Fei Xiaotong . Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Wumin
The picture shows Kaixian Gong Village (photographed in 1982). Xinhua News Agency reporter Gao Mei and photo
Fei Xiaotong, a famous Chinese social anthropologist, in a village of the Tong ethnic group in Sanjiang, Guangxi in 1979. Xinhua News Agency document
takes a photo of the village scenery of Kaixian Gong Village on October 17. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Lei
Kaixian Gong Village taken on October 17 (drone photo). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Yang Lei
Report on the 110th anniversary of Fei Xiaotong’s birth, revisiting Fei’s lifelong feelings and dreams.
This year is the 110th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Fei Xiaotong. Looking back on Mr. Fei's life, his study, work, academics and life were deeply rooted in the land of the motherland, combining labor, life and local soil, demonstrating his profound local sentiments.
(Subtitle) Seeking knowledge from reality and aiming to enrich the people
Kaixiangong Village (Jiangcun) in Wujiang, Jiangsu Province is the place where Fei Xiaotong became famous. In the spring of 1923, his sister Fei Dasheng and colleagues from the Promotion Department of Jiangsu Women's Sericulture School, led by principal Zheng Pijiang, carried out the "soil seed revolution" in Kaixiangong Village, guiding scientific sericulture and silk reeling, and achieving good harvests. Increased revenue. Later, Fei Dasheng introduced machinery to the countryside and founded the Kaixiangong Village Raw Silk Refining and Marketing Cooperative, which unprecedentedly changed the traditional rural economic structure and created a "wage-earning class" in rural China.
Fei Xiaotong paid attention to his sister's agricultural career. In October 1933 and May 1934, he published articles such as "Our Experience in Rural Construction" and "Pioneer of Revival of Silk Industry" in the name of Fei Dasheng. Summarizing the practical experience of bringing science and technology to the countryside and bringing industry to the countryside has opened up ways to explore ways for agricultural society to leapfrog industrial society, alleviate the contradiction between rural areas with more people and less land, develop rural industry, and increase farmers' income.
In the summer of 1936, under the arrangement of his sister Fei Dasheng, he used his spare time before going to study in the UK to recuperate in Kaixiangong Village, Wujiang. He consciously crossed the "literary distinction" and, in a rural community he was familiar with, was familiar with "his own life". People" conducted field research for nearly two months. Wrote 7 "Jiangcun News" articles like Dayaoshan's "Guixing News" survey, and published them in "Beijing Morning News", Tianjin "Yi Shi Bao·Social Research" and "Universal X-day Journal", giving this Kaixiangong Village in the Yangtze River Basin He took the scientific name "Jiangcun" and made it famous all over the world.
studied under the master of anthropology Malinowski at the School of Economics and Political Science at the University of London in the UK. He learned the theory and methods of functionalism and completed his doctoral thesis using Jiangcun survey data: Peasant Life in China: A Field Study of Country Life in the Yangtze Valley. ("The Life of Chinese Peasants: A Field Study of Rural Life in the Yangtze River Basin", the title page of which is titled "Jiangcun Economy" in Chinese) was published in the UK in 1939. In 1986, the Chinese version of "Jiangcun Economy" was first published by Jiangsu People's Publishing House.
Malinowski spoke highly of it in the preface: "I dare to predict that Dr. Fei Xiaotong's "The Life of Chinese Peasants" will be considered a milestone in the development of anthropological field investigation and theoretical work." Malin Nosky went on to write: "The author is not an outsider who writes in search of novelties in a foreign land; the content of this book contains the results of a citizen's observation of his own people. If people are self-aware, So, of course, it is the most arduous for a nation to study the anthropology of its own nation. Likewise, it is also the most precious achievement of a field investigator... Certain passages in this book can indeed be regarded as applied sociology and anthropology. "Charter."
Fei Xiaotong's academic achievements that transcended "the distinction between literary fields" opened up a new direction for social anthropology, shifting from the traditional fieldwork in foreign lands by Western anthropologists to fieldwork in Eastern civilizations and local communities. The reason why Fei Xiaotong's new insights were recognized and praised by his mentor was that he realized the changes that Western anthropologists wanted to make but did not implement at the right time.
The book "The Life of Chinese Peasants" ("Jiangcun Economy") has been listed as a reference book for sociological anthropology by many Western universities; after Fei Xiaotong, anthropologists changed their past paradigm of studying foreign lands and studied civilized nations. Or the number of people studying themselves is increasing day by day.
