THE INFORMAL POWER STRUCTURE IN A VILLAGE NEAR CANTON
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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
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Document Page Count:
8
Document Creation Date:
December 19, 2016
Document Release Date:
February 13, 2006
Sequence Number:
6
Case Number:
Publication Date:
September 11, 1951
Content Type:
REPORT
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Approved For R?ieiS'el-26-6r/6-2112:1Z44eitakiiigil00457R061-2`06200i16
!WOMBAT/ON REPORT cr) NO.,
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25X1 ;UBJECT The Informal Pomer Structure in a Village near.
Ceaton
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NO. OF PAGES 8
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REPORT NO.
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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1, By power etructure is meant the system of organizations designed to produce
or endue@ conscious and unconscious obedience and cooperation from individuals,
Th) formai structure of power is represented by government and the legal
eyreem of power organizations under its direct control. In the rural sector
of the colntry, this takes the form of county, townships town and village
gorernments, as well as legal organizations like the inter-village council,
eh .ch formed a link in the chain of governmental agencies for the control of
the countryside under the Nationaliat regime. On the other hand, informal
power structure is a system of social organizations which, consciously
or unconsciously, performs the function or conpolline obedience and cooperatlon
free( the covmunity without the formal authority of law and governmeat.
2, In China long history, regimes of formal power have risen and fallen, but
the infernal power structure in the villages has changed but little The long
ace lel and cultural continuity of China has relied heavily upon this system
of informal parer structure. Do fornal power structure can endure long without
th,, cooperation and support of the informal strecture in the vast countryside
beeeuse, a part of the formal power structure her to be manned by local
leecers vhoee authority and prestige is rooted in the informal structure
ann., in order to be effective the exercise of POWOY by the formal government
ae ,oe the aesistance of the informal structure,
3, Uhele the informal structure of power has seen little change over the past
Q0: turies, it has undergone increasing rapid alteration in the oast half of
a -entury, especially during the last trio or three decades,
40 The village under consideration is about five miles fran the city of Cantons
on the rich delta lend of the Pearl River, Such proximity to a groat urban
meter produces many characteri3tios that differentiate thu village from
the average rural community dee?or inland in agricultural China, Commercialized
egTioultuee is the general rule, about 80g of the village's produce is sold
.ouside, o there is only a lou degree of selfesufficiency,, The village is
aleo only 80 miles from Hong Kong and e:acao. This causes the migration of
ale ue l0/; of the village's population to Canton, Hong Kong liaeao and places
in Southeast Asia where they engage in trade and other employment, Some
of these emigrants have made money and have bought land in the villages
Th :E causes a heavy concentration of landownership in the heads of a small
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percentage of the population* The proximity to great cities has also
brought the villagers into intimate contact with modern social, economic
and political changes.
The village is situated low enough to enjoy the benefits of irrigation, but
high ?lough to be free from flood and drought. The record of some 150
years elle= no natural disaster. The place is also fairly distant from
strategic highways, something that has saved it from the scorch of war
in the post decades of incessant fighting. From the viewpoint of location,
the ea:enmity can be considered an representative of an average suburban
village on the South China coast,
The village consists of 250 families, about 1,000 population. The sex and
age ooaposition of the population is normal. In the eight years of anti-
Japanese war, there seemed to be a slight natural decrease, but since then,
the natural increase seems to be going at the rate of 4 to 5 per 10000n The
people make their living mainly off about 1,000 mow, approximately 150 acres,
of rich delta land. About three-fourths of this land is devoted to the
raisin;; of rice, and the rest to truck gardening. The high percentage of
land devoted to truck gardening is the result of the village being near
Canton and Hong Kong. The comparatively high income from truck gardening is
partly why a. population of 1,000 can be supported on only 1.000 mow of land,
avers ng only 0,15 acre per capita.
Zupplalenting the land are several other minor sources of livelihood, There
are cele 60 irrigation ponds sprinkled among the paddy fields. These
penile, besides irrigation, are used for raising fish. There are fairly
thick dikes ehion are generally covered with fruit treea. Embroidery is
a developed skill among the women folk and finds a good market in Canton.
All tense yield a subsidiary income to farming. Small trades provide a
livelihood for the few who do not farm.
