Examining the importance of regional differences in China's history, this text details the social, economic and political conditions of the central highlands at the end of the 19th century, and the early part of the 20th. Thus the nature and development of modern Chinese rural society is studied.
Jerome Chen is Professor Emeritus of East Asian History, York University, Toronto.
1. Introduction 2. Food 3. Goods for Trade 4. Commodity Distribution 5. Tribute Money (1) 6. Tribute Money (2) 7. Cities and Fortresses 8. A Martial and Romantic Tradition 9. The Civil War Belt 10. Two Rural Soviets 11. Conclusion