ( P r i n c i p l e s o f Rural S o c i o l o g y ) ( S h a n g h a i : Commercial P r e s s , 1942). Wu and Huang, op. d t . 3 p. 267. 95 B. C r e d i t 'The Zhong-guo Nong-min a r t i c l e and t h e C h i n e s e N a t i o n a l E v a n g e l i c a l C h r i s t i a n A s s o c i a t i o n ' s e s t i m a t e both were about 170 yuan i n 1926-1927.. (See e a r l i e r d i s c u s s i o n on r u r a l p o v e r t y . ) A c c o u n t i n g f o r i n f l a t i o n and p r i c e i n c r e a s e s , t h u s , i t would be r e a s o n a b l e t o a c c e p t 200 yuan as t h e amount n e c e s s a r y t o m a i n t a i n s u b s i s t e n c e i n 1937. Amano, op. cit., V o l . 2 , p. 210. ^Ibid. 4 See Chen H a n - s e n g , op. ait., p. 133. 5Ibid., p. 8 8 . 6Ibid., p . 8 9 . 7 Amano, op. ait., V o l . 2 , p. 2 2 3 . g Y a n g , op. cit., p . 6 8 . g See Amano, op. cit., V o l . 2 , pp. 2 9 3 - 3 0 8 . A l s o Yang Xi-meng 4f toi , Zhong-guo He-hui Zhi Yen-jiu *f 13 •<- H% (A Study on C r e d i t S o c i e t i e s i n C h i n a ) ( B e i j i n g : Commercial P r e s s , 1 9 3 4 ) . See a l s o s h o r t d e s c r i p t i o n s , Guangdong Jing-ji Nian-jian 1942, pp. G-120. ^ F e i H s i a o - t u n g , Eavthbound China ( C h i c a g o : U n i v e r s i t y o f C h i c a g o P r e s s , 1 9 4 5 ) , pp. 120-121. ^ A m a n o , op. cit., V o l . 2 , p. 250. See a l s o Shina Nogyo Kiso Tokei Shiryo: Ni, p. 152. 12 Luo and L i n , op. ait., p. 2 4 5 . 13 Y a n g , op. cit., p. 70. 14 Amano, op. cit., V o l . 2 , p. 237. 96 }SIbid., p. 247. UIbid., p. 2 6 3 . 1 7 C h e n , op. ait., p. 8 9 . I o y a n g , op. ait., p. 70. 1 9 S e e C h e n , op. cti., p. 9 0 . T a b l e o f i n t e r e s t r a t e s on l o a n s i n g r a i n . 20Ibid., p. 9 3 . 21 Y a n g , op. ait., pp. 70-71 . 99 See Guangdong Jing-ji Nian-jian 1942, pp. G-120. A l s o Amano, op. ait., V o l . 2 , pp. 2 5 8 - 2 5 9 ; Feng H e - f a , op. ait., p. 9 3 3 ; Yan Zheng-p i n g /& et at. ( e d s . ) , Zhong-guo Jin-dai Jing-ji-shi Tong-ji Zi-liu Xuan-ji <t $1 ± <l5 i ^ st ; 0 * r & ( S e l e c t e d Volume o f R e f e r e n c e M a t e r i a l s on Modern C h i n e s e Economic H i s t o r y S t a t i s t i c s ) ( B e i j i n g : Ke-xue C h u - b a n - s h e , 1 9 5 5 ) , pp. 3 4 0 - 3 4 1 , 3 5 0 - 3 5 3 . 2 3 L u o Zheng-gang % £ t $ , "Zhong-guo Nong-cun He-zuo Yun-dong Di Z i - s h u L u - x i a n " *t \% & ^ ii> ^ ft* J*f& (The L i n e o f S e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n o f t h e C o o p e r a t i v e Movement i n C h i n e s e V i l l a g e s ) , Xin-Zhong-hua 4 f r t ^ (New C h i n a ) , 5 ( 1 3 ) , J u l y 1 0 , 1937. 24 See B u c k , op. ait., p. 373. A l s o Wu and Hunang, op. ait., p. 278 p o i n t e d out t h a t i n t h e v i l l a g e o f Old P h o e n i x , o n l y 11 t o 12 p e r c e n t o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n were l i t e r a t e . Wong L i - j e n , "The E x p e r i e n c e s o f a D i s t r i c t D i r e c t o r o f Co-o p e r a t i v e s " i n Agrarian China: Selected Source Materials from Chinese Authors (London: A l l e n & U n w i n , 1 9 3 9 ) , p. 216. C. M a r k e t s Tawney, op. ait., p. 5 4 . 2 B u c k , op. cit., p. 354. 3 Ibid., p. 3 5 3 . 4 U n i t e d N a t i o n s R e l i e f and R e h a b i l i t a t i o n A d m i n i s t r a t i o n Kwangtung Weekly Report ( C a n t o n : UN R e l i e f and R e h a b i l i t a t i o n Admin t r a t i o n O f f i c e , 1 9 4 6 ) , Nos. 1 - 4 , p. 6 . B u c k , op. cit., pp. 3 4 8 - 3 4 9 . CHAPTER 3 RURAL POVERTY AND RURAL UNDERDEVELOPMENT A. P o v e r t y and Peasant E x p e d i e n c y Faced w i t h problems o f l a n d , c r e d i t , m a r k e t i n g and many o t h e r s , t h e margin o f s u r v i v a l f o r most poor p e a s a n t s i n Guangdong was i n any event q u i t e n a r r o w ; and o b v i o u s l y t h e y had t o , t o t h e b e s t o f t h e i r a b i l i t y , m a n i p u l a t e t h e s o c i a l and economic environment t o cope w i t h the p e r v a d i n g p o v e r t y . D i f f e r e n t e x p e d i e n t measures were adopted by t h e needy p e a s a n t s . The c r e d i t s o c i e t i e s o r g a n i z e d by t h e p e a s a n t s among t h e i r peers and r e l a t i v e s , a l t h o u g h t h e y c o u l d not s o l v e t h e c o r e o f t h e i r problems o f c r e d i t , was one o f such m e a s u r e s . The emergence o f t h e peasant a s s o c i a t i o n s i n d i s t r i c t s o u t s i d e o f t h e d e l t a a r e a , a l t h o u g h i t c o u l d not a l t e r t h e e x p l o i t i v e r e l a t i o n s between t h e p e a s a n t s and the c l a n / l a n d l o r d s , was a n o t h e r r e f l e c t i o n o f t h e i r e x p e d i e n c y . The most common a c t i v i t i e s most poor peasants engaged i n t o cope w i t h t h e problem o f s u b s i s t e n c e w e r e , however, s u b s i d i a r y a c t i v -i t i e s , both a g r i c u l t u r a l and n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l , i n which s u p p l e m e n t a r y income c o u l d be d e r i v e d . A c c o r d i n g t o t h e s t a t i s t i c s o f Nong-qing Bao-gao, 4 p e r c e n t o f t h e p e a s a n t s . i n Guangdong engaged i n s i l k cocoon r a i s i n g ; 11.4 p e r c e n t i n f i s h f a r m i n g ; 3 . 5 p e r c e n t i n bee-98 99 k e e p i n g ; 9 . 3 p e r c e n t i n s p i n n i n g and weaving c l o t h ; 5 . 2 p e r c e n t i n b r i c k - m a k i n g ( w i t h mud); 9.1 p e r c e n t i n b a s k e t r y , h a t - w e a v i n g and s a n d a l - m a k i n g ( w i t h s t r a w s ) ; 16.7 p e r c e n t h i r e d t h e m s e l v e s out as c a s u a l l a b o r e r s ; 4 1 . 