Fei Xiaotong has repeatedly said that "Jiangcun Economy" is the starting point and landmark of his academic research. It is not only the academic direction of his community research, but also many of the topics he has studied throughout his life have been conceived here. He did not think about whether he would have the opportunity to return to his hometown in the future to conduct follow-up investigations. He reluctantly wrote in the "Jiangcun Newsletter: Leaving Hometown": "I am leaving the people of the village with whom I have developed close feelings, and will be far away. I only feel that I have lost a precious knowledge. "The source of it," a wilderness that is in urgent need of cultivation. "The roots of this rural sentiment have been deeply rooted in the land of Kai Xian Gong, and will sprout and continue to bear fruit as long as the climate is suitable.
During the Anti-Japanese War, Jiangcun fell and news was cut off. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Fei Xiao often wanted to visit the folks in Jiangcun, but things went against his wishes and he never did. In the spring of 1957, Chairman Mao Zedong called on intellectuals to "get off their horses and see the flowers." With the help of the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, he and his sister Fei Dasheng (then a deputy to the Jiangsu Provincial People's Congress) returned to this familiar village. The villagers welcomed the siblings like brothers and sisters, which made them "moved to the point of sore eyes." In the thick atmosphere of nostalgia, Fei Xiaotong returned to Beijing after 20 days of follow-up investigation, and other comrades in the investigation team continued the investigation.
In June of that year, the 11th and 12th issues of "New Observation" serialized his "Revisiting Jiangcun". In the note, he said: "The author of this article visited Kaixiangong Village, Zhenze District, Wujiang County, Jiangsu 21 years ago, and wrote " The book "The Life of Chinese Farmers" (also known as "Jiangcun Economy") was published in the UK. This time I visited the village and saw the earth-shaking changes of the people in the village over the past 21 years. I was deeply moved and gave a detailed account of the current farmers' lives. The investigation proposed ways to further improve farmers' lives. "At that time, "People's Daily" and "Wenhui Daily" also reported the news of Fei Xiaotong's revisit to Jiangcun, and they also made similar comments, which can be said to be a consensus in the media.
Fei Xiaotong saw in the comparison that Jiangcun changed from a society where people exploited people to a society without exploitation. "This huge change will definitely bring about a prosperous and happy life. People who have been educated in reality over the past few years will never have the slightest doubt." He continued: "In China, it is no longer a matter of which path to choose. Rather, it is about how to move forward more smoothly on this path that everyone has chosen. The question raised in this way requires us to observe what obstacles are on this path and how to eliminate them. It is wrong not to see the road, but it is also wrong to only see the road and not pay attention to the obstacles. "The road is the direction, and the obstacles are the problems. The two are dialectical. Only people with a high sense of social responsibility can face it and make scientific explanations to guide society forward.
Fei Xiaotong "aims to enrich the people" and believes that the development of rural industry in agricultural areas is suitable for China's specific conditions. "Today, when a hundred schools of thought are contending, I have the courage" and once again put forward the suggestion of diversified operations and the development of side businesses and rural industries. "Sincerely We require leaders to pay attention to this issue." At that time, the Wujiang County People's Committee gave positive affirmation when reporting Fei Xiaotong's suggestions to its superiors. However, before the third article could be published, the anti-rightist movement began, and Fei Xiaotong suffered a major political blow in his life.
After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the spring of social sciences came, and Fei Xiaotong gained a second academic life. He was entrusted by Hu Qiaomu, President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, to preside over the restoration and reconstruction of sociology. In October 1981, Fei Xiaotong visited Jiangcun three times, taking a new step forward. Just like when he revisited Jiangcun for the second time, his 78-year-old sister Fei Dasheng accompanied him to "visit relatives in his hometown", and the villagers welcomed them with great enthusiasm.
Fei Xiaotong found through investigation that the path Kaixiangong Village has experienced in the past half century is basically the same as other rural areas in China, but it also has its own characteristics.In recent years, the agricultural, sideline and industrial economic structure of Kaixiangong Village has undergone great changes. Industry has been sent to the countryside, and the proportion of rural industry has become larger and larger. As a result, farmers' income has rapidly doubled. Fei Xiaotong's idea of developing rural industry decades ago has been widely implemented here. The surplus rural labor force has turned to industry and handicrafts, and farmers' lives have improved. He said happily: "I feel particularly excited to see here that the goals I imagined decades ago have appeared in reality, and have revealed signs of the characteristics of China's economy in the future."
