Village Governance in North China
Subtitle: 1875-1936
Edition: 1 edition
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: March 9, 2005
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 344
ISBN-13: 9780804750912
Subjects: Local government; Rural communities; Taxation - General; Land value taxation; Huolu Xian; Social Science; Business / Economics / Finance; Taxation; Sociology; China; Politics and government; Ethnic Studies - General; Business & Economics / Taxation / General; Huolu Xian (China); Land
First sentence: It is widely observed, and indeed true, that a simple peasant in prerevolutionary China had little contact with government officials.
Description: "This book is about village governance in China during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Drawing on government archives from Huailu county, Hebei province, it explores local practices and official systems of social control, land taxation, and "self government" at the village level. Its analysis of peasant behaviors bridges the gap between the rational choice and moral economy models by taking into account both material and symbolic dimensions of power and interest in the peasant community. The author's interpretation of village/state relations before 1900 transcends the state and society dichotomy and accentuates the interplay between formal and informal institutions and practices."--Jacket.