9 p e r c e n t c u t g r a s s from h i l l s i d e s t o s e l l f o r f u e l ; 1 3 . 6 p e r c e n t peddled p a r t - t i m e ; and 4 . 9 p e r c e n t d i d p a r t - t i m e c a r p e n t e r w o r k , w h i l e 3 . 6 p e r c e n t s e w e d . 1 Nong-qing Bao-gao n o t e d , however, t h a t most o f t h e s e a c t i v i t i e s were w a n i n g , e s p e c i a l l y s p i n n i n g and w e a v i n g , cocoon r a i s i n g , f i s h -f a r m i n g , b r i c k - m a k i n g and h i r i n g o u t . The o n l y e x c e p t i o n t o t h i s were g r a s s - c u t t i n g and p e d d l i n g , b o t h o f w h i c h r e q u i r e d v e r y l i t t l e c a p i t a l o r s k i l l . Even t h e s e a c t i v i t i e s d i d not g e n e r a t e l a r g e i n c o m e s : the p e d d l i n g b u s i n e s s was o f t e n not v e r y g o o d , and c u t t i n g g r a s s was l i m i t e d by g e o g r a p h i c b o u n d a r i e s (one c o u l d not c u t g r a s s t h a t was w i t h i n t h e b o u n d a r i e s of n e i g h b o u r i n g v i l l a g e s ) , t h e a v a i l -a b i l i t y o f h i l l y l a n d , and t h e amount o f g r a s s t h a t c o u l d be c u t . At t h e same t i m e t h a t f a r m i n g a l o n e would not p r o v i d e a l i v e l i h o o d and o t h e r o c c u p a t i o n s were not a v a i l a b l e o r c o u l d not p r o v i d e adequate supplementary i n c o m e , c r e d i t f a c i l i t i e s g e n e r a l l y d i s c r i m i n a t e d a g a i n s t t h e n e e d i e s t o f t h e p e a s a n t . Thus t h e p o s i t i o n o f t h e s e poor peasants o f f e r e d l i t t l e hope f o r improvement, t h e y c o u l d seldom r i s e above t h e s e economic r e s t r i c t i o n s . The number o f t e n a n t s had been i n c r e a s i n g s t e a d i l y s i n c e 1911, an i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e i r d e t e r i o r a t i n g p o s i t i o n . I n 1911, 52 p e r c e n t o f t h e p e a s a n t s i n Guangdong p r o v i n c e were t e n a n t s , but by 1921 t h e p e r c e n t a g e had 100 3 r e a c h e d 57 p e r c e n t and i t was 58 p e r c e n t i n 1933. Chen observed t h a t i n t h e d e l t a r e g i o n among t h e t e n r e p r e s e n t a t i v e v i l l a g e s he had i n v e s t i g a t e d from 1928 t o 1 9 3 3 , t h e number o f poor peasant f a m i l i e s r o s e from 286 h o u s e h o l d s to 326 h o u s e h o l d s ; l a n d l e s s l a b o u r e r f a m i l i e s i n c r e a s e d from 83 t o 100 h o u s e h o l d s . In 1928, 58 p e r c e n t o f t h e poor peasant f a m i l i e s owned no l a n d ; by 1933 t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f l a n d l e s s poor peasant f a m i l i e s was 6 0 . 4 p e r c e n t . In o t h e r w o r d s , t h e y were 4 l o s i n g an average o f 4 . 4 - p e r c e n t o f t h e i r l a n d each y e a r . Even f o r t h o s e who c o u l d keep t h e i r economic p o s i t i o n s , i t was d i f f i c u l t t o c l i m b h i g h e r on t h e " a g r i c u l t u r a l l a d d e r . " Hunag e s t i m a t e d t h a t i n 1937 t h e average s u r p l u s f o r each mu o f f i e l d i n Guangdong was about 6 . 5 3 yuan w h i l e the average l a n d p r i c e was 72 yuan per mu. In o t h e r w o r d s , i t would t a k e an average o f 11 .03 " p u r c h a s e y e a r " f o r a peasant 5 t o a c q u i r e a mu o f l a n d . I t was a common phenomenon then t o see p e a s a n t s whose l i f e was b l e a k r e s o r t t o e m i g r a t i o n from t h e i r v i l l a g e s f o r both s e a s o n a l and l o n g - t e r m p e r i o d s . The s t a t i s t i c s o f Nong-qing Bao-gao r e v e a l e d t h a t i n 1934, 71.7 p e r c e n t o f t h e c o u n t i e s i n Guangdong had p e a s a n t s l e a v i n g t h e i r v i l l a g e s . Among t h e s e , 8 3 , 8 3 0 peasant f a m i l i e s (about 3 . 4 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l peasant p o p u l a t i o n i n t h e c o u n t i e s w i t h l e a v i n g p e a s a n t s ) l e f t t h e i r v i l l a g e s as a f a m i l y w h i l e 261,252 peasant f a m i l i e s (about 1 0 . 5 p e r c e n t o f t h e peasant p o p u l a t i o n i n c o u n t i e s w i t h l e a v i n g p e a s a n t s ) had t h e i r c h i l d r e n l e a v i n g t h e i r v i l l a g e s . Of a l l t h e p e a s a n t s who l e f t t h e i r v i l l a g e s , 4 5 . 6 p e r c e n t 101 were t e n a n t s and 22.1 p e r c e n t were l a b o u r e r s . L o o k i n g more c l o s e l y , 6 7 . 6 p e r c e n t o f t h e peasants who l e f t t h e i r v i l l a g e s had l e s s than 5 mu o f l a n d , and 2 6 . 8 p e r c e n t who had l e s s than 10 mu (but more than 5 mu) J T h i r t y - s i x p o i n t n i n e p e r c e n t o f them came from f a m i l y s i z e of f i v e t o s i x persons w h i l e 3 5 . 5 p e r c e n t o f them were from f a m i l i e s o w i t h t h r e e t o f o u r p e o p l e . For t h o s e who l e f t t h e i r v i l l a g e s as a f a m i l y , 5 0 . 9 p e r c e n t q went t o t h e c i t y t o f i n d j o b s . A n e a r l y equal amount ( 5 2 . 4 p e r c e n t ) o f t h e y o u n g s t e r s who l e f t t h e i r f a m i l i e s i n t h e v i l l a g e s a l s o went to the c i t y f o r o t h e r j o b o p p o r t u n i t i e s . 1 ^ Among t h e v a r i o u s ' r e a s o n s g i v e n f o r l e a v i n g t h e i r v i l l a g e s , 2 3 . 