The First Half Of The 20th Century Changshu Local Elites Visits

Local elites was an important social stratum in Chinese rural society. Owning more resources than normal people and succeeding with them, they enjoyed high authority and can affect rural society and local government.From the beginning of 20th century, local elites appeared different characteristics than before with changing political situation, developing economy and advancing times. In this paper, it shows a case of local elites group in County Changshu, Yangtze River Delta during the early half of 20th century, trying to study local elites' changes during those years.The paper consists of four parts. In the first part, it describes the decline of traditional elites and three ways by which new elites rose. The second part mainly analyzed the group structure of local elites in the early half of 20th century from knowledge structure and career structure. Then in the third part, it throws the sights to activity domain and carrier, we can analyze activity characteristic of local elites. As a result in the last part, we try to put forward a point of view on local elites in the early half of 20th century.The paper points out that local elites in the early half of 20th century had overturned the traditional elites with the whole changing situation. Their authority originated more from owning wealth and state power supporting than from be proficient in "Si Shu Wu Jing" and be admitted by rural people. Having accepted new-style education, taken part in parliament elect and organized mass organization of new pattern, local elites influenced by west idea. However, all of this didn't make them social power with modern characteristics. They had been infatuated with power struggle, which weaken themselves in internal consumption of energy. Having mastered the local armed forces, they harmed the rural society. In order to cater to the need of state power, they separated themselves from rural society. With all of those things, the legitimacy of local elites caused crisis. In 1940's, with the source of legitimacy of local elites changed from rural society to state power. So though the elites played the multiple roles (the state agent, the scarecrow of the community and the representative of family and lineage) at the same time just as before, but then they inclined more to the state power and personal benefit. With the link with rural society loosed, local elites lost their position as an integrated power to basic society.Naturally, it could not overrate the significance of Changshu case and infer the whole country. But according to the study of the form, group structure and activity characteristic of local elites, it could be known that the changes of the group during those years. We also draw some thought from it to benefit the study of modern rural structure.The means of research, this thesis aims at Changshu case and bases on the local chronicles, genealogy, archives and so on, avoided magnificent narrate.