Eight families, a total of 50 of their members residing in the village,
own '63,) moa of land. About 10 per cent of the population is landless, eking
out a eiving on odd jobs such as doing farm work for neighbors, collecting
eatable weeds, catching frogs and fish from the common streams, and peddling
email quantities of whatever goods (generally food) they can buy with their
minute savings. Numerically predominant are about 70 families (about 38 per
cent of the total) of middle peasants, and about 90 families (about 36 per
cent of total) of poor peasants.
The raldle peasants are in all oases part tenants, owning one to five maw
of land, moanmhile renting a few more mow from other owners. On the average,
they farm about 10 now, or 1.5 acre, which yield a fairly attractive livelihood
at the native standard. The average not earning per family of this class,
after the deduction of rent and protection fees and other public charges,
is about 30 pieuls or approximately 4000 lbs. of hulled rice per year. This
is the equivalent of liKn1,800 a year, in terms of buying paver of rice in
Hong ;:ong. This sum would be about 35 per cent more than what it takes for
food for the family.
But the poor peasants live considerably below this level. The vast majority
of them are pure tenants, who have to pay about 40 per cent of their crop
fan rept alone. And after paying other charges, the average poor peasant keeps
only about half of what he produces. A small proportion of them awn a
little land, but usually not more than two maw per family. The average
farm worked by this class is about 6 maw. Their average annual net income
Is about 14,7 piculs or about 1,950 lbs. of hulled rice per family. This
earele pays for food, leaving practically nothing for other necessities.
L_ ;)%14 p0p14.W.lu, Art,1 ,ictv ..1vc k?k2
:Jorse ? tan the poor peasants, frequently missing, their meals when odd jobs
are utuivailable and when the nearby cities aro not en condition to offer
seas 0,1,1 employment.
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Orenisations of the Informal Feuer Structuret The basic organization of
ale viarr?g7is-U7r-cTearearfTh-o=ans (two surnames) in the village,
each clan occupying one section of the village. There are three other surnamev
in the village, but they are numerically in the minority. Up to the time of
the Communist take over in 1949, the clan was still the center around which
individuals and families were organized into bigger units for collective
ectivities, And the people possess the full share of clannishness, for
Ishleh the people of the province are well known.
Dut the development of education and the introduction of modern conception
ef lete have caused the clannish character to decline rapidly, especially
durinT, the past ten years, Some 66 per cent of the male population over ten
years of age are found to be literate in a survey at the end of 1960, but
only one per cent of the female population over ten years of age is literates
The traditional seat of informal village power has always belonged to the
ciders in a elan. This is (especially so in Hmemnung where the clan plays
n more important role than in other parts of China, The clan is but an
cepandod ftmily, and in the traditional family, the patriarchal authority
is graduated according to the age hierarchy. Hence the struoture of the
traditeonal family is one factor that gives the elders their importance
in a village community where the clan is the fundamental organization.
Ceeidese there is the well-known factor of the value of experience of the
olds
in a culture where empirical knowledge was most important and universal
eduoation was not existent0
ieleoreeically; any man over 60 is an elder. Asp-tunny, in order to qualify
as an elder, one has to give a feast to all elders on his 60th birthdaYS,
If he is free from any objectionable record in his past 60 years, he will be
formally recognized as an elder at this feast, and from then on, he will be
invited to the meetings of the elders council with full rights to participate
in the settlement of issues. If he is financially unable to give the feast,
his relatives will usually chip in to do it for him. But if his relatives
are as poor an he or are unwilling, then he will be just a poor old man after
Ms ,60th birthday, with no formal status of an elder, unless he has been an
infleential person right along. Bo, the actual qualification of an elder
includes wealth besides age. This is a significant faetor in the informal
power structure of the village.
"ti. In the Gem major clans of the village, one has 17 and the other 11 elders.
le each clan the eiders are organized into a council which meets at
eeremenial occasions and when issues arise calling for settlement by the
council, The leading functions of the council aren,
a? Care of the clangs property by appointing a manager each year and deciding,
in general, the use of the income from the property. Here the wealthy
and influential elders enjoy a stronger voice.
b. Celebration of various types of clan ceremonies, which include ancestral
religious sacrifices and the upkeep of ancestral halls. This function
helps to maintain the symbols of the prestige and authority of the clan,
02 Vaintenance of order and discipline among member of the clan. Two
decades ago, this function of the elders' council possessed a semi
-
judiciary character, and it was an effective means of maintaining local
law and order. The elders had the authority to bannish or even put to
death anyone who committed acts against the rules or customs of the clan.
