Theoretical Context And Expression Of Experience Of The Chinese Village Community Transformation

The western community studies tradition has two branches:one is of the sociology, the other is of the anthropology. The community study was introduced to China and became the paradigm for the Chinese village studies. Lots of controversy involved are actually closely related to the confusing nature of the theoretical context of community study.On the basis of clarifying the theoretical context of community studies, this paper combines the efforts of both the sociological and anthropological tradition of community studies, presents and analyses the community experience consensus from the perspective of the community change in the Dacheng Village on Cheng'du Plain. It aims to obtain the the theoretical explanation about "state and society co-exists" in Chinese village community, and to comprehend in depth how theoretically difficult it would be for a "traditional Chinese" village community cultural meaning system to transform into the "new Chinese" system.The sociological tradition of the community studies emphasizes the modern attributes of the community. The essence of the western community change is the transformation from the traditional communities to the modern community unit, meanwhile the modern mode is established for modern society and modern nation-state communities to co-exist. The community study of anthropological tradition started from the exploration for this mode as well, only focusing more on the specific non-western-style social experience from the perspective of the otherness. Chinese village studies, coinciding with this will, shows another possibility, inherent in modern large-scale civilization rather than the Western ones, of how the state and society can co-exist, which makes it a highlight in the community research. These two research traditions form the common theoretical context of the rational and national research on China's village community.Along this thread, we can find the rationalized and the nationalized nature of the traditional Chinese village community in the comprehension and the retelling of the Dacheng village community consensus. Home style of production and worship rituals, the way they inhabit in a courtyard, the operation of water conservancy system, the existence of the small temple and little land god, all those elements make the small communities the most familiar daily units to local people; around those cultural elements of "rural society", a ritual behavior system has been formed, interwoven with a variety of ritual activities and related cultural interpretation. The large temples (such as the Dacheng Temple) become the core of a heterogeneous cultural network structure, which connects the small community to a wider network of social and cultural power. Small communities and rural society are at the starting point of this cultural network structure, while the country stands at the end of it. With various levels of the cultural power system, a huge complex net has been woven between these two points, which forms some kind of complex "local" and "national" qualities co-existing in a "Chaxu Structure", and embodies the practical rational qualities of social priority principle.When we comprehend the transformation from traditional China to the new China in the scope of community change, we can also understand the transformation of community system of cultural meaning in real terms. During the formation process of this system in new Chinese villages, practical rationality, human relations and emotions must be employed in learning and transforming the rational class discourse system, which results in some "reasonable transformation" on the actual situations in community by the state ideology. Mutual-transforming and interweaving with the class discourse, practical rationality, human relations and emotions, the transformation process of the village community culture triggered a series of contradictions and conflicts in the new village communities. After long periods of conflict, mixing and compromise, the new Chinese villages community system of cultural meaning is eventually shaped, and the "Chaxu Structure" as well.In short, with the integration of sociological and anthropological research tradition, this study attempts to analyze the theoretical context of the rationalization of community change and national community, and tries to find the shared national and social characteristics among the Chinese village experience. It tries to develop a more penetrating comprehension over the "Chaxu Structure" of the communities cultural meaning system in the traditional Chinese village, and to interpret from the doctrinal scope the numerous conflicts, dilemmas, and the final outcome which is boren by the new Chinese community in this transformation process.