| The gentry, who compromised the social basis of the feudal sovereignty, were a privileged class in the ancient society. Some foreign scholars even regard them as a ruling class in feudal society as they were able to decide the destiny of China. Moreover, as one of the important chains of the feudal social stratum, the development, evolution and changes of gentry had affected the feudal system. In the meanwhile, as an attachment to the feudal system, the fate of the gentry was an epitome that reflected the historic destiny of the society. Therefore, the research on the gentry class is very important for analyzing the development the feudal society of China, understanding the historic development process of China, and concluding the experiences and lessons during the course of development of China's modern society .So the research on gentry has obtained much attention from the domestic scholars and scholars abroad.Though the research on gentry in China has been proved very fruitful, the research on local gentry is very deficient yet, especially that on the gentry in Hunan Province where the gentry was typical of having great power .The research in this aspect is weak and scattered, and till now there has appeared on special papers on researching Hunan's gentry.This thesis, based on the achievements of predecessors, with historical materialism as guiding principle, through excavating some related historical materials, probes deeply into the causes, process, results and effect on gentry's evolution in Hunan province. It analyzes the motive forces and impediments in Hunan's modernizing progression by researching the mutual-action relations between the gentleman and the changes of Hunan modern society, and aims to conclude some experiences and lessons for the today's socialist modernization and construction.This article is composed of three parts: introduction, the main body and conclusion. The introduction mainly introduces the general situation of the research on Hunan's gentry and explains the reason, purpose and significance of this research, which serves as a foundation of the main part.The main part includes seven chapters:Chapter One discusses some basic problems related closely to the research on gentry, focusing on the definition, origin, basic structure, classification, status, role and main characteristics of modern gentry and answering some contentious questions. This chapter lays a basis for the author's further research.Chapter Two analyzes carefully the general situation of Hunan's modern gentry by statistics. It proves that the proposition?Hunan was one of the areas where the gentry's number grew most rapidly and the gentry's power became the strongest" is true by using reliable statistics. Furthermore, the author concerns the basic construction and characteristics of the gentry's stratum in Hunan, and concludes that conservation is one of the main characteristics owned by Hunan's gentry before 1895.Chapter Three elaborates on the historic division of gentry's stratum during WuXu Reform and its effect on Hunan's society. The growing up of the new innovative gentry stimulates the modernization of Hunan's society. However the struggles between progressive gentlemen and conservative ones are unavoidable, which to a large extent lead to the failure of the reform in Hunan. The traditional stubborn gentry still own the deciding power for the whole society.Chapter Four explores the evolution and changes of Hunan's gentry and its historic effect on Hunan's society during the reform period in the late Qing dynasty(l901-1905). Although the Qing government attempted to implement some modernization measures, these measures still remain backward and stubborn based on the feudal system. Additionally, there were no basic changes about the competence between the new and old forces among the gentry class, which greatly restricted the modernization development in Hunan's society.Chapter Five offers a discussion of the construction evolution of Hunan's gentry and its effect on the progressi...
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