Revolution and Rural Land Rights Research: 1949-1983, with Xinzhou County, Hubei Province as a Case Study

Author: Huang Ronghua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Research on the theory and practice of China's modernization must involve a comprehensive and systematic study of the transformation of China's rural society. The process of China's modernization, in essence, is a transition from traditional agrarian-pastoral civilization to modern industrial civilization, and the transformation of the rural society is undoubtedly a crucial component of this historical transformation of Chinese civilization. Why not name it directly "Modernization and Rural," but instead "Revolution and Rural"? This is because almost all major events experienced by China's rural society since modern times and the earth-shaking changes in it have, without exception, been carried out under the banner of "revolution." This book further extends the examination of rural land tenure relations from the land reform period to the agricultural cooperation period, the commune period, and the period after the implementation of reform and opening up. As a study of the major facts that influenced China's rural society during this period of revolution, it has extensively and utilized original archives, a significant portion of which have been used by researchers for the first time. To supplement the shortcomings of written archives, they traveled to the local areas to interview the parties involved, comparing and verifying oral historical records with written ones. To avoid the vagueness and brevity of grand narratives, they started their research from the study of a county or a region, striving to reveal the truth of history through case studies. In this book, readers can gain a more specific and vivid understanding of the actual situation of the transformation of China's rural society led by the Communist Party of China from the late 1920s to the early 1950s and the subsequent period.