7 p e r c e n t c l a i m e d t h a t t h e y l e f t because o f p o v e r t y ; i t was i m p o s s i b l e f o r them t o make a l i v i n g i n t h e i r v i l l a g e s (See T a b l e 1 3 ) . In a more d e t a i l e d geo-g r a p h i c a l breakdown, Chen s u g g e s t e d t h a t i n t h e E a s t e r n p a r t o f G u a n g d o n g - - i n M e i - x i a n and J i a o - 1 i n g - % X - - t h e annual e m i g r a t i o n r a t e , e x c l u d i n g t h o s e who went o v e r s e a s , had i n c r e a s e d by 35 p e r c e n t i n 1933; i n t h e Southwestern p a r t - - s u c h as Mao-ming ^ 0ft and X i n - y i i ' h i - - t h e r a t e was i n c r e a s e d by about 30 p e r c e n t ; w h i l e i n t h e m i d d l e d e l t a r e g i o n c o v e r i n g S h u n - d e , P a n - y u , Zhong-shan and T a i - s h a n , t h e r a t e i n c r e a s e d by 20 p e r c e n t . And i n t h e s e c a s e s , most peasants l e f t t o become c o o l i e s , p e d d l e r s o r s o l d i e r s . 1 1 102 TABLE 13 Reasons f o r Peasants L e a v i n g V i l l a g e s i n Guangdong B a n k r u p t c y o f V i l l a g e Economy I n s u f f i c i e n t C u l t i v a t e d F i e l d s Too D e n s e l y P o p u l a t e d D i f f i c u l t y i n R u r a l C r e d i t F l o o d s Droughts 6 . 3 2.1 4 . 9 4 . 2 4 . 9 4 . 2 i B a n d i t s Other N a t u r a l D i s a s t e r s Heavy Taxes P o v e r t y and T o i 1 s High Rents Bad H a r v e s t 9.1 2 . 8 2 3 . 7 8 . 4 1 . 4 5 . 6 Low P r i c e s f o r tP r o d u c e Waning A u x i l i a r y O c c u p a t i o n s To A t t e n d School B u s i n e s s . . . o r . , 0 t h e r O c c u p a t i o n s Others 3 . 5 4.9 0 . 7 2.1 11 .2 S o u r c e : Non-qing Bao-gao, 4 ( 7 ) , 1934, p. 173; a l s o i n Shina Nogyo Kiso Tokei Shiryo: Ni, p. 178. B. R u r a l Underdevelopment The r u r a l s i t u a t i o n i n Guangdong d e s c r i b e d i n t h e f o r e g o i n g s e c t i o n s , t o some s c h o l a r s , was n o t h i n g but temporary r u r a l d e p r e s s i o n . In t h e i r v i e w , t h e p r e - 1 i b e r a t i o n r u r a l economy was an i n t e n s e l y c o m p e t i t i v e economy o f i n d i v i d u a l f r e e h o l d e r s ; t h e r e was c o n s t a n t m o b i l i t y , both upward and downward. 1 The r e l a t i o n s between c l a n / l a n d l o r d s and peasant t e n a n t s were o f a p a t r o n - c l i e n t b o n d , 103 p r o v i d i n g t h e p e a s a n t s t h e r i g h t t o s u b s i s t e n c e and a "fundamental 2 s o c i a l m o r a l i t y " o f t r a d i t i o n a l C h i n e s e peasant s o c i e t y . In t h i s v i e w , t h e p r i m a r y l o y a l t i e s o f p e a s a n t s were t o t h e f a m i l y because f a m i l y endeavours p r o v i d e d t h e p r i n c i p a l means f o r s u b s i s t e n c e a n d , where p o s s i b l e , s e l f - s u f f i c i e n c y . N o n e t h e l e s s , t h e meagre r e s o u r c e s o f t h e c o n j u g a l k i n s h i p group u s u a l l y l i m i t e d t h e range o f f a m i l y s o c i a l s e r v i c e s t o t h e i n d i v i d u a l peasant household i t s e l f . Beyond such f a m i l y - o r i e n t e d s o c i a l s e r v i c e s , p e a s a n t s sought s o c i a l s e c u r i t y i n t h e i r i n t e r p e r s o n a l r e l a t i o n s w i t h o t h e r v i l l a g e r s , p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e companions whom t h e y r e s p e c t e d as d e f e n d e r s o f communal s o l i d a r i t y . The p a t r o n - c l i e n t mode a l s o s u g g e s t s t h a t beyond the immediate f a m i l y , the common cause o f a f a m i l y and neighbourhood w e l f a r e o f t e n encouraged m a r g i n a l but m e a n i n g f u l mutual a s s i s t a n c e and p r o t e c t i o n t o t e n a n t s o f common b l o o d and r e s i d e n t i a l t i e s . T h u s , peasants t r a d i t i o n a l l y l o o k e d t o r e s p e c t e d and r e l i a b l e l e a d e r s among t h e i r own t i e s t o p r o t e c t them from b a n d i t s o r i n j u s t i c e s ; t o c a r r y on r e -d i s t r i b u t i v e p r o c e s s e s such as t h e r o t a t i o n o f r e n t e d l a n d among k i n s m e n ; and t o m a i n t a i n a v a r i e t y o f s o c i a l s e r v i c e s on a community-wide b a s i s . In o t h e r w o r d s , t h e c l a n / l a n d l o r d was e x p e c t e d t o p r o v i d e a measure o f s u b s i s t e n c e c r i s i s i n s u r a n c e f o r t h e p e a s a n t s i n exchange f o r t h e i r work; and as a s e l f - p e r c e i v e d l o c a l p a t r o n , t h e c l a n / l a n d l o r d was a l s o assumed t o p e r f o r m . a h o s t o f b r o k e r a g e s e r v i c e s f o r t h e i r t e n a n t s v i s - a - v i s t h e o u t s i d e w o r l d . 104 To view t h e r u r a l s i t u a t i o n i n p r e - 1 i b e r a t e d Guangdong i n t h e s e terms i s b a s i c a l l y t o view t h e s o c i e t y i n an i n t e g r a t i o n i s t a p p r o a c h . Both r u r a l p o v e r t y and t h e l a n d l o r d - p e a s a n t r e l a t i o n e x i s t e d o n l y as g i v e n s o c i a l r e a l i t i e s . The t e n a n t s o r p e a s a n t s were assumed t o a c c e p t t h e exchange o f s e r v i c e s w i t h l a n d l o r d s as b e n e f i t s bestowed by t h e p a t r o n s , a l t h o u g h t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p i s s i m p l y deemed an unequal one. The c o n f l i c t s o v e r such exchanges were never r e c o g n i z e d as f o r c e s which can produce c h a n g i n g s o c i a l r e a l i t i e s ; nor t h e e x p l o i t i v e n a t u r e o f such exchanges was c o n s i d e r e d an i m p o r t a n t element i n t h e s o c i a l p r o c e s s e s . 