Report from Xunwu - Hardcover

Mao Zedong

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0804716781 ISBN 13: 9780804716789

Publisher: Stanford University Press, 1990

Synopsis

Long described as lost, this report was the result of Mao Zedong's investigation in 1930 of the people, economy, society, and history of the obscure rural county of Xunwu in South China. An extraordinary document that far exceeds in scope and depth Mao's other investigative reports on rural China. The report is a rich source of information on rural administration, commerce, transportation, communication, education, land tenure, taxation, religion, diverse social relations and practices and struggle in one obscure area that was a microcosm of China. Thompson has translated and presented Mao's report with extensive notes. The book is designed to welcome non-specialists, and it will be welcomed by those interested in the Chinese countryside, comparative revolution, and historical anthropology. Because Mao's report on Xunwu was part of a revolutionary program, the report raises complex questions about academic and activist readings of social realities.

About this title

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese

From Library Journal:

In his pre-1949 incarnation, Mao Zedong firmly believed that empirical social research should serve as the foundation for correct revolutionary policy. On several occasions he himself carried out such research. In the guise of rural sociologist, Mao wrote this fascinating report on a rural county in Jiangxi province in May 1930. (It was not published in China until 1982.) The report provides an intimate and unadorned view of Chinese society at the ground level, with a crowded cast of local characters--merchants, landlords, artisans, prostitutes, peasants, workers, etc.--and their economic links, social customs, and personal relations. Mao's commentary brings to life the otherwise abstract notions of class conflict and exploitation, and reminds us of how richly variegated was the pattern of life and society in the prerevolutionary Chinese countryside. Thompson's excellent translation of the original text follows after an illuminating introduction. For scholars and specialists.
- Steven I. Levine, Duke Univ., Durham, N.C.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0804716781
• ISBN 13: 9780804716789
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 292