But in the recent two decades. this function of the elders has deteriorated
tremendously because of the rise of the younger generation in power
tte ,asost or 1, L:ao
Caton? Now, elders could only reprimand the young culprit or toll the
next of kin to discipline him, with no direct authority to compel
obediences
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ds The elders decide on the funds and appoint the board of trustees for the
village school. They elso decide on whether to allocate sufficient
funds for the school so that education can be free or whether to charge
tuition. On this issue, the poor and the rich factions of the elders
usually fight heatedly every year when the issue comes up, for the poor
wants free education or very low tuition, while the rich usually refuse
to provide it.
e. The elders decide on inblio projects, allocate funds and manpower (in
the form of a labor levy) and appoint managers for public projects, such
as the building and maintenance of roads, bridges and dikes, and the
dredging of streams sad the maintenance and construction of dikes for
water control. The last big job or public project took place in 1936 when
a new dike was built to fence in some 250 mow of mud flats of the
village strewn, meleIng the mud flat into fertile fields, thus increasing
the vil)age's cultivated land by 25 per cent.
M The elders councils of the two major clans in the village under consideration
have also organized a joint elders' council to solve problems between the two
clone. Deep seated coaflict of economic interests and social prejudice
exist between the two clans,
17, Up to about 20 years ago, the elders' council was the center of village
authority, trough it never was a part of the formal government. But, the
past two decades has seen eho phenomenal rise of the young in power and
prestige in Ceina, and tW.s village, so close to big cities, ?eannot escape
the Influence of this genera] tendency, In this period, the authority and
prestige of the elders suffered a drastic decline. The old memories of
experience, the rich empirical knowledge, of the elders was once looked up
to by the cenammety ane command the respect of the young. But that set of
old experience no longer serves the purpose of the new environment:, New
problems that arose in recent decades could find no satisfactory solution
from the old formulae that the elders know and treasure. It was the younger
elements who mingle vith the new environment with a receptive mind whe came
out from time to tire with satisfactory solutions, as exemplified by =mere=
incidents in the viilage. Bit by bit, the younger elements stepped into the
position of leadership, though still needing the approve/ of the elders at
rirst. Later, about 10 years ago, oven this formal approval from the elders
was dispensEd with, Where the elders re 'used to budge, the younger generation
took it at gen point, thus almost completely collapsing the coercive authority
of the eldescs
U3, One incident serves to illustrate this vital tendency of the rise of the youn)e,
About 1939, a year after the Japanese took Canton, the suburban dietrict
was thrown into disorder. Threatended by inaccurity, the village began
to expand its Ism facility of pelf dame?. The eldors wanted to follow
ehoir old pattern of militia organization. But a group of vigorous young
fellows, some of when wore involved with guerrilla activities against the
Japanese, eyggestee another schaMe. The elders refused to yield, and the younc
fellows finally fought a gun battle with the elders and their supporters,
The young faction won. After that the affairs of village defense passed
into the hands oi the younger generation, who are more acquainted with. the
?eituation outside of the village confines and inho possessed outeide hookups
which are so vital at a time when the isolation of the village has been
thoroughly broken down, something that the elders are not deeply aware of.
in a way, thie incident possesses the character of a limited revolution in
She informal power structure of the cemmunity.
But, up to the time of the Communest take over at the end of 1949, the elders'
et-emelt ees 'f- 1t1 vrith Ov;stimally roduc,d authoril:y,
os pee:Lally on the matter of maineenance of social order and discipline.
On the other matters4 the judgment rendered the council still had the respect
of the oommunity. This remnant of its authority had propped up the heads of
several landlords' families, whose views and interests lie on the side of the
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eider* Neverthelese, when the Communists marched iv, the elder es a power
e:roup id traveled a long downhill road, and the Communist pelioy of giving
all poeers to the young only climaxed an already existing tread,
2es The family is not only a basio unit at social life, but also a. basic unit
In comernity power if the family acquires wealth, eduoation and connections,
and ooneequently expands the number of its own meebers, By business connections
tad by rarital relationshipee the members of a rising fanny act eollectiveey
oz intimate common interests and form a unit of informal power in the commelty.