3 H e r e , t h i s c l a s s model and a n a l y s i s not o n l y s u g g e s t t h a t t h e p e a s a n t r y was a v i c t i m o f o p p r e s s i o n and e x p l o i t a t i o n , but a l s o t h a t under t h i s network o f e x p l o i t i v e r e l a t i o n s a s e t o f o b s t a c l e s had e v o l v e d i n t h e c h a n g i n g s o c i a l r e a l i t i e s t o become s t u m b l i n g b l o c k s t o r u r a l development. Our e x p l a n a t i o n i s t h a t under such system o f r u r a l e x p l o i t a t i o n , w i t h a c l a s s s t r u c t u r e which a l l o w e d such e x p l o i t a t i o n b e i n g p r o t e c t e d by t h e government, not o n l y a s u b s t a n t i a l amount o f s u r p l u s e s was e x t r a c t e d by t h e l a n d l o r d s , t h e r i c h , t h e g e n t r y , money l e n d e r s and o t h e r s from t h e p e a s a n t s , more i m p o r t a n t i s t h a t by t h i s c o n t i n u i n g e x p l o i t a t i o n , t h e p e a s a n t s were, l e f t d r a i n e d and d e s t i t u t e , w i t h o u t t h e means t o u n t r a c k t h e m s e l v e s from p o v e r t y and were ground down t o i m p o t e n c y . A l l elements o f t h i s s o c i a l f o r m a t i o n — i t s v a l u e s , s o c i a l 105 r e l a t i o n s and i n s t i t u t i o n s — d i s c o u r a g e d r u r a l development. In terms o f l a n d , t h e s m a l l n e s s and f r a g m e n t a t i o n o f i n d i v i d -u a l farms under such e x p l o i t i v e system posed s e r i o u s problems f o r r u r a l development. Zheng e s t i m a t e d t h a t i n Guangdong, 3 4 . 6 p e r c e n t o f the peasant f a m i l i e s were w o r k i n g on farms under 5 mu, w h i l e 2 7 . 5 p e r c e n t worked on farms o f 5 t o 10 mu. The Land C o m m i s s i o n ' s s u r v e y i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e s i t u a t i o n was more s e r i o u s : 5 1 . 2 3 p e r c e n t o f t h e peasant h o u s e h o l d s i n t h e p r o v i n c e o p e r a t e d farms o f under 5 mu3 5 3 6 . 1 9 p e r c e n t had farms o f 5 t o 10 mu. B u c k ' s e s t i m a t e t h a t 17.42 mu c o n s t i t u t e d t h e normal s i z e o f a farm i n Guangdong was o b v i o u s l y e x a g g e r a t e d . ^ The s i z e o f t h e h o l d i n g s , however, d i d not t e l l t h e whole s t o r y . We a l s o have t o note t h a t most o f t h e s e minute h o l d i n g s were o f t e n not grouped o r l i n k e d t o g e t h e r . R a t h e r , t h e y were s c a t t e r e d and d i v i d e d . The Land Commission r e v e a l e d t h a t i n t h e i r i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f 14,513 h o u s e h o l d s , i r r i g a t e d l a n d was d i v i d e d i n t o an average p i e c e iqiu**-) o f 1 . 3 5 3 mu w h i l e the n o n - i r r i g a t e d f i e l d s were d i v i d e d i n t o p i e c e s o f 1 .489 muJ Buck a l s o found t h a t i n t h e farms he i n v e s t i g a t e d i n Guangdong, 70 p e r c e n t o f them were d i v i d e d i n t o o n e , t o g f i v e p i e c e s , w h i l e 22 p e r c e n t were d i v i d e d i n t o s i x t o t e n p i e c e s . M o r e o v e r , he o b s e r v e d t h a t the average d i s t a n c e between t h e f i e l d s and t h e p e a s a n t s ' homes was 0.77 k i l o m e t e r , w h i l e t h e f a r t h e s t 9 d i s t a n c e was 1 . 5 k i l o m e t e r . 106 The p r e v a l e n c e o f minute l a n d h o l d i n g s had n e c e s s i t a t e d s p e c i a l methods o f c u l t i v a t i o n i n o r d e r t o make them y i e l d a l i v e l i h o o d . These methods i n v o l v e d much d e t a i l e d v i g i l a n c e and heavy p h y s i c a l l a b o u r ; they were h a b i t s formed and e x p e r i e n c e a c c u m u l a t e d o v e r l o n g c e n t u r i e s and i n g e n u i t y which had been r a r e l y s u r p a s s e d i n w r i n g i n g produce from t h e meager l a n d . They a l s o c o u l d be seen as a v e n e r a b l e t r a d i t i o n r a i s e d t o t h e d i g n i t y o f a r t , a t r i u m p h o f i n d i v i d u a l s k i l l unaided by o r g a n i z e d knowledge, y e t i t was a l s o an a g r i c u l t u r e w h i c h c o u l d be a p t l y d e s c r i b e d as a k i n d o f g a r d e n i n g . T h e i r p r i m a r y c o n c e r n has been not p r o g r e s s , but s t a b i l i t y ; not t o s e c u r e the maximum r e t u r n f o r t h e minimum e f f o r t , but t o d i s t r i b u t e l i m i t e d and unexpand-i n g r e s o u r c e s among the l a r g e s t p o s s i b l e number o f human b e i n g s . In economic t e r m s , w i t h such f r a g m e n t a t i o n o f l a n d , " s u r p l u s " l a b o u r was c r e a t e d i n t h e sense t h a t t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e peasant p o p u l a t i o n were l i m i t e d t o t i n y h o l d i n g s i n a g r i c u l t u r e and t o t h e i n f o r m a l urban s e c t o r , low o u t p u t and i n e f f i c i e n c y r e s u l t e d . 