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 SILKROAD
PRESS

Metabolism of Modern CHINESE Society Volume 1

Tracking the Evolution of
Modern Chinese Society
Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society Volume 1

Metabolism
Extensive and profound, speculative and deep, the series embodies decades of
effort by the famous historian, Chen Xulu. This book not only examines the
changes in the economic and political structure of modern society, but also
explores the evolution of urban and rural grassroots organizations as well as the
social changes provoked by unequal treaties. It studies the internal and external

of Modern
factors in social change in modern China. It discusses changes in political
ideology, philosophy and literature, and analyzes the change in social attitudes
under the influence of the United States and Europe.

AUTHOR Chen Xulu (1918–1988) graduated from the Department of ChinESE

Society
History and Sociology, East China Normal University and served
the university as Associate Professor. After the founding of People's
Republic of China, he served as Deputy Director of the History
Department, Director of the Graduate Division, and Vice Provost
and Professor of East China Normal University; he was a member
of the Editorial Board and Division Editor of the Ci Hai
Encyclopedia, and the first Vice President of the Research Society volume 1
of Modern Chinese History. He published over one hundred
scientific research papers and books such as 1911 Revolution and
Metabolism of Modern China’s Society.

Chen Xulu
Modern Chinese Studies

Chen Xulu
SILKROAD SILKROAD
PRESS P R E S S
 Metabolism
of Modern
ChinESE Society
volume 1

Chen Xulu
Published by

Enrich Professional Publishing (S) Private Limited

16L, Enterprise Road,
Singapore 627660
Website: www.enrichprofessional.com
A Member of Enrich Culture Group Limited

Hong Kong Head Office:

2/F, Rays Industrial Building, 71 Hung To Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

Beijing Office:
Rm 1108A, Culture Plaza, No. 59 Zhongguancun St., Haidian District, Beijing, China

Trademarks: SILKROAD PRESS and related trade dress are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Enrich Professional Publishing (S) Private Limited and/or its affiliates in
Singapore and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

English edition © 2013 by Enrich Professional Publishing (S) Private Limited

Chinese original edition © 2008 China Renmin University Press

Translated by Wang Hong and Shao Qinghua

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage
and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without prior written permission from the
Publisher.

ISBN (Hardback) 978-981-4332-17-0

ISBN (ebook) 978-981-4332-58-3 (pdf)
978-981-4332-59-0 (epub)

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to

the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged
in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert
assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
Contents
Preface vii

