Fei Xiaotong and Social Changes in 20th Century China

Author: Li Youmei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: The 1930s were the early stages of sociology in China, and many relevant theories and methods in academia were directly derived from abroad. Mr. Fei selectively adopted some mature research methods from foreign studies in his own research, starting from the social realities of China, dedicated to exploring overall social changes from specific social phenomena, and pioneered the sinicization of sociology, making significant contributions to the development of sociology as a discipline in China. In his early research, Mr. Fei was grounded in extensive field surveys of communities, investigating the various causes of social change in rural China from the actual conditions of rural China, and striving to find feasible paths to alleviate the "hunger" for the suffering Chinese peasants. From this point on, the grand vision of "enriching the people" began to take root in Mr. Fei's heart, and "dedicated to enriching the people" became the core essence of Mr. Fei's academic thought throughout his life, which is also the key to understanding his entire life's philosophy. Based on the actual conditions at the time, Mr. Fei proposed that the path for rural China lay in developing industries that could benefit the countryside, and establishing decentralized cooperative rural industries was undoubtedly the most feasible option. From this point on, Mr. Fei not only determined his life's research direction but also gradually formed his unique research method, which combined field surveys with theoretical summaries, developing theories based on practice, and then using theory to interpret practice. This research method can be said to have set a new trend. While Mr. Fei was committed to exploring the path of social development in China, he also paid great attention to the direction of cultural development. In his early work "," he explained the rural sentiment of Chinese culture and summarized the concept of "differentiated hierarchy" from the cultural patterns of rural Chinese society as a preliminary explanation of the social structure of China.