Study On The Rural Changes And Development Of Guanzhong Region In Shaanxi Province

Located in the central Shaanxi province, Guanzhong Plain is one of the cradles of agricultural civilization. From ancient times, it has been the important zone of China, and also the political,economic and cultural core region of Shaanxi province, with traditions deeply rooted in its history, and cultural characteristics tied down to a set territory with geographical conditions. After Song dynasty, Guanzhong lost its status as the political and cultural centre of China, changed gradually to be a sealed, stagnated and conservative interior area. Before 1949, Guanzhong was an agricultural region with backward economy. Guanzhong's modern economy is built up by the central government according to the safety consideration of the State. Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Guanzhong's rural area has undergone great changes in every aspect. But generally speaking, these changes belong to a planed one, the impetus of the changes doesn't come from the internal forces of the rural society, on the contrary, the driving force comes from the state power by which Chinese Communist Party mobilized a series of campaigns and revolutionary movements in countryside according to its ideology. Therefore, the changes and development of rural Guanzhong not only reflect the process of changes of whole Guanzhong, but to a certain extent, is a window to understand the changes of contemporary Chinese society.The framework and research route of this thesis are based on the judgments sketched out above. As a case study of the rural region, the thesis focuses on the history of changes and development of Guanzhong's rural area. Using almost exclusively local sources, I have tried to follow the tracks of the changes, to see the political, economic and cultural vicissitudes over half a century. A number of questions arise when one observes the changes of the area. To what extent do the revolutionary campaigns mobilized by the state power push forward the transformations of the political and economic system, and form the structure of rural society? What have happened to Guanzhong's agriculture and rural economy over the past 55 years? Does the rural industry, which develops greatly after 1978, significantly reduce the difference between town and country in Guanzhong? Which factors restrict the development of rural Guanzhong most? With the methods and theories of sociology, economics and history, I deeply analyze the interior factors, environment, political and economic forces which greatly influence the changes of the rural Guanzhong, especially focus on the factors such as geological location, natural condition, history, cultural tradition, political system and...