The Study On The Transformation Of Modern Countryside Society In Jiangnan

The Survey in Wuxi under the leadership of Chen Hansheng is a vital component of the social survey movement that arose among the Chinese intellectual circles from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China. The survey provides a good sample and historical data for the research on regional social economic history, and also exhibits the real state of the countryside society in the region of Jiangnan that was in transition. As the focus of that survey, economy and land ownership, had undergone a series of changes under the setting of modern commercialization: the invasion of market and modern machines intertwined with traditional self-sufficient management, which formed a unique state of countryside economy in transition; the productive pattern that relied mainly on rice and was supplemented by silk in most of the farmers'family in the countryside of Wuxi had not yet changed fundamentally; multi-management and non-farming was still the tendency of farming economy. Land ownership and its derived tenancy system, from one aspect, reflected the transformation of countryside economy and changes in countryside society. The transformation of countryside economy in the region of Jiangnan in modern times stimulated the transformation of the structure of countryside society, bringing great changes and many social problems, which, therefore, attracted the public concern of all classes and political forces to the countryside problem.Through the method of"Class Analysis", Chen Hansheng distinguished all the classes existing in countryside and used those distinctions as a starting point for his survey."Population growth and the change of labor force", as one of the five parts in the survey, reflected the transformation in the structure of countryside society. However, the population in modern Jiangnan countryside remained consistent with that of traditional society dynamically, i.e., increasing in fluctuation, and the number of male was more than that of female. Industrialization led to the growth of floating population and broke down the stability and purity of the structure of countryside society, which kept the rate of population relatively balanced between town and countryside in a dynamic state. Meanwhile, the people in countryside were low-qualified and their professions appeared to be varied. The rising and falling of modern yizhuan, and its organizational structure and social function reflected the historical fate of patriarchal clan that was doomed to decline and fall.Social life was an important aspect in the Wuxi survey and the external manifestation of the transformation of countryside society as well. It directly reflected the level of material life, the state of people's spiritual life and the characteristics of social consciousness. Although Wuxi was regarded as a sample of advanced industrial area, its living conditions in country, generally speaking, were very backward. It clearly demonstrated that when a traditional society was transformed into a modern one, the development of its countryside lagged behind the city a lot, and industrialization brought more negative influence than the positive one to the countryside. The result, on the one hand, showed the general principles of modernization, and on the other hand, demonstrated the obstinacy and conservativeness of the traditional method of living in country. Therefore, the backwardness of material life, the blindness of faith-following, together with the sticking to the old social customs foresaw the difficulty and boundlessness on the way to the transformation of countryside society.Countryside crisis was the final explosion of all the social problems involved during the process of transformation of countryside society. In the region of Jiangnan where Wuxi was located, the deterioration of the bankruptcy of countryside economy and social conflicts were well manifested in the abnormal event of"panic rice-purchasing". In view of the crisis, Chen Hansheng and"Chinese Countryside Group"in which he was the chief representative proposed that the problem of countryside should be resolved through revolution, while the government and the Reformists lunched"Movement of Countryside Cooperation"and"Educational Experiment for the Public"respectively in countryside of Wuxi. However, the crisis of countryside in modern China was too hard to change, leaving less time and space for each of them. When the reform finally was reduced to the palliative in practice, the dominant power of solving the problems of countryside was shifted to the hands of radical Revolutionists. The fact from then on to today well proves that when a traditional farming-oriented society was transformed into a modern industry-oriented one, various social problems caused by the marginalization of countryside and its internal dramatic changes would be displayed in different forms, sometimes serious, sometimes trivial; and sometimes slow, sometimes fast. Therefore, how to solve the problems in transition and realize the harmonious and healthy development for countryside society is a complex and comprehensive project to be explored.