Peasant Life in China

by Fei Xiaotong, Fei Xiaotong

A fascinating insight into the life of the vast majority of Chinese people at the end of 19th century. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Genres: China, Nonfiction, Sociology

332 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 12, 2006

Reviews

[Abdelrahman Badr II · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I've actually read is " Chinese village close-up", but unfortunately I didn't find it on the site, and also I couldn't add it as my account is still new, so I chose to write my review here on that book because it's actually considered as the first chapter in " Chinese village close-up".
The book is about a field study for a Chinese village called " Kaixian'gong" which is luckily close to "Jiangsu" province which is the author's hometown.
What made this study so unique and rich was that it took place in four different years, the first four chapters were written by Prof: Fei himself but the last four chapters were written by an Anthropoligts group to continue the description and the analysis of that village not only that but also to compare the economic, social, religious and the environmental situations within the years: 1936, 46, 57,81, and the changes the occurred in the village in these years.
This study dealt not only with Chinese rural society but also with the effect of economic conditions and urban changes on rural conditions, in the four different eras.
But the part that I really liked is how this village was affected by the economic openness and its impact on almost their whole way of life.
A book worth buying

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

One can understand older generations better by reading this book. The village that Fei Xiaotong writes about is around an hour's drive away from my mother's hometown. Fei Xiaotong writes clearly about both economic and social aspects of village life in 1935.

However, his prediction or hope that rural industrialization that preserved local traditions did not come to pass. In the end, it was not possible to industrialize without destroying the ancient rural society that he wished to preserve.