Northern and Southern China: Regional Differences in Rural Areas

Description

This edited volume examines regional differences in social structure in rural China and elaborates the characteristics, reasons and practical implications to policymaking of this. In contrast to many existing studies, the book spotlights regional disparities that stem from the varied social compositions of villages and their social relations in rural areas of Northern, Central and Southern China. Three types of rural community structures ranging from the north to the south of China are identified, including the segmented village comprised of kinship groups, that with a high degree of atomization, and the united one resting upon patrilineage based organization. The editor draws on middle-range theory, organically combining a theoretical framework of the regional variations with empirical studies based on years of fieldwork in rural China. This approach is used throughout the book to analyze topics in four aspects: family relations, social interactions, other notable social issues and rural governance. The title will appeal to scholars and students of sociology and Chinese studies, as well as general readers interested in rural Chinese society. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of figures List of tables Notes on the contributors Chapter 1: Introduction: Regional variations in rural China from the perspective of social structure 1.1 Literature review 1.1.1 Literature review on regional studies 1.1.1.1 Research on rural south China 1.1.1.2 Research on rural North China 1.1.1.3 Research on the rural areas of the Yangtze River basin 1.1.2 Literature review on regional comparative studies 1.1.3 Summary 1.2 Regional differences in village structure and their causes 1.2.1 Regional difference in the environmental conditions 1.2.1.1 North China 1.2.1.2 South China 1.2.1.3 The Yangtze River basin 1.2.1.4 Comparison of rural environmental conditions in the Northern, Central and Southern regions 1.2.2 Regional differences in history 1.2.2.1 Rural South China 1.2.2.2 Rural North China 1.2.2.3 The middle reaches of the Yangtze River: Hunan and Hubei provinces 1.2.2.4 Upper Yangtze River and Southwest China 1.2.2.5 Lower reaches of the Yangtze River 1.2.2.6 Northeast region 1.2.2.7 Central rural areas 1.2.3 Summary 1.3 Village social structure before the 20th century 1.4 Transformation in village structure since the early 20th century 1.5 Policy review and the social basis of rural governance 1.5.1 United villages 1.5.2 Segmented villages 1.5.3 Atomized villages 1.5.4 Summary 1.6 Conclusion Notes References Chapter 2: Regional difference in China’s rural areas and the formulation of the middle-range theory 2.1 Previous studies into regional difference in China’s rural areas 2.2 Middle-range theory of regional difference in China’s rural areas 2.3 Related theories 2.3.1 Skinner’s “spatial approach” and a standard marketing community 2.3.2 Freedman’s lineage paradigm from the regional difference perspective 2.3.3 “Region” in the study of regional social history 2.4 Interpretation of several rural social phenomena 2.4.1 Research on the relations between the state and the peasants 2.4.2 Research into the social basis of renqing 2.4.3 Regional variations in face 2.4.4 Summary 2.5 Middle-range theory and rural studies 2.5.1 Middle-range theory in rural studies 2.5.2 Discussions on rural studies in China 2.6 Summary Notes References Part I: Family Chapter 3: Regional variations in family development in China’s rural areas 3.1 Framing of the question 3.2 Regional difference in household property ownership 3.2.1 Family property ownership in North China 3.2.2 Ancestral property in South China 3.2.3 Private property ownership in the Central rural areas 3.3 Regional variations in family ethical duty fulfillment 3.3.1 In North China: All-out and altruistic efforts for the sons 3.3.2 In South China: To have a son to continue the family line 3.3.3 In the Central atomized areas: No motivation to carry on the ancestral line 3.4 Regional variations in the pathways of socialization in the society of close acquaintances 3.4.1 Social structure 3.4.2 Communal identity of the families 3.4.3 Social values 3.5 Regional variations in the family development cycle 3.5.1 Communal pattern of the Southern united villages 3.5.2 Corporate pattern of the Northern segmented villages 3.5.3 The atomized pattern in the Central dispersed villages 3.6 Summary Note References Chapter 4: Regional variations in family division in rural China 4.1 Framing of the question 4.2 Family division: institutions and practice 4.2.1 Institutional perspective of family division 4.2.2 Practical elements in family division patterns 4.2.2.1 Practical element: Household wealth 4.2.2.2 Dynamics: family politics 4.2.2.3 Constraints: ethics 4.3 Regional distribution of family division patterns 4.3.1 Integrative family division 4.3.1.1 Structure of the integrative family division pattern 4.3.1.2 Discussion on family division pattern based on field experience 4.3.2 Competitive family division 4.3.2.1 Mechanism 4.3.2.2 Discussion 4.3.3 Consultative family division 4.3.3.1 Operational mechanism of consultative family division 4.3.3.2 Discussion 4.3.4 Regional distribution of family division patterns 4.4 Social foundation of family division patterns 4.4.1 In united villages in South China 4.4.2 In segmented villages in the north 4.4.3 In