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"A lucid and fascinating work about Chinese society and values. Fei's account of how China differs from the West is every bit as telling now as it was when this book was first published almost half a century ago."--Orville Schell
"What are the fundamental characteristics of Chinese society and how does it differ from the West? In
From the Soil, China's foremost sociologist offered his insights, based on fieldwork in China and residence in the West, into this fascinating question. Vivid and clearly written, it has long been a classic of Chinese sociology, widely read by Chinese. It is wonderful finally to have it available in English."--David Arkush, University of Iowa
List of contents
Foreword
Introduction: Fei Xiaotong and the Beginnings
of a Chinese Sociology, by Gary G. Hamilton
and Wang Zheng
1. Special Characteristics of Rural Society
2. Bringing Literacy to the Countryside
3· More Thoughts on Bringing Literacy to
the Countryside
4· Chaxugeju: The Differential Mode of Association
5· The Morality of Personal Relationships
6. Patrilineages
7· "Between Men and Women, There Are
Only Differences"
8. A Rule of Ritual
9· A Society without Litigation
10. An Inactive Government
11. Rule by Elders
12. Consanguinity and Regionalism
13. Separating Names from Reality
14. From Desire to Necessity
Epilogue: Sociology and the Reconstruction
of Rural China, by Gary G. Hamilton and
WangZheng
Glossary
Index
About the author
Gary G. Hamilton is Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington. Wang Zheng is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at the University of California, Davis.
Summary
Written in Chinese from a Chinese point of view for a Chinese audience, this title describes the contrasting organizational principles of Chinese and Western societies, thereby conveying the useful features of both. It shows how these features reflect and are reflected in the moral and ethical characters of people in these societies.
