Banditry And Rural Society Of Henan 1912-1932

In the early era of the Republic of China, the old political order had been broken, but the new order had not been able to be established, so the society was out of control and unstable. For varieties of reasons, many people took the risk of desperation and gathered for the bandit. The banditry in Henan province was the most serious, ranking the first in the country. Large numbers of bandits existed here and there and often swept through the whole province. In the 1920s,Henan province became the most prevalent time of bandits. This particular case of banditry in Henan is not only the reflects of the history of the State at that time, but also closely related to rural society itself.Rural social order is maintained by external force and rural society's internal inhibitions to work together. In the rural society in Henan between late Qing Dynasty and the early era of the Republic of China, its ecology was collapsed and its control was weakened which made it in chaos. In this case bandits mess occurred. Facing the destruction of bandit's burning and looting,the rural society built forts and form armed forces to defend bandits. They implemented the "rural self-government" to obstruct bandits sources and curb the development of bandits. The characteristics of banditry affected and restricted the rural strategies and measures of defending bandits while rural defense activities also changed the bandit's activity conditions and social environment. Banditry also had a long-term effect on Henan. Especially the most villages directly related to banditry had significant Changes in the cultural values, social structure, economy and other aspects under the repeated and constant influence of banditry.