Life is easy to grow old, and the world is full of vicissitudes. , hearing and witnessing the rapid changes in Jiangcun, Fei Xiaotong felt infinite emotions in his heart. Three months later, he visited Jiangcun four times. On the upper floor of the Hehuawan Brigade Headquarters, which was built with the industrial profits of the commune and brigade, he presented He Zhizhang "Returning to Hometown" to Kaixian Gong Brigade and Hehuawan Brigade. Li Shen's "Compassion for the Farmers (At Noon on the Day of Hoeing)" expresses his nostalgia for his hometown and the fact that he has been in a foreign land for a long time, as well as his warning about the hardships of labor and the hard-won fruits of labor.
Fei Xiaotong’s second field investigation of his academic life started in Kaixiangong Village. This is a historical fit. "Seeking knowledge from reality", he has been working hard in the wilderness of Kaixiangong Village for nearly 70 years, and has deepened and expanded his ideas of enriching the people, such as developing rural industries, developing small towns, and increasing farmers' income, to contribute to the prosperity of the country and the prosperity of the people. Constructive comments and suggestions were made.
(Subtitle) "Jiangcun Economy" is a "local chronicle" of Kaixiangong Village
On June 23, 1980, Fei Xiaotong participated in a symposium of democratic parties and non-party persons held by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee. In his speech, he mentioned the task of paying off two old debts and writing two books. The first is the wish he made in 1957 - to write a book called "Xinjiang Village Economy". He wanted to investigate Jiangcun again and leave a faithful record of the village's changes in half a century for future generations. The second debt is owed to his ex-wife, and he hopes to fulfill her long-cherished wish during his lifetime and write a book on Yaoshan's social structure that can stand the test of time.
The former was announced during his speech at the Huxley Memorial Meeting of the Royal Anthropological Society in 1981. He hoped to send a sequel to Jiangcun Economy "in the hands of all the friends here" on the 50th anniversary of the Jiangcun investigation. To this end, he organized the Jiangcun 50-year Investigation Team to conduct investigations and provide direct guidance. I am one of the members. Because we failed to fulfill our responsibilities and failed to realize his greatest wish in his later years, we helped write "Fifty Years of Jiangcun", the sequel to "Jiangcun Economy". We broke trust in the world's academic circles and left the biggest historical regret in the history of sociological development. Every time I think about it, I feel very guilty.
Fei Xiaotong often read books on local chronicles in his father Fei Pu'an's study since he was a child, seeming to understand but not understanding. When I was studying at Wujiang No. 1 Junior Primary School, I particularly enjoyed listening to the "Native History" course given by principal Shen Shuming (renamed Shen Tianmin after the Revolution of 1911). Shen Shuming's family was very poor and he never had enough cotton-padded clothes in winter, but he was very kind to his students. Fei Xiaotong felt the same and recalled fondly: "I respected him very much and was not afraid of him. He didn't always turn his face away like some teachers and showed an expression of hating us children. He would pat my little head and give me a slight smile. He smiled and asked me if I felt better after a while. The reason was that I had often been sick and asked for leave in recent years. In his eyes, I had always been a poor sick baby. Wanzai."
Shen Shuming's "Native History" course is written and taught by himself to educate students to love their country, love their hometown, and love the place where they grew up; every place has its own historical customs, so don't be a person without a hometown. People wander everywhere. Fei Xiaotong recalled: "What he told us in class were all about places we were familiar with and things we wanted to know. He told many stories about Chuihong Bridge and Yuxiang Pavilion where we often played. To this day, every time we think of the poem "Songjiang Bass Fatty", the pictures of these bridges and pavilions still linger in my mind, making me feel relaxed and happy; at the same time, the demeanor of Principal Shen shaking his head and chanting makes me feel nostalgic. "
"Native chronicles" are a type of local chronicles, which also record local geography, history, scenic spots, people, customs, etc.The knowledge and cultural spirit of "local chronicles" and local chronicles have profoundly influenced Fei Xiaotong's life aspirations and academic path. He believes that the social surveys of various places he later wrote should also be attributed to the inspiration from Principal Shen Shuming's "Country History" course.
His bachelor's thesis "Research on Wedding Customs" (1933) was completed using records of marriage customs in more than 170 county and state annals across the country. He said in "Rural Textbooks and Social Survey" that his "Jiangcun Economy" is actually a rural chronicle of Kaixiangong Village." In this way, his "Jiangcun Economy" is a very creative modern "rural chronicle" Ambition" is self-contained.