1 ^ At t h e same t i m e , i n t e n s e i n e q u a l i t y o f w e a l t h and r e s o u r c e s c r e a t e d and p e r p e t u a t e d by e x p l o i t i v e r e l a t i o n s d i s c o u r a g e d t h e s a v i n g p o t e n t i a l o f t h e s o c i e t y : t h e poor were too poor to save and t h e r i c h l a c k e d the i n c e n t i v e s t o do s o . M o r e o v e r , t h e l i m i t e d s a v i n g o f t h e r i c h was l a r g e l y o f f s e t by l a c k o f s a v i n g among t h e p o o r : t h e r i c h bought the l a n d o f t h e poor and made l o a n s t o them, e n a b l i n g t h e poor t e m p o r a r i l y t o spend more than t h e i r c u r r e n t income. As l o n g as t h e 107 r i c h , a t t r a c t e d by h i g h i n t e r e s t and t h e i n c o m e , s t a t u s , and s e c u r i t y o f owning l a n d , used t h e i r s u r p l u s income t o make t r a n s f e r payments o f t h i s k i n d , n a t i o n a l s a v i n g would be d i s c o u r a g e d , f o r , w i t h few e x c e p t i o n s , o n l y t h o s e who needed funds f o r emergency consumption would borrow o r g i v e up t h e i r l a n d . The tendency toward i n c r e a s e d t e n a n c y was a l s o i n s t i t u t i o n a l l y i n i m i c a l t o i n c r e a s e d s a v i n g and i n v e s t m e n t , because t h e t e n a n t was r e s p o n s i b l e f o r most o f t h e i n v e s t m e n t and had l i t t l e i n c e n t i v e , o r s i m p l y c o u l d not a f f o r d , t o permanently improve l a n d t h a t was not h i s and t h a t was under c o n s t a n t i n s e c u r i t y d e r i v i n g from t h e short=term l a n d t e n u r e . In development t e r m s , such e x p l o i t i v e network can be d e s c r i b e d as an i n t e r a c t i n g s e r i e s o f c o n t r o l mechanisms m a i n t a i n i n g t h e p r i v i l e g e o f a m i n o r i t y s e t o f e l i t e s and p e r p e t u a t i n g t h e mass m i s e r y w i t h i n n a t i o n a l b o u n d a r y , i . e . , some form o f " i n t e r n a l c o l o n i a l i z a t i o n . " Numerous b l o c k a g e s t h u s , w e r e b u i l t i n t h e economic system not o n l y t o p r e v e n t t h e b e n e f i t s o f economic s u r p l u s e s g e n e r a t e d by t h e p e a s n a t s ' t o spread w i d e l y among t h e m s e l v e s , the e x t r a c t i v e n a t u r e o f such e x p l o i t i v e system i n t h e r u r a l s e c t o r a l s o made t h e g o a l s o f d e v e l o p -m e n t — q u a n t i t a t i v e ones such as i n c o m e , p r o d u c t i v i t y , o u t p u t , l i t e r a c y r a t e s , o c c u p a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e , and so o n , and q u a l i t a t i v e ones such as l i f e - s u s t e n a n c e , s e c u r i t y , freedom from s e r v i t u d e , e t c . - - i m p o s s i b l e . No m a t t e r how much i n p u t was pumped i n t o t h e r u r a l s e c t o r , once i t reached and f i l t e r e d t h r o u g h the e x p l o i t i v e n e t w o r k s , t h e r e was l i t t l e l e f t t o t r i c k l e down. A l t h o u g h t h e p e a s a n t s i n i t i a t e d s e l f - r e l i a n t 108 s u b s i s t e n c e e f f o r t s independent o f and even i n s p i t e o f , t h e a g r a r i a n e l i t e , and t h e y t r i e d t o a v o i d permanent dependency, peasant w e l f a r e was c o n t i n g e n t upon t h e i r c a p a c i t y to a c q u i r e l a n d , t o o l s and t h e s k i l l s needed t o p r o c u r e an a l t e r n a t i v e means o f s u s t e n a n c e . The h e a r t o f t h e e x p l a n a t i o n o f r u r a l u n d e r d e v e l o p m e n t , t h u s , would l i e i n t h e e x p l o i t i v e c l a s s s t r u c t u r e o f r u r a l s o c i e t y and t h e means f o r i t s c o n t i n u a l r e p r o d u c t i o n . E l i m i n a t i o n o f t h e e x p l o i t i v e r e l a t i o n s i n t h e r u r a l s y s t e m , t h e r e f o r e , seems t o be t h e most a p p r o p r i a t e s t a r t i n g p o i n t f o r a s t r a t e g y o f r u r a l development i n Guangdong. 1 0 9 C H A P T E R 3 N O T E S A . P o v e r t y a n d P e a s a n t E x p e d i e n c y S e e Shina Nogyo Kiso Tokei Shivyo: Ni, p . 1 5 8 . 2Ibid., p p . 1 5 9 - 1 6 0 . S e e a l s o A m a n o , op. cit., pp. 7 2 8 - 7 2 9 . We a l s o h a v e t o n o t e t h a t f i s h f a r m i n g w a s n o t a n o p p o r t u n i t y f o r t h e p o o r b e c a u s e f i s h p o n d s w e r e m o s t l y o w n e d b y c l a n s , a n d t h e y w e r e u s u a l l y r e n t e d o u t t o t h e h i g h e s t b i d d e r , b i d d i n g b e i n g h e l d o n c e a y e a r . B e c a u s e o f t h e i n v e s t m e n t i n v o l v e d i n r e n t , i n t h e f i s h ' s e e d l i n g s ' a n d i n t h e l a b o u r o f c o l l e c t i n g g o o d g r a s s a n d c u t t i n g i t u p f o r f e e d i n g , o n l y t h e r i c h p e a s a n t s c o u l d e n g a g e i n t h i s b u s i n e s s . S i m i l a r s i t u a t i o n a p p l i e d t o t h e s i l k c o c o o n b u s i n e s s b e c a u s e l a n d w a s r e q u i r e d t o g r o w m u l b e r r i e s a n d l a b o u r e r s w e r e r e q u i r e d t o p i c k t h e l e a v e s f o r f e e d i n g , t h e b u r d e n w a s t o o h e a v y f o r o r d i n a r y p e a s a n t s e s p e c i a l l y w h e n p r i c e s o f s i l k a n d c o c o o n s d r o p p e d d r a s t i c a l l y a f t e r t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n a n d i m p o r t a t i o n o f a r t i f i c i a l s i l k m a t e r i a l s f r o m J a p a n . E v e n t h e o p p o r t u n i t y f o r f a r m l a b o u r w a s l i m i t e d b e c a u s e o n l y r i c h p e a s a n t s a n d a p o r t i o n o f m i d d l e p e a s a n t c o u l d a f f o r d t o h i r e a n y s i z a b l e a m o u n t o f h e l p . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e r e w a s t h e c o m p e t i t i o n f r o m t h e m i g r a t o r y b o a t p e o p l e w h o w o r k e d f o r l o w e r w a g e s t h a n n a t i v e l a b o u r e r s . S e e Y a n g , op. cit., p p . 