In. a eellage which is essentially a einehip commusety, this is very important?
kra infiventiae family exercises its power in the ocamuniey through controlling
earioue organIzations more explicitly designed for the exercise of authority,
aeoh ae the elders council and defense organization. If at the time of
the Conmunist take over, the authority of the elders had drastically declined,
there nes no nign of appreciable weakening of family ties and the influence
of imporlint families in the village
ele One may take one Or two important families In the village for example. There
14 firet family Ae Forty yearo ago, Mr, Awes but a. poor peasant, a tenant
farmere but who had more than the average dhare of courage and cunning.
Drivea by poverty, he joined with a bandit leader in the neighboring millsgee
sad grelhed some income from that illegal source, That was the time of
rev/elution and rapidly shifting political_ regimes. Once he saved the life
ot the bandit leader by hiding him in his own home Later the bandit leader
beeam4 e leading official of angtung. From then ae? Mr, A rose- in wealth
and paler, Roused the bandit leader's influence to engage in opium and other
Magee traffioo Later he opened stores in the city., Nos sin. the village,
he has e tine modern house with a garden and 150 mow of land, 15 per cent
et- all the land in the village, His four sons wore married .end live together
lath hem in the same house and help manage his property. Mr, A does not go
to the elders' council, though he is a qualified member, But the majority
of the elders do his bidding. One of his sons married the daughter of a
politiA.an$ this, together with Aes own underworld influence, put him in a,
leading position in the village defense organisation. In many things his
words ere law, and his four sons are his eyes and ears in village affairs,
e2, There is tnlly B. Mr, B, like A, was a poor peasant some 35 yearn age?
Uaearin d and financially desperate, he left home neth only his clothes on
his back, He joined the crew of a ship on which his uncle werked. With
some savings, he went into business in Hong Kong. He was unusually successful
in trade. Now, he has three wives, 12 children (8 sons, 4 of than college
graduaees), and 40 maw of land in the village, He settled his third wife and
two aoes in the village to watch the levee and he himself -comes back to the
village several times a year. Though not personally in control of power in
the village, his views and words, as relayed through his wife and sons, are
taIeu seriously, Up to the Communist take over, nothing against his view
and interest bee been done, for hosidee his sons in the village, he had
many henohmen among the elders as well as the younger groups, In fact, one
person slated by the Communiat authority to be the chairman of the village
peasant,- aseocietion is his faithful follower,
Still nother example is family Co Mr. Cls father was a rich peasant and
an influential leader in the village but declined in wealth and status
seem C was about 12 years of age, At 12, C meat to Hong Kane to be an
appreneice in a book store, where he read a great deal in his spare times
When C grew up he went into business with moderate success, When the Japanese
took Reag Kong, his business was ruined, With what little money he had
. loft, be came hack to the village and bought 8 mow of land and started
fermlnea Whop the Japanese tightened control over the village he went into
'orou_H. him 1r0.,u c..:1:tiun with :lati.oarkiint
eel:lee/elem. At the tine of the Ookanunist take over, he and his two married
bona ren_a farm of 35 mewe operating the two biggest fish ponds in the village,
Ae a, fesally ueit, it was well-toed?. His knowledge of the modern world and
his political connections made his the most influential man in the village,
oecupyaag a leading position in all village organizations exempt the eleees9
couneil?,
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2.4 One notable fact in the above cases is that none of the influential families
retie from the land, but fram politics, business and even banditry. The soil
iteelf breeds eo wealth or status, It was in the influence of the outside
aerie that gays them the position of informal power,
- 23, Mile both the elders" council and the family are distinctly kinship groepso
the fraternity is a pseudo-kinship or nonekinship organization, Individuals,
mostly young men, from different clans in the village at some time in the past
have got together to set up a fraternity e It is a very common organization
aot merely in the countryside, but also in the cities, Twenty or thirty years
ago, the fraternity was a formal affair, with elaborate ceremonies of initiation
of new members, But, now, in this village, it is an informal organizationo .