From this, I understood the far-reaching significance of Fei Xiaotong’s inscription in 1992, “Compose and read records, use local records, know your hometown, love your hometown and build your hometown.” I also realized that in January 1997 and April 2002, he told me twice to be responsible for compiling the "Kaifeng" "Xiangong Village Chronicles" is a kind of sustenance for his sequel to "Jiangcun Economy". In 2010, the then Wujiang Municipal People's Government included the compilation of "Kaixiangong Village Chronicles" as a project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Fei Xiaotong's birth. The Kaixiangong Village Village Committee established a compilation group for "Kaixiangong Village Chronicles" and hired me as the chief editor. In charge of the compilation work. After five years of joint efforts, it was published. It is our unshirkable responsibility to realize Fei Xiaotong's long-cherished wish to compile "Kaixiangong Village Chronicles".
(subtitle) Full of nostalgia for native China
On September 19, 1996, the 60th anniversary of the Jiangcun investigation, Fei Xiaotong gave a heavy gift to the folks in his hometown - the book "Love My Hometown". To express his gratitude for their upbringing. The book's "front volume" includes "My late father's manuscripts - Memories before and after the recovery of Wujiang", "My late mother's manuscripts - "Preface to the Bell of Women's World"" and "Old works in memory of my sister-in-law - Become such a person", which is a reflection of The admiration and remembrance of the predecessors; with "Native Textbooks and Social Survey" as the preface, selected from "Revisiting Jiangcun" (Part 1), "Revisiting Jiangcun" (Part 2) and "Three Visits to Jiangcun" that were followed up in the hometown after the publication of "Jiangcun Economy" "Big Problems in Small Towns", "Phoenix Mushrooms in Hometown", "Nine Visits to Jiangcun", "Troubles of Town Mayors", "Fifty Years in Jiangcun", "Travel to Wujiang", "Revisiting Zhenze", "The Path of Urban and Rural Development in China" and "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow in Wujiang" and other "interview notes" were compiled into books.
Fei Xiaotong has a deep affection for his hometown and has been paying attention to the changes in his hometown for a long time. In the early 1980s, the seven famous towns in Wujiang had just raised their heads from the decline of Qingqing. Fei Xiao informed Wei Jian that there was "a lot to write about" here; after "four visits to Jiangcun", that is It is proposed to "go to the next level", go out of Jiangcun, and investigate the small town issues that have been raised in "Jiangcun Economy". In March 1983, the "Research on Small Towns in Jiangsu Province" with Fei Xiaotong as the leader of the research team was included in the national sociology "Sixth Five-Year Plan" (1981-1985).
He believes that Wujiang small towns are counties with many children. They are located in the southern Jiangsu region, one of the most economically developed areas in the country. They are unique, but they also have the common characteristics of small towns in China. Scientifically dissect this sparrow and straighten out the relationship between points and surfaces. In-depth investigation and study of points can reflect the basic appearance of the overall situation to a certain extent. In April, he led a research team to Wujiang County to conduct a typical investigation. In one month, he conducted an in-depth investigation into the history, current situation and problems of more than ten small towns in the county. On September 20, he gave a long report on "Big Issues in Small Towns" at the Jiangsu Province Small Towns Seminar held in Nanjing, summarizing the experience of typical surveys and demonstrating the status and role of small towns in China's modernization drive. Subsequently, the research on small towns gradually moved from southern Jiangsu to central Jiangsu, and then to northern Jiangsu, covering the entire province of Jiangsu and affecting the whole country. "Big Issues in Small Towns" was published in newspapers such as "Xinhua Daily" and " Outlook" weekly, which had a significant impact on the development of small towns and China's urbanization.
In March of late spring of 1991, when the grass was growing in the south of the Yangtze River, Fei Xiaotong returned to his hometown of Wujiang and visited Jiangcun for the 15th time. He successively visited small towns such as Shengze, Beishen and Luxu, nearly 10 years after "Three Visits to Jiangcun".In the article "A Trip to Wujiang" published after the inspection, he reviewed the great changes in his hometown in the past 10 years, describing Wujiang's stable agriculture, prosperous sideline industries, developed industry, strong foreign exchange earning power, and national income approaching the goal of moderate prosperity. Focus on agriculture to achieve a virtuous cycle of agriculture, sideline industry, and three industries, implement cultivation policies to revitalize the Silk City, pay close attention to circulation to form a one-stop service for trade, industry, and agriculture, open up domestic and foreign markets at the same time, and strengthen horizontal connections to expand the trajectory of economic development space... He said affectionately: "This is a shot of our motherland in these unusual 10 years. It gives me comfort and courage. My hometown folks have lived up to this good year and laid the foundation for further development in the future." I believe this foundation is solid because its roots are deeply rooted in thousands of households. It will grow and bear fruit in another 10 years, although I may not be able to write anymore. "Wujiang Journey", my hometown will definitely be better and more lovely. This is not a dream, it should be the common belief of the hometown people. Faith will bring power - the power of creation and the power of progress." From now on, especially. In the new century, Wujiang's comprehensive economic and social strength has accelerated and improved quality, developing from "one town, one product" to "district and town integration". In 2013, the urbanization rate reached 64%.
