Nation's Decree And Folk Custom:Probe Into The System Of Land Tenure In Chengdu Plain, 1912-1949

The problems about agriculture, countryside and peasantry are very important in China which is a large agro-country. The croplands are being occupied in the process of modernization. How to protect the rights of those peasants who lost their land? How to construct a harmonious society in a rural area? These problems are attracting a lot of people's attention. In this dissertation, I'll probe into the relations among nation's decree, folk custom, local and individual benefit, from the case of system of land tenure in Chengdu Plain , 1912-1949. I hope my research could (?)ome valuable suggestions for the administration.In this dissertation, I probed into these questions about the structure of landlord and tenant, rent deposit, type of rent, rent amount, rent rate, tenant's status, tenant's livelihood, the relations between landlord and tenant. I also investigated the policies about tenant peasants in the period of Republic of China, through analyzing a lot of counties' archives . The conclusion is following:Firstly: System of land tenure means the separation between the landowner and landuser, which was formed in folk long time ago, It did not only belong to the feudal society. In Chengdu plain 1912-1949, the characteristics of the type of land owners were : 1 The land was not only collected but also dispersed; 2 There were many large landlords, as well as a lot of small landlords; 3 Some landlords lived in the city, some landlords lived in the countryside. Either the landlord or the tenant had many differences between the large and the small, Their levels of life also hadmany differences. The ratio of tenants in rural population had been increasing from 1910s to 1940s. It was because of entironment, pressure of population, heavy land tax, and the powerful rising warlord's interest in land.Secondly: There were two harvest seasons of a year , one was called dachun whose crop was rice , another one was called xiaochun whose crops were wheat, rape, pea, horsebean, etc. The land rent just took from dachun ,and xiaochun entirely belonged to the tenant. The main type of rent was fixed in kinds, especially fixed in rice. One type of rent was popular in Chengdu plain, called "zhezu" ,that was a method of changing the rent in rice to rent in cash. It 's more convenient for both landlord and tenant, and more flexible than rent in rice or rent in cash. The rent amount and rent rate had been rising with the output 's increasing , from 1912 to 1949.Thirdly: Rent deposit varied , and the amount of deposit had been rising. But there was some interest of rent deposit that was deducted from rent in rice, called "yakou" . The rate of interest was little higher than the rate of interest of common credit here.Fourthly: Re-tenancy was one of mode of large tenant managing their farms. But nation's law and some tenancy contracts did not allow it, cause it made a lot of conflicts between landowner and tenant.Fifthly: The benefits of tenant farms were a little better than peasant proprietor. But the profits were a little less than peasant proprietor because they had to pay rent. So they just maintained simple life.Sixthly: In law and folk society, the tenant and landlord were not unequal. But the rights of tenants still needed ensuring the security .So the central government took a movement to reduce the rent. But it failed, and made the rural society fall into an unstable situation .