Deliver Wheat To The State:Collective Memory And Political Cognition Of Agricultural Tax Era Based On Interview In H Zhuang Of Henan Province

Agricultural tax, commonly known as Gongliang[1], is a tax levied on agricultural income units or individuals to engage in agricultural production. H village located at the junction of the eastern plain of Henan and Anhui is a natural village in Henan Province.H Zhuang villagers mainly grow wheat and corn for survive.After the founding of new China, economic level of H village still lag behind: in collectivization production period villagers experienced a period of sweet potato, Zamian[2] steamed period; after the 1981 land down to the household, grain yield increased significantly, but Gongliang and Kouliang[3] dispute still exists in most families, part of the family whose wheat did not have enough to eat continues even 2003 agricultural tax system reform. After the abolition of agricultural tax in Henan Province, H Zhuang farewell the royal grain tax. Gongliang becomes full of complex emotions of the collective memory of the villagers. To re-examine the agricultural tax in political perspective, we can find that collective memories of farmers about "Gongliang" can be as a qualitative data for the analysis of farmer’s political cognition. If we regard the agricultural tax collection process as power operation process, then grain delivered to the state,the pay taxes process, as well as the staff, Gongliang system understanding and evaluation in the memories of the villagers can translated into farmer cognition and evaluation of national policy, rural power operation, power operation rules of politics.In January 2016, the author makes a semi structural interview with some villagers in H village of Henan taking Gongliang: the collective memory of the agricultural tax era as theme. The author provides a collection of villagers about Gongliang memory, grain tax collection and payment process of memory, and agricultural tax era family life and political participation of memory. According to historical documents, the author found: in the era of agricultural tax, H Village families tax burden is heavy, fine grain shortage, living in poverty, the villagers in the process of pay Gongliang encountered a lot of unfair treatment; under survival pressure and the psychological stress, the villagers did not personal or collective refusal to pay taxes, nor through formal or informal channels to express their interest.The study found: first, collective memory as a path on study of peasants political cognition is feasible. The political cognition of farmers depends on their own physical practice, and presents the characteristics of the event, the concrete and the fragmentation. We can describe the farmer’s political cognition by analyzing the collective memory of farmers and politics, verify the political cognitive resources, political cognitive process, and then improve the interpretation of the farmer’s political cognition according to the farmer’s political emotion and political evaluation; second, farmers on the political power subject and the operational mode of the power has a one-sided understanding which includes mandatory, selfish and hierarchical, personality and existing rules of the elastic characteristics of political power.