A Duet Of Different Historical Destinies

In 1905 (guangxu 31th), the Imperial Examinations System was abolished, which meant a dramatic and complicated change for Chinese society and the people who live in it. This is of significant and typical in the history of social changing in Modern Chinese society. As the representative of traditional Chinese social power, the rural elites suffered the most dramatic changes since the abolishment of the Imperial Examinations System.After the abolishment of Imperial Examinations System, the orientation of social status upgrade system had been changed, urban and rural areas were gradually separated, the gentry class which once was the highest social class disappeared, the official source of regular society became exhausted, and the traditional values was totally overturned. Therefore, the characters of rural elites presented in contradictory ways, new or old, maintenance or abolishment, to die or to awaken, development or crisis. This essay intends to explore the effects on Rural Elites from the abolishment of Imperial Examinations System through the contradictory characters approach.This thesis is consisted with four parts.The first part focuses on the background and traditional rural social situation of Rural Elites before the abolishment of Imperial Examinations System; in additional, this part will define Rural Elites and explain theirs social influence.The main characters of the Chinese traditional rural society are that it emphasizes the supremacy of monarchical power and great unified ideology, and combination of family, local social mechanism and the imperial...