html For more than 130 years, I have witnessed the rapid changes in Songling Town and other towns in Wujiang. I have seen that many of Fei Xiaotong's suggestions during his lifetime have been implemented and innovations continue. Wujiang has developed a realistic urbanization development path based on its own geographical environment and historical traditions. It can be said that it is a county "specimen" for China's rural reform and opening up. "Where is the best place in the south of the Yangtze River, I would like to live in Wujiang." Wujiang is getting more and more beautiful and lovely.Fei Xiaotong "aimed to enrich the people" throughout his life, that is, to return knowledge to the people. He has practiced "the value of science lies in truly serving mankind", and his contribution to the motherland and the people has been extensive and huge, which is obvious to all. At the same time, he always never forgets the gift of his hometown. He said at the beginning of the article "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow in Wujiang": "My first visit to Jiangcun is a memorable milestone in my academic life. From here on, I have been I have absorbed the nourishment of my life on the land of my hometown and have benefited from it all my life...My ancestors have raised me in my hometown for generations. Although I have grown old and declined, I have not forgotten my hometown and always want to serve as my mother-in-law. With a little more fertilizer on the land in my hometown, we can grow more promising children and grandchildren than my generation." At the beginning of his research on small towns, Fei Xiaotong made it clear that his research would be long-term. After entering the new century, he gave instructions. , the subject of small towns can also develop step by step in the direction of "world economic integration". On December 7, 2003, in his written speech at the "symposium commemorating the 20th anniversary of the publication of Professor Fei Xiaotong's "Big Issues in Small Towns"", he finally warned: "We started from small towns and just raised a question. But we must not stay on this issue. We must keep up with the development of facts, keep moving forward, analyze and record this process. I think this is our responsibility. I am old and not strong enough. I hope to pass this. Commemorative activities can promote the continuous in-depth development of future research work. "The footsteps of Wujiang hometown people never stop, they are constantly practicing, creating, summarizing, and moving towards the future.
After Fei Xiaotong passed away on April 24, 2005, China Youth Daily said in its eulogy: "Fei left with his lifelong dream of enriching the people; the master left with his attachment to his native China. "This is also the common aspiration of the sociological and anthropological community. Fei Xiaotong's tombstone in the Songling Town Park in Wujiang is inscribed with his remaining words: "'The dead are like this', 'but they have never tasted the past'. When labor, life and native land are combined, you will not be afraid of the washout of time." This is the summary and sublimation of Fei Xiaotong’s life-long native sentiments.
The hometown Fei Xiaotong refers to is not only his hometown - Wujiang, but also his own motherland. People are born and die, and the laws of nature are irreversible. However, people work, produce and live from generation to generation, turning time into the basis of historical and cultural accumulation. The fire is passed down from generation to generation, retaining the passage of time.The humanistic world transcends personal life and death and does not disappear with the passing of an individual. Fei Xiaotong had a rough life, but the cultural heritage he accumulated by taking root in his hometown is not afraid of being washed away by time. His native sentiments have been cast in the long river of history and culture, and will forever be admired and missed by future generations.
References:
"Jiangcun Economy·Preface", in Fei Xiaotong's "Jiangcun Economy"
"Revisiting Jiangcun", in "Fei Xiaotong's Collected Works"
"New Observations", Issue 11, 1957
"Three Visits to Jiangcun" ", in "Collected Works of Fei Xiaotong"
"Repaying Debt", in "Collected Works of Fei Xiaotong"
"Rural Textbooks and Social Survey", in "Collected Works of Fei Xiaotong"
"Travel to Wujiang", in "Collected Works of Fei Xiaotong"
"Rural Textbooks and Social Survey", in "Collected Works of Fei Xiaotong"
"Travel to Wujiang", in "Collected Works of Fei Xiaotong"
"Rural Textbooks and Social Survey" "Love My Hometown"
"Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow in Wujiang", containing Fei Xiaotong: "I Love My Hometown"
"Speech at the "Speech in Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of Professor Fei Xiaotong's "Big Issues in Small Towns"" , contained in "The Complete Works of Fei Xiaotong"
