Rural China on the Eve of Revolution

G. William Skinner (1925–2008) was the dean of sinological anthropology in the West, a major theorist of family systems, and a pioneer in applying spatial analysis techniques to the study of agrarian societies. Stevan Harrell, professor of anthropology and environmental and forest sciences at the University of Washington, is the author of Ways of Being Ethnic in Southwest China. William Lavely, professor of international studies and sociology at the University of Washington, is the author of many articles on demography and the family in contemporary China.

Preface / Stevan Harrell and William Lavely

Acknowledgments

Maps

1. The Road to Gaodianzi: June–November 1949

2. Settling In: November 12–26

3. A Household Survey and Rumors of the Communists: November 28–December 16

4. Working Out the Market Network as the PLA Approaches: December 13–24

5. Liberation! December 27–January 3

6. The Communists and the Temples: January 5–13

7. The Last Dongyue Temple Festival: January 15–17

8. The Premature End of Fieldwork: January 18–25

Epilogue: January–May 1950

Afterword / Zhijia Shen