Making The Model

"Setting up model" is an important phenomenon in Chinese political and social life,which includes the process of shaping and learning of the model. During the state building of "The New Socialist China", too much "New Countryside" model has been shaped from the last century until today. This study selects the most far-reaching "new countryside model"--Dazhai as the case, describes and analyzes the shaping process of this model, to reveal how the model has been shaped and constructed by the state power, and how the village and the peasants in the local society interacted with the state power during this process.First, in the Agricultural Cooperation Movement, the rural governance which has been based on classifying by the government, and choosed the village as the experiment point(shidian 试点).During this process,the party and the state has trained the rural cadres,the models and the activists of the village. "The model" has been used to mobilize the peasants, thus promoting the Agricultural Cooperation Movement. This study points out that Dazhai has been selected as a local model in this process as a experiment point.Second, during the Mao era, the state has been lasted to use the "mass movement" to mobilize the pepole to carry out the agricultural production and political participation.Dazhai Village has been strengthened as the "local model" of Xiyang County during the process of "People’s Commune" and "the Great Leap Movement" At the same time,in the subsequent movement of "compare learn emulate help(比学赶帮)”,Dazhai and Chen Yonggui have been upgraded to the important rural model of Jinzhong Area and Shanxi province. And then, a movement calld "learing from Dazhai" was started in the local. However, to the whole country, there were relevant factors such as "some important events" and network of relationships, which played an important role in Dazhai as a national model.Third, during the process of setting up model, the construction of the models depended on the highly organized propaganda network such as radio and newspapers.In the reports and articals of the models, the model villages and the model have both been pulled out as a “symbol".According to the needs of the movement and policy advocacy, the experiences of "the models" have been constantly reproduced to mobilize the peasants. Meanwhile, Dazhai itself became the object of learing from and visiting as the new rural model. The village construction essentially has evolved into a state project to build the socialist village landscape and organize the peasants visit. Cadres, model, the activists and the peasants were all playing important roles in the visiting.Fourth, in the process of setting up model, the power of state has built the discourse on "the model”,which showed such characteristic as "hero",so the narrating of the village gradually deviated from the fact. Although the state discourse was dominanted in this process,the "missed" model of the village and the unknown villagers still constituted the multi-faceted village.Finally, setting up model as a way of social mobilization by state, derived from the revolution tradition and the socialist state building. Between the small village community and the big state community, the government wants to mobilize rural people which was based on the "New Socialist Countryside" So this study plays an important role in helping us understanding the process and mechanism of the state power penetrating into the rural society.