Chapter 1 A Long History of Feudal Society 1

Chapter 2 The East and the West 19

Chapter 3 Decline of the Qing Dynasty 35

Chapter 4 Rocked by Cannons 51

Chapter 5 The Tragedy and Comedy of the Taiping Kingdom 65

Chapter 6 Twelve Years After 87

Chapter 7 A Small Step towards Modernization 103

Chapter 8 The Evolution of Urban and Rural Society 123

Chapter 9 The Japanese Approaching 141

Chapter 10 Philosophy of Changeability and Immutability 161

Chapter 11 Gengzi Event and Xinchou Treaty 175

Chapter 12 Assault of the European and American Storms 203

Notes 219
Glossary 239

References 243

Index 255
Preface
Over two years have gone by since Mr. Chen Xulu, my dear friend, passed
away. His book Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society will soon be
published posthumously by the Shanghai People’s Publishing House after
the reorganization work done by his students. This is a major contribution to
Chinese academic circles.
Reading the book reminded me of many things. His smile and words came
back to my mind and I clearly recalled the time when we walked and chatted
at the riverside of Liwa on campus. We agreed that it would be better for us
to live a life of our own, yet at the same time we could give all that we had to
each other in time of poverty and hardships. This was a long-lasting friendship
which I will keep in my heart forever. Out talks were wide-ranging with the
major focus on academic issues. Xulu majored in History and I in Philosophy.
However, it was the difference that enhanced our exchange of views. I observed
that the source of philosophical evolution came from social history; he believed
that philosophical speculation is the key to unlock the law of historical
evolution. Therefore we often consulted each other with questions in our
research and thinking. This kind of free discussion enabled us to probe deeper
into the questions with the help of the inspiration and doubts from the other
party. In the summer of 1987, after completing The Revolutionary Development
of Chinese Modern Philosophy , I asked Xulu to go through the manuscript and
accepted most of his valuable advice. He said that he would also ask me to go
through his book after he completed Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society for
my advice. I never expected that on December 1, 1988, he would leave behind
his manuscript which he had worked on for several decades with painstaking
labor in such an abrupt way. Now I have fulfilled my promise of reading the
manuscript. But it will be such a pity in my life that I cannot talk it over with
him!
Next, I would like to focus my “reflection” on “historical knowledge”.
Liu Zhiji held that a historian should possess talent, knowledge and insight.
It is rare for one to possess all three qualities; however, I can assert that Xulu
was such a three-quality historian, which is testified to by Metabolism . The book
integrates history with a view to stating the law of modern social metabolism
with a concise analysis of historical facts. Its vivid and appealing language style
shows that combination of talent, knowledge and insight. Among the three
qualities, the most important is naturally historical insight. Xulu said, “Historical

vii
Preface

insight is the eyes of historical research.” He also said, “Don’t be confused by

the appearance and don’t be fooled by commentators. One needs a pair of eyes
for historical research only.” It is because of his insightful eyes for historical
1

research that he could reveal the essential connections hidden beneath historical
phenomena and create such a brilliant book with such excellent content and
language.
How can we acquire such a pair of insightful eyes? The prerequisite is “de-
masking (an expression from Xunzi and Dai Zhen).” Only though demasking
can thinking be liberated so as to see through the reality in history with bright
insight. Xulu said, “the liberation of thinking is the practice of democracy
to yourself.” What does this mean? Democracy means that individuals take
2

charge of their own destiny. Academically, the democratic attitude is to liberate

thinking, control our own destiny and respect ourselves as well as others. With
this democratic attitude, thinking will not be fettered, eyes will not be veiled,
and history will be written with the real conscience of a historian. If we tell
the truth, discuss with freedom, seek the truth from the facts, then history will
become a real science.
However, in the field of Chinese modern history study, there has been
something which has veiled our eyes and fettered our thinking, and therefore,
“demasking” is urgently needed. Since the 1950s scholars studying modern
history have formed a framework with class struggle as its axis and three
revolution climaxes, the Taiping Rebellion, Boxer Rebellion, and Xinhai
Revolution, as its main lines. This framework reflects the level of modern
Chinese study at a certain stage, yet it has also become a kind of fetter because
of its lack of development for too long. Just as Xulu pointed out, more than two
hundred historical books have been compiled within this kind of framework
“with variations in weight and size. But they have failed to show any difference
in style and personality. The three often-quoted revolutionary climaxes were
not necessarily such complete revolutionary climaxes as people thought. This
will enable the recognition of historical materialism and enable us to look for
new clues outside of the accepted framework of the Taiping Rebellion, Boxer
Rebellion and Xinhai Revolution.”
Metabolism is the product of the author ’s efforts to liberate his thinking
and abandon the rigid fetters in the search of new and vivid clues. It contains
a leap in “historical insight.” The simplification and absolutization of class
struggle (political struggle) are overcome without the complete forsaking of
class viewpoint and class analysis. It is a study which fully follows the theory of
historical materialism and connects the facts of class struggle with the evolution
of modes of production. The authors thought that, compared with the static