dispersed villages in the Central areas 4.5 Summary Notes References Chapter 5: Regional difference of elderly support patterns in China’s rural areas 5.1 Framing of the question 5.2 Three patterns of elderly support in rural areas 5.2.1 The ethically motivated elderly support pattern 5.2.2 The norm-motivated elderly support pattern 5.2.3 The emotion-motivated elderly support pattern 5.3 Regional difference in rural elderly support patterns 5.3.1 Southern united villages: ethically motivated elderly support 5.3.2 Northern segmented villages: norm-motivated elderly support 5.3.3 Central disunited atomized villages: emotion-motivated elderly support 5.4 Social basis of the regional distribution of rural elderly support patterns 5.4.1 Patrilineage community and ethically motivated elderly support in the Southern villages 5.4.2 Locality-based community and norm-motivated elderly support in the Northern villages 5.4.3 The individualistic tendency and emotion-motivated elderly support in the Central villages 5.5 Summary References Part II: Face and Renqing Chapter 6: Regional difference in Mianzi and Mianzi competition in China’s rural society 6.1 Mianzi and conceptualizations of mianzi 6.2 Mianzi and Mianzi competition in rural society 6.3 Regional difference in the conceptualizations of mianzi and mianzi competition types 6.3.1 Ideal types of mianzi and mianzi competition 6.3.1.1 Conspicuous mianzi behavior 6.3.1.2 Social mianzi behavior 6.3.1.3 Dependent mianzi behavior 6.3.2 Regional distribution of mianzi and mianzi competition types 6.4 Social basis of the regional variations in the conceptualizations of Mianzi 6.4.1 Social basis of the conceptualizations of mianzi in rural North China 6.4.2 Social basis of the conceptualizations of mianzi in Central rural areas 6.4.3 Social basis of the conceptualizations of mianzi in Southern rural areas 6.5 Summary Notes References Chapter 7: Regional variations in Renqing in ceremonial or ritualized situations 7.1 Framing of the question 7.2 Analytical framework: privateness and publicness of kinship ties and territorial bonds 7.3 Regional expression of RCRS 7.3.1 Regional variations of how the renqing circle is widened 7.3.2 Regional variations in suili 7.3.3 Regional variations in the nature of renqing 7.4 Transition of RCRS 7.4.1 Stability of renqing in the Southern united villages 7.4.2 Stability of renqing ethics and the alienation of ceremonies in the Northern segmented villages 7.4.3 Overall alienation of renqing in the Central dispersed villages 7.5 Further research: RCRS and economic differentiation 7.6 Summary References Part III: Society Chapter 8: Regional variations in suicide incidence in rural China 8.1 Literature review on the problem of suicide 8.2 Theoretical framework 8.3 Methodology and data 8.4 Results and analysis 8.4.1 Regional variations in demographic characteristics in peasant suicide 8.4.2 Regional variations in the timeline on peasant suicide 8.4.3 Regional variations in suicide types according to intent 8.5 Conclusion References Chapter 9: Studies on China’s bachelors from the perspective of regional difference 9.1 Literature review 9.2 Difference in sex ratio at birth and in fertility culture 9.3 Regional variations in intergenerational and sibling relationships and surplus males 9.3.1 In lineage areas in South China 9.3.2 In segmented North China 9.3.3 In the Central atomized areas 9.3.4 Summary 9.4 Regional variations in the social life of surplus men 9.4.1 In lineage areas in South China 9.4.2 In kinship groups in North China 9.4.3 In the Central atomized region 9.5 Creation of the national marriage market and regional variation in the transition period 9.6 Summary Notes References Chapter 10: Regional difference in the change of the social status of the elders 10.1 Framing of the question 10.2 Regional variations in the status of the elderly 10.2.1 Change in the status of the elderly in the Northern villages 10.2.2 Change in the status of the elderly in the Southern villages 10.2.3 Change in the status of the elderly in the North and in the South: a comparison 10.3 Explanation of the structural differences between the villages in the North and the South 10.3.1 Different ways of reacting to the political revolution: taking advantage or noncooperation 10.3.2 Impact of the market economy: encouraging competition or relinquishing authority 10.4 Further research: differences among village beliefs, values and norms 10.5 Summary and further research 10.5.1 Summary 10.5.2 Further research Notes References Part IV: Governance Chapter 11: Regional difference in fertility behavior in China’s rural areas 11.1 Framing of the question 11.2 Theoretical framework: village social structure and fertility behavior 11.2.1 Childbearing intention and values 11.2.2 Fertility factors and relationship networking 11.3 Macro-analysis: regional variations of Chinese peasants’ fertility behavior 11.3.1 Regional variations of fertility behavior 11.3.2 Regional difference in social structure 11.4 Micro-mechanism: the formation of regional variations in fertility behavior 11.4.1 The traditional fertility behavior pattern and the Southern united social structure 11.4.2 The transitional fertility behavior pattern and Northern segmented villages 11.4.3 The modern fertility behavior pattern and the central dispersed areas 11.5 Reflections on demographic transition theories 11.6 Summary Notes References Postscript Index