6 3 -6 8 . o S t a t i s t i c s o r i g i n a l l y f r o m Nong-qing Bao-gao, 3 ( 4 ) , A p r i l 1 9 3 5 ; c i t e d i n A m a n o , op. cit., p . 2 5 9 . 4 C h e n , op. cit., p . 9 5 . A l s o A m a n o , op. cit.. p . 2 6 0 . c S e e A m a n o , op. cit., p . 4 5 5 . Y a n g a l s o c o m m e n t e d , " a t t h e t i m e o f o u r i n v e s t i g a t i o n , o n e mu o f m e d i u m - g r a d e i r r i g a t e d l a n d i n N a n - c h i n g w a s w o r t h a b o u t 4 , 0 0 0 c a t t i e s o f u n h u s k e d r i c e , o r t h e e q u i v a l e n t o f a b o u t s i x y e a r s o f a v e r a g e p r o d u c t i o n o f t h e l a n d . T h i s w a s a b o u t 2 0 p e r c e n t h i g h e r t h a n t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e o f l a n d p r i c e e s t i m a t e d b y t h e C h i n e s e L a n d A d m i n i s t r a t i o n I n v e s t i g a t i o n S u r v e y I t i s d i f f i c u l t t o i m a g i n e how a p o o r p e a s a n t w h o c o u l d h a r d l y e s c a p e s i n k i n g i n t o d e b t f r o m y e a r t o y e a r c o u l d a c c u m u l a t e 1 6 , 0 0 0 t o 2 0 , 0 0 0 c a t t i e s o f u n h u s k e d r i c e t o b u y f o u r o r f i v e mow o f l a n d f e r t i l e 5 ( c o n t i n u e d ) enough t o m a i n t a i n s u b s i s t e n c e f o r an average f a m i l y . A t t h e wage l e v e l o f 1948, i t would have t a k e n a l a n d l e s s farm l a b o u r e r f o u r y e a r s ' pay t o buy one mow o f l a n d , o r s i x t e e n t o twenty y e a r s t o buy h i m s e l f a s m a l l farm o f f o u r t o f i v e mow o f medium-grade i r r i g a t e d l a n d i f he d i d not spend any p a r t o f h i s pay d u r i n g a l l t h a t p e r i o d o f t i m e - - h a r d l y p o s s i b l e c o n s i d e r i n g h i s p e r s o n a l needs and f a m i l y o b l i g a t i o n s . C o n d i t i o n s here c e r t a i n l y bore out F e i ' s a s s e r t i o n t h a t i t took more than one g e n e r a t i o n o f i n d u s t r y , f r u g a l i t y , and l u c k f o r a peasant t o r i s e above p o v e r t y . " See Y a n g , op. cit., p. 125. Shina Nogyo Kiso Tokei Shiryo Ni, p. 172. Ibid., pp. 174-175. 'ibid., p. 173. lIbid., p. 176. ]Ibid., p. 177. C h e n , op. cit., p. 111. I l l B. R u r a l Underdevelopment ' F o r e x a m p l e , see M e y e r s , op. cit. 2 J . C . S c o t t , "The E r o s i o n o f P a t r o n - C l i e n t Bonds and S o c i a l change i n R u r a l South A s i a , " Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 3 2 ( 1 ) , 1972, pp. 7-17. See a l s o Ralph T h a x t o n , "The World Turned Downside Up: Three Orders o f Meanings i n t h e P e a s a n t s ' T r a d i t i o n a l P o l i t i c a l W o r l d , " Modern China, 3 ( 2 ) , A p r i l 1977, pp. 185-227 f o r a thorough c r i t i q u e o f t h e p a t r o n - c l i e n t m o d e l . 3 The c l a s s model here i s one which p r o j e c t s t h e s o c i e t y i n terms o f s u p e r i o r i t y and i n f e r i o r i t y i n t h e minds o f some p e o p l e . See W.F. W e r t h e i m , Evolution and Revolution: The Rising Wave of Emanci-pation (London: Penguin B o o k s , 1 9 7 4 ) , p. 9 9 . 4 Z h e n g , op. cit.. A l s o c i t e d i n Amano, op. cit., p . 194. STbid., p. 196. ^ B u c k , op. cit., c i t e d i n Amano, Ibid., p. 189. 7Ibid., pp. 210-211. 8Ibid. ^ Ibid. ^ K e i t h G r i f f i n , Land Concentration and Rural Poverty (London: M a c m i l l a n P r e s s , 1 9 7 6 ) , p . 5 ; a l s o C h a p t e r 5 . ^ F o r a d i s c u s s i o n on " i n t e r n a l c o l o n i a l i z a t i o n , " see R o d o l f o S t a v e n h a g e n , "Seven F a l l a c i e s about L a t i n A m e r i c a " i n James P e t r a s and M. Z e i t l i n ( e d s . ) , Latin America: Reform or Revolution? ( N . Y . " Fawcett B o o k s , 1 9 6 8 ) , p. 18. See a l s o Dennis G o u l e t , The Cruel Choice, A New Concept in the Theory of Development ( C h i c a g o : Antheneum B o o k s , 1 9 7 1 ) , p. 3 0 . P A R T I I RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE MAKING 112 P A R T I I RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE MAKING CHAPTER 4 THE EARLY EXPERIENCES OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT A. Land Reform Mao advanced h i s t h e s i s o f "New Democracy" as e a r l y as 1940' C h i n a ' s backwardness was a t t r i b u t a b l e as a ' s e m i - f e u d a l ' and ' s e m i -c o l o n i a l ' p a s t marked by i n t e r n a l o p p r e s s i o n and f o r e i g n e x p l o i t a t i o n . S h o r t l y a f t e r t h e P e o p l e ' s R e p u b l i c o f f i c i a l l y came i n t o b e i n g i n 1949, i t was t h e r e f o r e , o n l y n a t u r a l f o r t h e government t o p r o c l a i m t h e b a s i c t e n e t s o f t h i s "New Democracy." These i n c l u d e d o p p o s i t i o n t o f o r e i g n d o m i n a t i o n , but t h e emphasis was on d o i n g away w i t h i n t e r n a l " f e u d a l f o r c e s " by implementing t h e Land Reform Law (LRL) i n 1950 t o a b o l i s h the f e u d a l e x p l o i t a t i o n system o f l a n d o w n e r s h i p by t h e l a n d l o r d c l a s s , and i n t r o d u c i n g a system o f peasant ownership i n o r d e r t o " s e t f r e e the r u r a l p r o d u c t i o n f o r c e s , d e v e l o p a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n , and pave a new path f o r New C h i n a ' s i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n . " 1 The c o n t e n t s o f t h e LRL were p r i m a r i l