viii
 Preface

and clotted Chinese society in ancient times, modern Chinese society was in a
state of dynamic and fast metabolism comparing with the realization of reforms
through self-renewal in Western countries from the Middle Ages to modern
times. The metabolism in modern Chinese society was mainly caused by the
impact from outside forces, which in turn was transformed from an extrinsic
into an intrinsic force and propelled national conflicts and class antagonism.
This was manifested by a series of reforms and indirect and zigzagging
development of the new from discarding the old (that is, the development
of democracy from feudalism). Therefore the evolution of modern Chinese
society was distinctive, which should be illustrated by the concrete and deep
study into social structure, social life and social consciousness. In this book,
which concerns social structure, the author observes not only the revolutionary
changes in economic and political structure but also the modern changes in
rural social organizations and guilds in cities and towns; concerning social life,
he studied not only changes in the basic necessities of material life but also the
closely related issue of population as well as the changes in social customs and
habits caused by political revolutions and extrinsic influences; concerning social
consciousness, he discusses not only changes in political thoughts, philosophy
and literature, but also different social mentalities under European and
American influences, which is reflected in the changes of linguistic structure.
With multi-aspect and multi-level research, the gist of the book (Metabolism of
Modern Chinese Society ) is illustrated with rich and colorful content, and the
author’s historical insight is vividly displayed with his profound learning and
sociability.
By entitling the book Metabolism , the author meant to explore the dialectics
in modern Chinese history. He mentions many times in the book the use of
“dialectic thinking,” and “that it is difficult to explain the nature without
dialectic thinking and historicism”, which indicates that he was a historian
who consciously used dialectics as “the eyes of historical study.” For example,
his analysis of the “adoption of Western learning on the basis of Chinese
Confucianism,” his study of revolutions and reforms, patriotism and betrayal,
invasion and progress in modern Chinese history, his observation of the double
functions of the hui dang (Secret Societies 會黨) in modern history, all shine with
the spirit of dialectics. Concerning some of the above issues, a separate article he
wrote has been published and exerted wide influence. The essence of dialectics
lies in the concrete analysis of concrete conditions. The events mentioned in
the book, whether they are major historical events (such as the Opium Wars,
the Taiping Rebellion and the New Culture Movement) or ordinary incidents
in life (queue cutting, anti-foot binding and the abolishing of kowtow in the

ix
Preface

Xinhai Revolution), are all concretely analyzed under their respective historical
conditions. As to the characters, no matter what roles they played, he does
not give them political labels, but depicts them as lifelike individuals through
concrete analysis. For example, his portrayal of Ye Mingchen who “refused to
fight, defend or make peace; refused to die, surrender or escape” in Chapter 6;
his analysis of the three types of attitudes towards the confrontation between
China and the West; and his description of the pains of the Kuomintang and
Progressive Party members after the failure of the Second Punitive War in
Chapter 18. His vivid portrayal of these characters reminds the readers of the
rhetorical styles of Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Historian ) and the Han Shu (Book
of Han) .
When concluding the New Culture Movement in Chapter 19, the author
wrote, “For the past 80 years, starting from ‘shi yi zhi chang ji yi zhi yi’ (acquire
foreign technology to compete with foreigners 師夷之長技以制夷) to ‘zhong
ti xi yong ’ (adopt Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism
中體西用), to ‘freedom, equality and fraternity’, Chinese people finally moved
on to democracy and science. During the transition, Chinese people came to
understand the world as well as themselves; every step was accompanied
by the conflict between the old and the new, between China and the West.”
These marked the major milestones in the transition of cultural ideology of
Chinese intellectuals since 1840, formed the dialectic clues of development
for the cultural struggle between the ancient and the modern, China and
the West, and the old and the new, and signified the gradual progress of the
Chinese people towards modernization. Through difficult exploration, they
finally realized that democracy and science are the goals of and only way to
the complete modernization of Chinese culture. Thus, “Chinese people came
to understand the world as well as themselves.” Historical insight is essential
in this process of understanding the world. It is necessary to take a historical
view at each step in the development of cultural ideology, while every historical
view has its own metabolism. From Wei Yuan’s proposition to “acquire foreign
technology to compete with foreigners” to the early reformists in Westernization
Movement, the core idea was that “specific strategies may be changed, but
not the ideals,” and the solution is to “adopt Western learning on the basis of
Chinese Confucianism.” They searched for a basis for the replacement of the
obstinate Royalists’ theory of metaphysical immutability by Western learning.
In terms of historical changeability, they insisted, quoting Yi Jing (The Book of
Changes) , that “when left with no way to go, changes will take place, the way
will be open, and it will continue long.” When it came to the Reform Movement
of 1898, Kang Youwei improved the historical changeability in Gongyang’s

