The "Rural Land" And The Revolution

The modern studies of rural society in China can date back to "May Fourth Movement" These studies are closely related with the modernization process of China. Generally speaking, China has to complete the transition from an agriculture country to an industrial one. In1930s, among all the research on rural China, the research of SSCRE (the society for the study of Chinese rural economy) is highly original. Using the theoretical method based on the materialistic conception of history, SSCRE proved the "semi-colonial and semi-feudal"characteristics of rural China, and therefore, triggered the Agrarian Revolution carried out by the Communist Party of China. However, after the reform and opening-up policy, we are no longer able to understand the significance of the rural research of SSCRE. By studying the activities of SSCRE in the third phrase of the Polemic on the Nature of Chinese Community-the Polemic on the Nature of Chinese Rural Community (1933-1935), I tried to get back to the rural research of SSCRE. In this paper, I will point out that the theoretical framework of the materialistic conception of history is the outcome of "the Trend of Great Revolution" in1930s. Under this framework, SSCRE analyzed the rural China using the concept of "feudalism", with a focus on the rural land problem, and eventually related it to the traditional Chinese thought of "When the great way is followed, all under heaven will be equal".