y concerned w i t h t h e ways and means o f t r a n s f e r r i n g l a n d o w n e r s h i p from l a n d l o r d s t o poor 113 114 p e a s a n t s . Committed t o e x p r o p r i a t i o n from t h e ventiev l a n d l o r d c l a s s i t n o n e t h e l e s s sought o n l y t o c o n f i s c a t e t h e i r surplus l a n d , d r a f t a n i m a l s , farm i m p l e m e n t s , g r a i n and houses i n t h e v i l l a g e s (not i n t o w n ) - - o n l y t h o s e items d i r e c t l y r e l e v a n t t o a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c t i o n . Other p r o p e r t y , such as money and j e w e l r y , would remain i n t a c t . A l l l a n d and o t h e r means o f p r o d u c t i o n which had been thus c o n f i s c a t e d ' were t o be t a k e n o v e r by t h e xiang ( a d m i n i s t r a t i v e v i l l a g e ) P e a s a n t s ' A s s o c i a t i o n f o r " u n i f i e d , e q u i t a b l e , and r a t i o n a l d i s t r i b u t i o n " (tung-yi gong-ping he-li fen-pei i t - ft ^ ) t o p e a s a n t s under t h e 2 p r i n c i p l e o f " a l l o t t i n g the l a n d t o i t s p r e s e n t t i l l e r . " The LRL o f 1 9 5 0 , however, was d i f f e r e n t from the Land Reform O u t l i n e ( O u t l i n e Land Law-OLL) p u b l i s h e d by t h e P a r t y i n 1 9 4 7 . 3 R a t h e r than f o r c i b l y t a k i n g a l l l a n d , d r a f t a n i m a l s , and farm i m p l e -ments i n a v i l l a g e and d i v i d e i t up among a l l p e a s a n t s equally, LRL was d e s i g n e d t o keep t h e p r o c e s s o f l a n d t r a n s f e r t o t h e minimum d i s t u r b a n c e o f e x i s t i n g farm u n i t s and t o p r e s e r v e a r i c h peasant economy. The l a n d t r a n s f e r o r r e d i s t r i b u t i v e mechanism o f LRL was d e s i g n e d f o r " f l a t t e n i n g t h e top and n a r r o w i n g t h e base" so t h a t t h e m i d d l e rank o f t h e r u r a l c l a s s would e x p a n d , t h u s p r o v i d i n g i n c e n t i v e f o r a l l p e a s a n t s t o work hard and c a r r y out c o o p e r a t i o n toward t h e development o f r u r a l p r o d u c t i o n . A l t h o u g h r i c h p e a s a n t s were s u b j e c t t o i d e o l o g i c a l p r e s s u r e s and t h e i r s u r p l u s l a n d was t o be " r e q u i s i t i o n -ed" i n p a r t o r i n w h o l e , t h e i r l a n d h o l d i n g s w e r e , w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f l a r g e amounts o f l a n d r e n t e d out by r i c h p e a s a n t s , g e n e r a l l y l e f t i n t a c t (See A r t i c l e 6 o f L R L ) . H e r e , t h e p r o h i b i t i o n on r e n t i n g 115 out l a n d r e c e i v e d i n r e - d i s t r i b u t i o n was a l s o removed. In r e d i s t r i b u t i n g l a n d , t h e LRL a l s o made t h e f o l l o w i n g . . 4 p r o v i s i o n s : (a) t h e h o l d i n g s o f m i d d l e p e a s a n t s , which were g e n e r a l l y a l i t t l e above a v e r a g e , were t o remain i n t a c t ; (b) t h e poor peasant r e c e i v i n g a p o r t i o n o f r e d i s t r i b u t e d l a n d added t o h i s o r i g i n a l h o l d i n g s would then have a h o l d i n g t o t a l i n g " s l i g h t l y and s u i t a b l y " more than t h a t a l l o t t e d t o t h e l a n d l e s s a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s ; (c) under c e r t a i n c o n d i t i o n s , a poor f a m i l y o f one o r two a b l e - b o d i e d members might be g i v e n an a b o v e - a v e r a g e s h a r e ; (d) r u r a l a r t i s a n s whose main o c c u p a t i o n s were not s u f f i c -i e n t f o r a f u l l maintenance o f l i f e were g i v e n a b e l o w -average s h a r e ; (e) t h e s m a l l l e s s o r s were p e r m i t t e d t o h o l d more l a n d i n o r d e r t o e n a b l e them t o r e n t i t o u t . Because t h e LRL, d e s p i t e i t s r a d i c a l a p p e a r a n c e , aimed o n l y a t e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e p r i n c i p l e o f peasant o w n e r s h i p o f l a n d and not a t e q u a l i z i n g t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f l a n d o w n e r s h i p , numerous r u r a l problems p e r s i s t e d . 116 The immediate e f f e c t o f l i b e r a l i z i n g t h e l a n d r e f o r m p o l i c y by t o l e r a t i n g r i c h peasants and r e j e c t i n g e g a l i t a r i a n r e d i s t r i b u t i o n was t h e n a r r o w i n g o f t h e scope o f r e d i s t r i b u t i o n t h r o u g h r e s t r i c t e d e x p r o p r i a t i o n . S p a r i n g r i c h p e a s a n t s from e x p r o p r i a t i o n would reduce what Mao termed t h e " s c o p e o f a t t a c k " from the o r i g i n a l 8 t o 10 p e r c e n t t o about 4 p e r c e n t o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n i n r u r a l v i l l a g e s . Thus the l a n d r e d i s t r i b u t i o n program o f 1950-1952 on t h e average i n -5 v o l v e d o n l y 43 p e r c e n t o f the t o t a l c u l t i v a t e d l a n d . And a c c o r d i n g t o Wong's c a l c u l a t i o n , t h e r e c i p i e n t s i n Guangdong p r o v i n c e were each e n t i t l e d t o o n l y 1 . 