Rural China on the Eve of Revolution

Sichuan Fieldnotes, 1949-1950

G. William Skinner, Stevan Harrell, William Lavely

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9780295999418
• eBook ISBN:
  9780295999432
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Chinese History
• Index: Social Sciences

In 1949, G. William Skinner, a Cornell University graduate student, set off for southwest China to conduct field research on rural social structure. He settled near the market town of Gaodianzi, Sichuan, and lived there for two and a half months, until the newly arrived Communists asked him to leave. During his time in Sichuan, Skinner kept detailed field notes and took scores of photos of rural life and unfolding events. Skinner went on to become a giant in his field—his obituary in American Anthropologist called him "the world's most influential anthropologist of China." A key portion of his legacy arose from his Sichuan fieldwork, contained in his classic monograph Marketing and Social Structure in Rural China. Although the People's Liberation Army confiscated Skinner's research materials, some had been sent out in advance and were discovered among the files donated to the University of Washington Libraries after his death. Skinner's notes and photos bring to life this rare glimpse of rural China on the brink of momentous change.

GLOSSARY

bai

formal visit

Bai Chongxi

Nationalist general

baitian

daytime, used of a market that meets daily

ban zigeng nong

peasants who farm land that is partly their own and partly rented from someone else

bao

a rural administrative unit consisting of ten jia

Bao’en Lao Hui

Old Reward Benevolence Society

baozhang

administrative head of a bao

bayi

“eight-one” referring to August 1, the date of founding of the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers’ Red Army, later the People’s Liberation Army

Beiping

name of the national capital (Beijing) used 1927–1949

biaobei pu

shop that mounts pictures and makes scrolls

bu

cotton cloth

buhaoyisi

embarrassed, ashamed

bu song

“don’t accompany” [polite phrase said by a guest to urge the host to let him or her proceed on his or her way alone]

caiyou

rapeseed oil

caizi

rapeseed or oil seed

canshen

probably short form for

, participating in worship of deities

chang

a market or market town

changnian

a laborer hired on an annual basis

changshi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Maps
• One The Road to Gaodianzi: June–November 1949
• Two Settling In: November 12–26
• Three A Household Survey and Rumors of the Communists: November 28–December 16
• Four Working Out the Market Network as the PLA Approaches: December 13–24
• Five Liberation! December 27–January 3
• Six The Communists and the Temples: January 5–13
• Seven The Last Dongyue Temple Festival: January 15–17
• Eight The Premature End of Fieldwork: January 18–25
• Epilogue: January–May 1950
• Afterword
• Glossary
• Index