Rural Society In China

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“Rural China has never been as worse as today”, one of my friend’s father told me as he is disappointed by the abandonment of rural China in this rapidly modernizing China. When we think of rural China, most of the people in China will frown subconsciously, the rurality equates to poverty, backwardness, toughness in today China, where the young try their best to leave. China is a traditionally agricultural country where the rural society took up the majority of population. However, the present Chinese rural society, unlike the past is going through harsh transformations. In the article I will point out the changing parts of rural Chinese society with regard to Yang Gailan’s case, which is going to give a clear scope of the transformation of…show more content…
With the gentry-class ruling and taking care of the political issues, the nation-wide affaires do not significantly affect the rural area. It is the place where officials would like to return when they are retired, the ideal place with familiarity to live. In today’s China, the rural area has become the source of labor force in China. Rural people mobilize to urban areas for work and very much “immigrate” to cities. Leaving means not coming back anymore except for festivals. The traditional social structure in rural area is collapsing with the rapid changes of China. The means to survival is no longer limited to earth, the possibilities to go upward in the society increase. Along with the decreasing population, the entrance of industrial plants, the breaking family structure as well as the elimination of the gentry-class, the rural China is no longer a place with traditional rurality but a place of despair and toughness in today’s context. The Yang…show more content…
The word peasant and farmer do have a significant difference since the attitude towards rural people has changed from the past. In the imperial era, farmers have their own economy culture by commoditization and diversification inside the family to maximize the profits. It is more like a family business rather than peasants simply cultivating the lands. However, the word “peasants” was invented under the communist rule which recognizes the rural China is a land of superstition, feudalism and backwardness. Peasants have more political meanings than practical significance in communist’s China, peasants often relate to superstition and backwardness, which are the enemies of modernization in the communist context. Although peasants were treated as the main characters in the communist revolution, in the post-Mao era peasants are leaving behind as the nation is rapidly capitalizing. The rural people immigrant to urban regions for better lives, many in urban region immigrant to foreign countries for the same purpose too. As a result, the people who stay still in rural area are the weakest groups of people in China due to inability. Yang Gailan is a rural woman like this, without capability to go upward in the society but struggling to live with heavy burdens. Unlike the imperial and pre-communist era, today peasants are not taken care by any

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