Follows with common interest and similar temperament associate intimately
and call themselves members of a fraternity whioh has no particular mimeo New
fellows uho want to join are initiated at an informal tea in a nearby tea
houeeo
26, The stated purpose of the fraternity is a social one, for intimate association
in ordinary times, for making merry at the wedding of a brother, and for
mutual help at the time of need. But actually the common interest and the
irternal cohesion of the group Is so strong that it acts as a group of
influeaco and informal power in the village, There is no stated class line;
actually the members, of the village fraternity all come from the middle and
upper social levels, with no poor peasants participating,
There are four different fraternities in the village, and most of the young
man belong to one or the other, The most influential one is lead by Mr, C
above, Mr, C has a rich store of oommon sense about the modern worldLeand
can discuss current issues like a college student, He can write well, and
a very effective public speaker, virtually a rabble rouser. Ha has had wide
eonneetioa with the middle and lamer section of the local Kuomintang officialdam,
7n the same fraternity is Mr. Xeeho uses his pistol freely, an underworld
'aharacter. His underworld connections are in the Pearl River Delta, having
worked two years for a welleknoun badman some 70 miles south of the village,
to earn a little extra money. With a row of his fraternity brothers he has
orgaaieed protection team to protect some ship sailing through the troubled
waters in the delta land, He also protects &stabling and opium traffic in
the village as well as in the neighborhood!, much against the objection of
the elders, Still another outstanding member is Ur, Ah He was a poor peasant
by origin who vent to Hong Kong ae a peddler of vegetables, Malting no
headeay in Hong Kong, he came back to the village, bought three mow of land
and rented about 16 mow from others and became a middle peasant with a fair
incomeo He is literate and energetic, and he was Ae, Bee henshmano
ham been active in all public affairs of such as the village school and
anceetral hall management, Now, he is slated by the Communist authority
to be the chairman of the villages peasant association,
As mentioned above, the fraternity does a lot of things other than enjoying
social times. The group just mentioned, for instance, run joint operation
of fish ponds, renting the ohoiceet ponds from the clan property by special
influence? It jointly invests in small business operations, such as shipping
all loads of fresh veeetables to Hong Kong. With such common interests
it is only expected that they would stand together in atrugeling ror influence
end power in the village. Their influence permsatus every village organization,
end nonhing 'without their approval would go in the community In fact,
it WW1 this fraternity's inthenune more than any other immediate and direct
faotoe, that pulled down the authority of the elders, In aewaen the elders,
with their obsolete knowledge and experience, are in no position eo compete
eucceaefullyvith them. The older generation having no connections outside
the vOlage, f..!!ouid only step T31.3t, w11 thr former author'i 'f'y 6f the, -
eidor7i was: based epee the traditions and customs of a stable culture, the
Vita
per' of the youneer groups stems from unstable groups in a rapidly
shiftieg outeide world,
Natjv ef Kaaegtung province love to dance with the paper lion and the
accompanying gong and drum as a sport, It takes a group to play thief,
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uoueequentlye limos clubs are found all over the province* in the countryside
an well as the cities, And there is one in this village.
SO, The function of the lionts auk, however*, is =eh more than dancing the
paper 'lion. Much more important* it is a please where the young man gather
to hire a boxing toaoher and learn shadow boxing and the art of wielding
variouy anoint weapons like the spear and swords. It is actually a physical
tulture organization, dancing with the lion only on ceremonial occasions,
In the ancestral hall, Mums the limes club is located, one can see young
fellowe doing their exercise in the morulng and evening, This organization
is especially couraon among the poorer class of the population,
For the present purpose, yet more important than the function of physical
culture is the fact that this is a fighting organization, The young fellows
eeloneeng to the limes club stand with each other in case of conflict with
othere, And the organization is frequently connected with secret societies*
or this reason, the Communist authority in Canton recently ordered strict
aver-9161m of all lion's clubs* and diebanded mew of them as reactionary
organizatione
The club in tilts -village does not have any secret society connection, so
far az knoma, But it is distinctly a link in the informal power structure
in the ocunewity. The members play with real guns besides ancient weapons,
It wes traditionally oontrolledby the elders., But about 10 years ago* Ur, X
moved in and got control of the organization, Since then, the elders have
had no more organized armed support, At the time of the Communiat take over,
the club still wee going strong with some 40 paying adult members, and parents
still send their young sons there for physical development,
ne, The village iced to have a militia unit based upon the elan organization,
3et when the Japanese came in, this wes demobilized, About 6 years ago*
Ir, X and a group of young men, mainly his fraternity brothers, organized a
VW village defense corps, When the Commentate came* the organization had.