x
 Preface

Theory of Three Phases into historical evolutionism; Yan Fu criticized the

idea of “adopt Western learning on the basis of Chinese Confucianism” and
introduced Western evolutionism systematically into China. Later, Chinese
intellectuals from both the reformists and revolutionaries groups advocated
evolutionism in terms of historical development. They believed that historical
evolution is oriented towards the establishment of an ideal society of “freedom,
equality and fraternity.” The proponents of the New Culture Movement held
high the banners of democracy and science. They were once evolutionists;
but they later divided. Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao were the first to convert
to Marxism. Marxism explains social awareness with the concept of social
existence, and uses the contradictory interaction between productivity and
production relations to illustrate the evolutionary process of society and history.
As a result, the requirements of democracy and science were placed on the basis
of historical materialism. So, connected with the above-mentioned development
clues of cultural awareness, the historical view also went through a dialectic
development from historical changeability to evolutionism and finally to
historical materialism. After the May Fourth Movement, Chinese intellectuals
observed the destiny of our country from the perspective of historical
materialism, and promoted the change from old-democracy to new-democracy.
This was the “historical choice” made by the Chinese (hence the title of the last
chapter).
The term “modern China” as used by Xulu refers to the historical period
from 1840, when the Opium War began, to 1949, when the People’s Republic
of China was founded. This period is divided into two stages, split by the May
Fourth Movement in 1919, and lasted for 80 and 30 years respectively. The book
covers mainly the metabolism of Chinese history in the first 80 years, with only
a few pages in the last chapter for the following 30 years. Xulu had planned to
cover 110 years but he passed away before completing it. What was left was the
draft for the first 80 years. Although he had edited many books and had written
many articles on the second stage, it was still such a pity that he couldn’t finish
a systematic account before he left us.
A piece of truly valuable academic work can be appreciated from different
angles. For tomorrow’s scholars, the only way to exceed it is to go through it. I
believe Metabolism to be such a book, and that its publication will benefit the
readers greatly. I am also looking forward to the day when it is surpassed by
younger historians.
Feng Qi
May, 1991

xi
 1
Chapter

A Long History of
Feudal Society
Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Modern society originated from ancient society. The chronology of history lies
in its continuity. Only through comparison with the ancient society’s politics,
economy, cultural structure related lifestyles and customs, can the changes
toward modern society be recognized. According to its current usage, the
term “ancient history” includes both the history of the Ancient Era and of
the Imperial Era. However, it is the medieval feudal society that is directly
connected modern times. Therefore, in order to depict the network of changes in
modern society, we have to give a general picture of the outline of the Chinese
feudal society.

The Long Spiral

China has a long history of feudal society compared with most Western
countries. This can be seen from the two following points:
In terms of time span, Western feudal society lasted for 1164 years: from
AD 476, the fall of the Western Roman Empire, to 1640, the end of the British
Revolution. But for China, the calculation is more complicated. There are at least
three opinions as to when did the feudal society begin. The first sets the starting
point in the year 476 BC, during the transition period between the Spring and
Autumn Period and the Warring States Period; the next sets it in 365 BC, When
Shangyang helped Duke Xiao of Qin to accomplish the legal reform; the last
sets it in 221 BC, when Qin Shi Huang unified China. These opinions are all
well-grounded, though personally I prefer the first one. During the Spring and
Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, sharp changes in the economic
base as well as the superstructure fully illustrated the transition of social
formation. Nevertheless, no matter which point we start from, China’s feudal
history lasted for more than two thousand years, which is twice the length of
Western feudal history. If one starts with the Western Zhou Dynasty, then the
length would be over three thousand years.
In terms of historical progress, the victory of the British Revolution in 1640
marked the replacement of feudalism by capitalism in the West, creating a
new era in world history. China was in the late Ming and early Qing period at
that time. The old feudal dynasty fell in the hands of rebelling peasants, and
the cavalry of the Manchurian nobles swept across China, establishing a new
feudal dynasty on the ruins of war. The complicated mixture of class and ethnic
conflicts had left countless bloodstains. Documentary literature at that time
such as Hukouyusheng Ji (The Narrow Escape ), Bian Wei Shijin Lu (Journal
of Tears in Bianliang ), Yangzhou shiri ji (The Ten-Day Massacre in Yangzhou) ,
Jiading Tucheng Jilue (Massacre in Jiading ) still stun readers with their records

