On The Shanxi Village Self-rule In The Republic Of China

Japanese scholar ???????? holds there was a political reform movement in the modern history of China in terms of feudalism(i.e.Local autonomy theory)as opposed to central autocratic system.If we review the modern chinese local autonomy system in this perspective but not in pure political perspective,we can find clear historical position,so that grasp historical trend.Local autonomy system was built on the background of modern nation-state building.Then,the state's ability of organization and resource absorption was promoted unprecedentedly.Local autonomy transforms from the mode of spontaneity which relies on nongovernmental forces such as clan or gentry to the mode of state-driven.However,during Republic of China central government controlled local government very loosely,so that different tests of local autonomy were taken in different palaces.It is village self-rule in Shanxi province that influenced most widely and lasted for the longest time.Shanxi province during the Republic of China was known as “Model Province” in the 1920's because of its village autonomy for decades.Shanxi village self-rule was not only related closely to the modern chinese local autonomy system,but also has unique historic opportunity.Firstly,in the early Republic of China period local autonomy system restarted after a short pause.The unit of autonomy expanded from county to village with the expansion of state power.The rural order reforming and sustaining was influenced by state institution.Secondly,modern village self-rule arised in Zhaicheng Village and Dingxian County in Hebei Province,which had inspirational significance to Shanxi Priovince.Thirdly,then local leader's idea of governance had inner connection with Shanxi village self-rule.Comparing other provinces the political and economic construction of Shanxi had programmatic characteristic,which was always led by theoretical direction.Afer 1917 Shanxi New Deal such as industry development,education and customs reforming was carried out gradually.In 1918 the political thought of “yong-min”was put forward which including the morality of people,the wisdom of people and the property of people.In October 1920,government of Shanxi province suggested the stage plan of village self-rule to central government,which was divided into four stages.The first one was to eliminating villain by the official force;the second one was to reliefing for the poor by the folk force;the third one was to drafting village regulations;the forth one was to realizing village self-rule.In 1922 after five years of village system,the political thought of “cun ben”was put forward which signified that the village was the foundation of the governance.Shanxi village self-rule developed dynamically and persistently in terms of organizational structure and affairs of village,which were two concurrent threads.The organizational structure and affairs of village were improved gradually according to the change of political and social condition.Nation-state building urged comparatively self-contained local autonomy system in Shanxi province.So called “Shanxi village self-rule” was not only related to village,but closely related to system construction of whole province for order and progress.Provincial government was the driving force,the county government was the focus of work,and the village was the key point,which relied on the establishment of modern political system.Firstly,in terms of programming and monitor provincial government made detailed plan.Some specialized agency were set up for supervision such as the bureau of six-affairs checking and the bureau of village affairs etc..Representatives Watch was to charge on-the-spot investigation.Secondly,traditional county government was reformed to modern bureaucratic institution,which could be divided seven apartments.Dedicated modern bureaucracy connected provincial governance and county and village governance.Thirdly,vertical system of district-village-25 families formed gradually which led to tight administrative control.And in terms of horizontal system,village office,village meeting and village supervisory committee were founded one by one for village management,which had characteristic of separation of power.Meantime there still was village mediation committee which was in charge of dispute resolving and village guard group which was in charge of public security.The vast majority of village affairs contacted with administrative system except some rare affairs because of cooperation and distribution of the village and the government.Those affairs could be divide into two categories: administrative appointing affairs and co-organized affairs according to the degree of autonomy.In early stage of village self-rule,most affairs such as water conservancy,silkworm bleeding and mulberry growing,planting,drug controlling,unbound feet,hairdressing,cotton planting,afforestation and raising livestock belonged to administrative delegation affairs.The co-organized affairs was represented by village regulating and security defense,which had an important significance of rural order,however could not completed only by official force.So village self-rule organization was needed to handle those affairs.When we review the Shanxi village self-rule in Republic of China,we should analyze its success and failure besides regime change.In the aspect of system design,condition of autonomy,cultural conflict,and era limitation,it can provide some enlightenment for later generations.It is the experience of Shanxi village self-rule that balancing of official force and folk force,intensifying regional power and consolidating the foundation of democracy.After drawing the outline of the development of Shanxi village self-rule in historical perspective,we should examine how and to what extent it realized rule of people.In the first place the spiritual resource of Shanxi village self-rule rooted in traditional Confucian culture,opposed to the western culture which advocates liberty,equality and democracy.Shanxi village self-rule gave respect to traditional culture,not abandon or destruction.Furthermore it had typical ideology which blended tradition with the idea of rule of people and autonomy.In the second place it is typical government-motivated autonomy,so that its path and autonomy scale were strongly affected by administrative will.The provincial government changed their plan and intervention in accordance with social conditions.The expansion of autonomy relied on the quit of the official force.In the third place it had not fully realize rule of people but had some historical features.In terms of thought it tried to transfer people-oriented doctrine to rule of people;and in terms of separation of power it tried to explore the balance of state power and social power.