about 60 mailers, with some 30 rifles* 10 small arms, and two light machine
Tana. It wee completely in the heads of the younger group, subject to no
direct control fram any quarter, either the elders or the government,
The purpose of the organization is stated to be the maintananoe of peace
and order in the village. One of its chief functions is the "proteobioew
of greea crops in the fields. It oolleote a .protection fee of 10 oatties
of unhulled rice from every mow of land in production in return for guarantee
egainet theft and destruction by malioious people. In case of lees* the owner
ef the crop can claim payment from the organization, Besides the protection
of (*opa, it also protects gambling and opium dans in the village. Beaidos.
its own guns and it has extensive oonneotions with the underworld in
the nolehboring districts,
14)?, up to the time of the Communist take over this organization was the power
Ln the eillage* capable of commanding obedience and cooperation from anyone
en the lommunity, with the exception of Mr. A. mentioned abate, With Mr, Ae
';ho organization maintainn cordial relations and some degree of cooperation,
Througn Mr, Ce who is secretary of the organization, the organization also
eoma s late teach with the local Kuomintang of:10104am, Asked what he
ehought of this organization, a villager r plied! *Who dares to argue with
these guys uten their hips are bulging with guns,"
The ebove five informal power organirations function with intricate inter.
eeeereng relations.. The same set of men exercise influence on all of than,
Th*? sot- ice nod.7, up if nd1orce rth pe=aRanttn, undev.world 6hara.(Avre, men
vIth. (4ffiuial oonnoctione Itud knowieage of the ohangiug outside world,
471,ei of these men are peasants rooted. in the soil and raking an honest
ing Trom the soil. This is the ieformal power structure of the village
:t oenfronted the Communists when they arrived in 1949 to set up their
eve order in the countryside,
CONFILONTIAL
Approved For Release 2006/02/27 : CIA-RDP82-00457R008200520006-2
25X1
Approved For Release 2006/02/27 : CIA-RDP82-00457R008200520006-2
CONFI tENT IAL
A
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
? 8 e
25X1
Absent from the above data is the proverbial country gentry class* If by
eeetry is meant the class of village literati who possess an imperial examination
degree, and who frequent the forbidden land of the yamen, serving as the
bridge between the common people and the officialdome then, this class has
been eliminated from the power structure of the village for 20 yeaes. It was
eliminated by the same net of factors that caused the deoline of the authority
ef the elders, namely the change of the national setting that renders
ebeolete the knowledge and connections of the old gentry, The imperial
esemivation degrees they once held ie the symbol of a body of knowledge,
experieace and social oannections that no longer function in the present
eorld,, The classics they are anquatrited with no longer serves as a guide to
eoral and social standards, The officials they knew are either dead or
veplacei,
There le still the ebjeot pleture of the gentry oharaoters in the villagse
One old fellow held a lieentiate degree and was looked up to none 30 years
eeo, bue he iv now financially broke, and he is not allowed -even to teach
in the 'Allege eghool? for people realize what he an teach no longer meets
the needs of the modern period,. Needless to say, he would not be received
Ly offieials under the Nationalist regime an account of his degree and gentry
etature Another degree holder was wise enough to see: the change of the
environnent? and he left the village some 20 years ago and made a success
iA business in Canton. Occasionally he comes back to the village to 6Q0 his
kintolkeoand donate some money to the village sohool, But =Where does
le perform the vital funetiaa whioh was once performed by the gentry class,
ee, Yobat rose to take its place are younger elements like Ur, C and Ur,
Who are experienced in the modern setting of things, schooled in modern
literature, and widely connected with the new offioialdom and man of influence
(some of whom are connected with the underworld)., They are the ones who
find eetrante into the government offices and bring local issues to the?
officials, serving, as did the gentry, as the bridge between the gevernment
end the unorganized and largely illiterate common people. If part of the
qualification of the old gentry is education, then the new set that took
its place also possess this qyalification, This is one thing the two groups,
the old gentry and the new oat, have in common In a largely illiterate
community, the edmost(xl ten have the weapon of literacy to aid their struggle
for oommunity leadership, a weapon that is needed to deal with the government
and the outside world, The corm-unity still needs these educated elongate
as a bridge to the formal power of the government in order to settle many
issuau end solve problems, But, aside from this similarity, the now set
beide very little cone= nom:Leith the old gentry,
Se, before the Cammunists arrived, ihe gentry class had Oready been eliminated
by the changing social and political forces of the secant three decades,
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