2
 A Long History of Feudal Society

of cruel killings. Yet these changes only affected the lives of individuals and the
fate of a dynasty; history itself still moves on in the old spiral slowly.
In the two hundred years between 1640 and 1840, Western countries have
developed to the point that “Subjection of Nature’s forces to man, machinery,
application of chemistry to industry and agriculture, steam-navigation,
railways, electric telegraphs, clearing of whole continents for cultivation,
canalisation of rivers, whole populations conjured out of the ground — what
earlier century had even a presentiment that such productive forces slumbered
in the lap of social labour?”1 In comparison, China at that time had remained
the same: thousands of peasants toiled in the fields and bearing the burden
of scholars, who chanted their praise of the prosperity in ancient times of
Emperors Yao and Shun and indulged in loud and empty talk of ancient texts
and morality. On the one hand:
As the cuckoo singing hastens ploughing of the land, peasants sigh in
sadness.
No grain or plough is left at home because of the heavy taxes.
The merchants make profits in the market and peasants have to borrow
usury.
To make a living, they have to first satisfy the demand of government
officials.
The golden paddies are in the field and a bumper harvest is to be
expected.
But the merchants are collecting debts before the rice is reaped and stored.
On the other hand:
There are many wealthy people in Chang’an and they own vast land.
They are not big merchants, but new government officials.
Flaunting their riches, even their servants are arrogant.
They get promotion by the court soon after their back-door dealings.
They are appointed as regional leaders with great power in their
hands.
Common people learn in fear that great power is bought by great wealth.2
The old world was moving from maturity into slow decay. Even after 1840,
China had failed to develop capitalism; instead it developed into an abnormal
society, proving that without a qualitative change in social formation, history
can only move in circles.
Since the 1930s, the lengthy continuation of China’s feudal society has more
than once caused thinking and debates among her people. Opinions vary on
this topic, which is normal and perhaps constructive for the society. However,
only with analysis and synthetic study of social structure can the outline of a
society truly be illustrated.

3
Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

Privatization and Trading of Land

In feudal China, land was the most essential means of production and wealth,
and its combination with labor was on the premise of unfair distribution: a
minor amount of people such as landlords owned the majority of land, and the
majority of the population, namely the peasants, owned only a small amount
of land. Although the inequality varied at different times and in different areas,
concentration of landholding gradually became a common phenomenon in
China after the end of a dynasty’s rehabilitation period. Dong Hua Xu Lu (Sequel
to the Donghua Records) recorded a zouzhe (memorial) to the throne from Bi
Ruan in the 51st year of Qianlong’s Reign (1786): “Many families in Henan had
to sell their lands and properties because of consecutive years of bad harvests.
Recently, people are selling their lands cheaply even when the crops are about
to ripen. The rich families in Shanxi and other places heard about this, and came
to buy the lands and practice usury. The poor peasants lost their living even in
a year of good harvest.” Landlords seizing lands in a different provinces shows
the expansion of their holdings at the expense of others, a typical example
for the common trend in feudal society. This kind of land distribution forced
peasants without land to fall into a tenancy with the landlords; the tenants
and land-holding peasants labored hard on their small segments of land,
constructing a small peasant economy. Land provided a means of production,
yet the fragmentation of land limited the vision, actions and developments of
small peasants. Therefore the basic production, as well as consumption unit of
small peasant economy is individual peasant households; farming combined
with family handicraft, their simple cycle of reproduction repeats on and
on, forming the nature of a natural economy, which was the basic economic
structure supporting the entire society. Its stability lies in its conservatism.
Of course this did not mean that small peasants in the natural economy
had no connection with commodities. Huangchao Xu Wenxian Tongkao (The
Sequel to A Complete Collection of Imperial Documents ) records: “Other people
need only earn enough to feed oneself, such is not the case for peasants. If they
plant one mu (畝) (~797.3 square yards) of land, they have to pay for various
expenses, such as farm tools, seeds, measurement tools, hiring hands, sacrifices,
cattle, adding to a considerable large amount of money.” 3 The expenses
mentioned in this text indicate the variety of trades peasants engage in. But in
many circumstances these expenses had to be cut because they needed to feed
themselves first.
Compared with the hereditary manor economy in Western Europe and
the panchayati raj in India, the most significant features of feudal China’s