4 mu o f l a n d from t h e average d i s t r i b u t a b l e l a n d pool d e r i v e d from t h e c o n f i s c a t e d and r e q u i s i t i o n e d l a n d s o f l a n d -l o r d s and r i c h p e a s a n t s . In a r e p o r t on t h r e e v i l l a g e s i n Zhong-shan c o u n t y a f t e r l a n d r e f o r m was i n t r o d u c e d , t h e I n v e s t i g a t i o n Team o f t h e Land Reform Committee o f Guangdong p r o v i n c e found t h a t l a n d -h o l d i n g s were s t i l l fragmented and s c a t t e r e d . I t was p o i n t e d out t h a t a t l e a s t 50 p e r c e n t o f t h e peasant, f a m i l i e s i n t h e s e v i l l a g e s had l e s s than 5 mu o f l a n d ; and a t l e a s t 37 p e r c e n t o f t h e f a m i l i e s who had l e s s than 5 mu were t h e poor p e a s a n t s . ' 7 The scope o f r e d i s t r i b u t i o n was even more l i m i t e d when o t h e r means o f p r o d u c t i o n , such as d r a f t a n i m a l s and farm i m p l e m e n t s , a r e t a k e n i n t o a c c o u n t . In Guangdong p r o v i n c e , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e P e a r l R i v e r d e l t a r e g i o n , because l a n d l o r d s were n o r m a l l y rentiers not d i r e c t l y i n v o l v e d o r engaged i n farm w o r k , d r a f t a n i m a l s were g e n e r a l l y not kept by them, and thus not a v a i l a b l e f o r r e d i s t r i b u t i o n . 117 a t t h e same t i m e , because t h e LRL r u l e d t h a t o n l y e x c e s s land was t o be r e q u i s i t i o n e d from r i c h p e a s a n t s , t h e i r farm equipments and a n i m a l s remained a b s o l u t e l y i n t a c t . New l a n d owners thus f a c e d a s h o r t a g e o f c r u c i a l c a p i t a l items f o r t h e i r farms o f which t h e s h o r t a g e o f farm equipment and d r a f t a n i m a l s was most s e r i o u s . The r e p o r t on the t h r e e v i l l a g e s i n Zhong-shan r e v e a l e d t h a t a t l e a s t o n e - t h i r d o f t h e peasant f a m i l i e s i n t h e t h r e e v i l l a g e s s u f f e r e d from i n s u f f i c i e n t means o f p r o d u c t i o n . Most o f them c o u l d not a f f o r d t o buy a n i m a l s o r e q u i p m e n t , e s p e c i a l l y when t h e i r l a n d h o l d i n g s were meager. N i n e t y -e i g h t p e r c e n t o f t h e peasant f a m i l i e s who had o n l y two o r l e s s mu o f o l a n d had no d r a f t a n i m a l s . When f a c e d w i t h such a s h o r t a g e . , t h e peasant f a m i l i e s would have t o e i t h e r borrow such means from f r i e n d s , r e l a t i v e s , o r n e i g h b o u r s i n exchange f o r manual l a b o u r , t h e y c o u l d h i r e l a b o u r e r s and r e n t equipment o r a n i m a l s t o work on t h e i r l a n d . I f t h e y c o u l d not a f f o r d e i t h e r means, t h e y c o u l d r e l y o n l y on p r i m i t i v e t o o l s and t h e i r bare hands. B o r r o w i n g t o o l s o r a n i m a l s from f r i e n d s and r e l a t i v e s seemed t o be t h e e a s i e s t s o l u t i o n t o t h e p r o b l e m . Very o f t e n , however, one had t o put i n as much as t h r e e o r f o u r hours o f manual work i n r e t u r n f o r the use o f t h e d r a f t a n i m a l s f o r an h o u r . One a l s o had t o w a i t f o r t h e a v a i l a b i l i t y o f such equipment and a n i m a l s - - t h e y c o u l d o n l y be l e n t out a t t h e d i s p o s a l o f t h e owners. As f o r c o n t r a c t i n g l a b o u r e r s t o c u l t i v a t e t h e f i e l d s , one would have to pay a s t i f f p r i c e - - i t would c o s t 40 t o 50 c a t t i e s o f husked r i c e t o have a h i r e d 118 hand farm one mu o f l a n d . T h i s means t h a t i f one had o n l y 5 mu o f 9 l a n d , o n e - f i f t h o f t h e y i e l d would have t o go t o pay l a b o u r c o s t . On t h e o t h e r h a n d , i f one d e c i d e d t o work on h i s l a n d w i t h h i s hands and h o e s , i t would t a k e f o u r t i m e s as much e f f o r t o r t i m e , not t o mention t h e b a c k - b r e a k i n g p a i n , t o f i n i s h whatever a d r a f t animal c o u l d a c c o m p l i s h i n a s h o r t t i m e . T h i s a l s o e n t a i l s d e l a y i n g o f t h e t i m e f o r p l a n t i n g , a d e c i s i v e f a c t o r i n y i e l d i n g good h a r v e s t o r n o t . Most i m p o r t a n t , however, i s t h a t w i t h o u t t h e h e l p o f d r a f t a n i m a l s t o t u r n o v e r t h e s o i l d u r i n g t h e s l a c k season i n w i n t e r t h e coming h a r v e s t would c e r t a i n l y be down a t l e a s t two p e r c e n t . 1 ^ Manpower had a l s o become a problem a f t e r t h e LRL. Because l a n d was r e d i s t r i b u t e d on a per c a p i t a b a s i s , many f a m i l i e s w i t h s m a l l c h i l d r e n r e c e i v e d more l a n d than t h e y c o u l d manage, w h i l e f a m i l i e s w i t h o l d e r c h i l d r e n o f t e n had more l a b o u r power than c o u l d be used e f f e c t i v e l y . And t h e r e were f a m i l i e s o f widows and widowers w i t h o u t s u f f i c i e n t l a b o u r t o manage t h e i r l a n d . C o n s e q u e n t l y , t h o s e who l a c k e d t h e adequate l a n d o r l a b o u r as w e l l as the s k i l l and knowledge ( i n Z h o n g - s h a n ' s t h r e e v i l l a g e s , about 10 p e r c e n t o f t h e poor peasant f a m i l i e s d i d not have t h e n e c e s s a r y s k i l l f o r f a r m i n g : t h e y were e i t h e r widows who d i d not have any e x p e r i e n c e i n h a n d l i n g d r a f t animal i n f a r m i n g o r f a r m e r s whose o c c u p a t i o n s b e f o r e t h e l a n d r e f o r m were n o n - a g r
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The design of rural development : experiences from South China, 1949-1976 Ip, David Fu-Keung 1979

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