Di Luo, Ph.D. (2015, The Ohio State University), is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Alabama. Her research investigates the rise of the modern nation-state in twentieth-century China as ordinary people experienced it.

• AcknowledgmentsList of Maps, Tables, and FiguresA Note on Romanization and Chinese CharactersMapsIntroduction: Literacy, Identity, and Politics in Everyday China, 1900–19451 Modern Education, Nationalism, and State Building2 Approaching Literacy: Process, Scale-Making, and Sociopolitical Positioning3 Overview of the Book1 Mapping Literacy and Illiteracy in the Early Twentieth Century1 Scaling Literacy in Everyday Life1.1 Literacy’s Conditional and Variable Importance1.2 The Tactical Uses of Illiteracy and the Risks Associated with Writing2 The Rise of the Nation-Building/Modernization Narrative of Literacy2.1 The Constructed Dichotomy between Literacy and Illiteracy by Modernizers2.2 “School-Age Children” and “Unschooled Elders”: The Institutionalization of Two-Tiered Literacy2.3 Language Reform Initiatives: Alternative and Contesting Perspectives3 Conclusion: Literacy at the Intersection of Daily Practices and the Nation-Building/Modernization Narrative2 Identity in Morphing: Revolutionaries’ Mass Literacy Programs in 1924–19261 To Mingle: The GMD’s Literacy Initiatives in 1924 in Shanghai1.1 Engaging a Variety of Social Sectors: The Design of Literacy Programs in Shanghai, 19241.2 Multiple Images: Adult Students and the Operation of the GMD’s Shanghai Project, 19242 Creating an Assertive Voice: The GMD’s Literacy Training in Guangzhou, 1925–19262.1 Reconciling Citizenship Training with Local Literacy Practices: Literacy Education in Guangzhou, 19252.2 Interdepartmental Negotiations: Implementing Literacy Training in Guangzhou in 19252.3 From the Local to the National: The GMD’s Literacy Program in 19263 Conclusion: Social Engagement in Adult Literacy Training3 Monopolizing the Brand: Party-States’ Competition over Adult Literacy Education, 1928–19361 The Nationalist Brand and Local Practices1.1 The Nationalist Brand: From Ideological Alignment to State-Regulated Schooling1.2 Experimenting with Compulsory Mass Schooling: The Nationalist Literacy Movement in Shanghai in 19352 The Communist Brand and Practices2.1 Comprehending Literacy within Intravillage Power Relations: The CCP’s Configuration in the Early 1930s2.2 Narrating Revolutionary Stories of Literacy: The CCP’s Discursive Strategies3 The Myth of Basic Literacy and Common Characters3.1 Basic Characters and Nationhood: Questionable Commonality4 Conclusion: Monopolizing the Brand4 Beyond Nationalism: Mass Education in Wartime Chongqing, 1937–19451 Wartime Supplementary Education in Chongqing, 1938–19401.1 Learning to Behave—Wartime Literacy Training at Chongqing1.2 The Game of Numbers: Administering Mass Literacy Training in Chongqing, 1938–19401.3 To Live: Mass Literacy Teachers in Exile2 Shift to Citizens Education, 1940–19452.1 From Students to Teachers: Recalibrating the Administrative Focus in Citizens Education, 1940–19452.2 Social Categories: The System of School Reports in Chongqing, 1941–19453 Conclusion: Beyond Nationalism5 Beyond Class and Nation: Identity in Motion during Literacy Training in Northwestern Shanxi, 1937–19451 Early Experiments with Nationalistic and Class-Oriented Literacy Training1.1 Conceptualization of Mass Literacy Education in Northwestern Shanxi, 19401.2 The Limits of Nationalistic Appeals in Winter Schools in 19401.3 Village Election: The Limits to Using a Class Perspective to Restructure Rural Northwestern Shanxi, 19412 Shift to the Mass Line and Literacy by Laboring People2.1 Working out the Mass Line: Rescaling the Purpose of Winter School, 19442.2 A New Social Solidarity: the Identity of the Laboring People3 Conclusion: Beyond Class and Nation6 Conclusion: Beyond Citizenship1 From the Desires of Membership to the Flexibility of Scale-Making2 From a Singular State-Society Dimension to Multiple Societal Dimensions3 Rights, Relationality, and the Social Self in an Authoritarian StateBibliographyAppendix 1: Overlapping Characters in Selected Literacy PrimersAppendix 2: Lessons on How to Calculate Agricultural TaxIndex