4
 A Long History of Feudal Society

economic structure are the privatization and trading of land, which led directly
to the constant concentration and fragmentation of land. Concentration meant
that the landlord class possessed more and more land through annexation.
However, such concentrations were not unstable. Royal families, aristocrats,
bureaucrats and landlords could concentrate land using economic or non-
economic measures, but political revolutions and changes in official positions
often led to enormous and sudden changes of ownership. When reading the
Jiu Tang Shu (First Book of Tang ), Gu Yanwu sighed in his Rizhilu (Record of
the Days ), “The world changes so frequently and people are not as kind as they
used to be. Some have gained great wealth, only to cause hardship for their
offspring.”4 It was more common to see the division of family property because
of land privatization. After the Han Dynasty, the hereditary differences between
older and younger brothers and between sons from wife or concubines were
weakened. The Daqing Lüli (The Statutes and Precedents of the Great Qing
Empire ) stipulated that: “Hereditary titles shall be inherited by the eldest son
or grandson; family properties shall be divided evenly among all the sons no
matter if they are wife-born or concubine-born.”5 Families with huge wealth
usually had a large number of wives, concubines, sons, and grandsons. Property
is divided among many family members, and after several generations the
concentrated land would break up to nothing. This was another trend coexisting
with land concentration.
At the same time, individuals can sometimes change their class: some would
rise from poverty to wealth and some would fall from grace. Liu Xuande in
the late East Han Dynasty was “a descendant of Prince Jin of Zhongshan. In
his fatherless childhood, he and his mother sold shoes to make a living.” 6
Moving from a royal member down to a vendor, he would not be considered a
landlord. There were also rich second generations becoming penniless because
of squandering their wealth. The Taiping Guangji (Taiping Miscellany) tells
the story of Qutu Zhongren, who “inherited enormous wealth, land and many
servants at the death of his father. He lost all his properties after several years
because of gambling and a wasteful life.” 7 There were opposite examples.
Zeng Yingzhen, ancestor of Zeng Guofan, built up his family fortune from
poverty. The Ming Chu Shi Yong Gong Zhuan (Biography of Sir Yong ) in the
6th Volume of the Ji Yang Jiang Shi Zu Pu (She County’s Family Tree of Jiang
Clan ), said, “Sir Yong, also named Benjie, is the second son of Sir Shou. As a
man of humble beginnings, he worked hard and started from nil. He ended
with huge wealth with over ten thousand acres of land.” The 9th Volume of
the Ming Chu Shi Xiang Gong Zhuan (Biography of Sir Xiang ) said, “Sir Xiang,
also named Dezheng, is the grandson of Sir Shou, and the son of Zhengzuo.

5
Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society

As man of humble beginnings, he worked hard until the age of 50 when he

collected his huge wealth.” 8 The protagonists in the latter two examples seem
even more capable than Zeng Guofan’s ancestors. Therefore in Chinese feudal
society, wealth usually only lasts for a few generations. As the saying goes,
the same land has seen eight hundred owners in a thousand years, which best
summarizes the great changes. Except for rare examples like Duke Yansheng,
the descendant of Confucius in Qufu, big families do not last for centuries. The
non-continuity of ownership of wealth provides a flexibility which extended the
feudal society.
From the viewpoint of a producer, in Chinese feudal society, the combination
of labor force and land was realized in the individual households of peasants.
One single household could complete the cycle of production, consumption and
reproduction. Therefore Chinese small peasants had their own independent
economy. By contrast, serfs in Western Europe were one part of the manor
economy. Yet the small peasants were heavily exploited:
They have to work hard in the field through the four seasons. They
have to pay taxes and offer their unpaid labor for the government.
They have to bear the heat in summer and cold in winter and they
have no time to rest in the four seasons. Besides, they have to feed
themselves and conduct social activities. Sometimes they will suffer
more from flood and drought, tyranny, exorbitant taxes and arbitrary
decrees of the government.9
However, as an independent economy, this connected the benefits of the
producers with their own labor, which reflected a dream they pursued. As a
consequence of this dual character it was not impossible for small peasants
to live in affluence through their labor under an incorruptible government in
peaceful years. According to the records in the Han Shu (Book of Han ): “for
one hundred years since the migration of the Jin family, peace prevailed in the
country. For over 70 years from then on till the year of Daming the population
multiplied. Peasants worked hard in the rich land. One year of harvest
could feed several provinces without concern of famine.”10 Although there is
exaggeration in these lines through the flattering words we can still see that
peasants were able to enjoy their pastoral life in the brief peace in the south of
Yangtze River, even though the unrests which frequently troubled the Northern
and Southern Dynasties. The Tang Dynasty poet Meng Haoran described the
peasants in that glorious age as follows:
Preparing me chicken and rice, old friend,
You entertain me at your farm.
We watch the green trees that circle your village

6
 A Long History of Feudal Society

And the pale blue of outlying mountains.

We open your window over garden and field,
To talk mulberry and hemp with our cups in our hands.
Wait till the Mountain Holiday —
I am coming again in chrysanthemum time.11
In the poem we sense the leisure of the poet as well as the ideal life of small
peasants. The individual economy restrained the peasants as they clung to their
individual economy. Hong Xiuquan even designed the blueprint of his Taiping
Kingdom according to small peasant economy. This mentality is also related to
the prolonging of the feudal society.

The Bureaucratic Political System

On the basis of the small peasant economy stood the centralized feudal
autocratic monarchy. Since Qin Shi Huang united the six kingdoms, the
emperor had stood high at the peak of political power, overlooking the toiling
multitude. Below him, according to the inverse ratio of rank and number of
officials, were different and interconnected levels of bureaucrats. This was the
political structure of Chinese feudal society. As Wang Ya’nan had pointed out,
the bureaucratic political system in feudal China has three characters:
(1) Continuity—referring to the lengthy span of the Chinese
bureaucratic political system, which is almost as long as Chinese
culture.
(2) Inclusiveness—referring to the width of range of the Chinese
bureaucratic political system; bureaucratic political activities have a
close and harmonious connection with various cultural phenomena in
China, such as ethics, religion, law, possessions, art etc.
(3) Coherence—referring to the profound influence of the dominating
power of Chinese bureaucratic political system. The thinking as well
as the outlook on life of the Chinese was imprisoned by the cage of the
bureaucratic political system.12
Naturally, the bureaucratic political system became the target of hatred and
attack after the ideals of democracy had spread among Chinese people. But
taking a historical view, the creation of this system was inevitable and rational.
Before it, what was practiced in China was a hereditary system of official ranks
and pay, that is, the hierarchical inheritance of political power and material
wealth. The chapter Wang Zhi (Royal Regulations ) in the Li Ji (Book of Rites )
states: “the kingship lays down ranks of nobility, which fall into five categories,
gong (duke 公), hou (marques 侯), bo (earl 伯), zi (viscount 子) and nan (baron 男).”

7
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