Cultural Crisis in Rural Areas and Its Influence upon Revolutions in China in the Process of Modernization

Qiao Xiayang，Shi Xiangjun

(Ideological and Political Department Xi’an University of Technology，Xi’an Shaanxi710054)

Ⅰ．Introduction

China has been dragged into the course of modernization since the First O-pium War，during which China has experienced various movements，revolutions and reforms．However，rural areas and farmers are excluded from the perspective of modernization．Despite the fact that farmers might have got involved or even lead these movements，they have always had no access to the benefits of modernization，and instead，the great changes of China have dragged China’s rural areas into a miserable situation with unprecedented speed and scale，during which rural areas have begun to decline．There are quite a lot of researches on the rural culture since modern times from the per-spective of modernization for a long time，but relevant studies pay attention to narrate the phenomenon of the decay of rural culture and interpret the reason of the crisis of rural culture．Few have studied the future trend of Chinese society under the influence of rural cultural culture．By analyzing the germination and outcome of rural cultural crisis in the process of modernization，this paper tries to analyze why the new－democratic revolution led by the Communist Party originates from rural areas and thus changing the development direction of modern China from the perspective of culture．

Ⅱ．Cultural crisis in rural areas in the process of modernization

Objectively speaking，Chinese society entered the path of modernism after the First Opium War，and experienced many historical changes．However，the transformation dominated by politics and economy has escalated the turmoil of rural society．Various contradictions in traditional society weren’t solved effectively，and on the contrary，they were deteriorating．Chinese farmers din not prosper as a result of the commercialization as they expected．On the contrary，this deformed commercialized economy put the majority of farmers into the poverty．In the modernization of education，the rise of the abolishment of the imperial examination system in the Qing Dynasty actually blocked the only way of the development of rural students．The loss of rural intellectuals cost the common farmers the opportunity of receiving education．Therefore，in the course of the modernization of education，the serious loss of rural talents caused the vicious circle of the fact that rural areas were not able to nurture talents on their won．Due to the wave of modernization and the inherent issues of rural society，rural areas，the homeland of rural culture，were destroyed．As a result，rural culture met its doom．

In traditional rural society，farmers showed great respect to scholars and classics due to the imperial exam system．The content of rural education was all about the official interpretation of the theory of Confucian classics with the moral target of obeying the“five principles”and“eight virtues”advocated by the rulers．Rulers were in support of this kind of grass－rooted education，and farmers also hoped that their children could receive education and conduct simple reading and calculation．Objectively speaking，the requirement of teaching was not high in rural areas;a literate man plus a room and stationery would suffice．Therefore，rural cultural education in traditional society is not as laggard as we imagine;a small village with dozens of household would be equipped with a private school．However，in the late Qing Dynasty and the early republic China，with the abolishment of the imperial exam system，the education spots in rural areas were constantly abandoned，thus leading to the decrease of rural scholars．Despite the fact that the national government once tried to improve the grass－rooted education so as to promote the development of rural cultural education，but in vain．The illiteracy rate of rural areas was still above 95%．

Besides the retrogression of cultural education，the cultural crisis of rural areas also included the disorder of the value and belief of farmers．In the traditional society featuring the dominance of Confucian thoughts，there was a complete ideological framework in rural areas，which contributed to the stable value order in rural areas．However，in modern times，the complete and stable value construction of Confucian morality has gradually deconstructed，and the social turmoil has strengthened the egoism，utilitarianism and pragmatism which had already existed in the mind of farmers．As a result，in the value of farmers，personal gaining and loss was the priority while telling right from wrong was secondary．Farmers who held diversified and utilitarian belief have organized various gangs due to the social turmoil，all of which had great force．Some of the gangs were so popular that their power covered every corner of China．

Ⅲ．Direct influence of cultural crisis upon society in rural areas

Rural areas of China not only failed to maintain the original development path，but also suffered from disordered rural culture as a result，nearly on the verge of collapse，which exerted much direct negative influence upon the development of rural society．The failure of rural cultural education led to the worship of“military force”in rural areas．The lack of value and belief led to the lack of public trust．Farmers failed to integrate into modernism value，causing the marginalization of rural class．

After the abolishment of the imperial exam system，the cultural education system simultaneously formed in rural society has gradually dissolved．The majority of farmers could not receive the most basic education．Due to the setback of the modern economy，few farmers could enjoy the new job opportunities offered by modernism，and as a result，they became refugees．Many farmers chose to become soldiers after the founding of the Republic of China．Besides serving in the army，the extremely poor living conditions encouraged quite a few farmers to take risks and became robbers．The war among new warlords and bandit infestations has exerted great influence upon the social order and stability of rural society．

Farmers who lived in the traditional rural society possessed certain pragmatism in their political concept．In the political framework of farmers，there was no concept of nation，and the whole“universe”was owned by the emperor．And it was officers who represented public trust and relationship with common people．By the end of the Qing Dynasty，the authority of the emperor was weakened as the result of the invaders and the evil deeds of basic officers．Therefore，in the Revolution of 1911，farmers watched the“coup d’état”as bystanders from the perspective of destiny．After the founding of the Republic of China，the ignorance of public trust on the part of farmers did not improve，and those who were eager for a peaceful life did not know what to do in the face of the“local emperors”anywhere due to the warlord dogfight．It is justifi-able to say that the dissolution of traditional value of farmers in modern times has led to the change of their attitude towards public trust from respect，distrust，ignorance to despise at the end．

Agriculture is the foundation underlying all our efforts to build the country in traditional Confucian society．Farmers，as the most enormous class in China，are the most emphasized class for rulers．On the other hand，despite that in traditional society，farmers had a vague idea of regime;they chose to rise up in rebellion when they could not survive．When the Yihetuan Movement(an anti－ imperialist armed struggle in 1900，known as the Boxers Movement)broke out，Kang Youwei and Huang Zunxian claimed that those rebels were“fool”;when the Revolution of 1911 broke out，revolutionists ignored the traditional demand of reducing tax and equalizing land raised by farmers．Nationalist government also took no notice of farmers and their social demand．It is justifiable to say that with the decay of rural culture，rural culture was divorced from China’s modern trend of thought，leading to the marginalization of rural class．

Ⅳ．Influence of the decline of the rural culture upon the social transformation in China

The Communist Party of China finally won the victory of national revolution through the path of“using the rural areas to encircle the cities”，thus establishing a new －democratic society，changing the development direction of modern Chinese society．Revolution led by the Communist Party did not originate from rural areas，however，farmers have become the“major force”in the revolution．It is not only a historical coincidence，but due to the fact that the decay of rural culture in rural areas in modern times made it possible that the new democracy thought led by the Communist Party could be spread in rural areas and that revolutionary regime could be established in rural area，thus accelerating the transformation of modern Chinese society．

1．Providing possibility for the publicizing of the revolution ideas

With the decay of rural culture，rural value with the core of“loyalty and filial piety”under the guidance of Confucian thought in traditional society has dissolved，providing space for the spread of revolutionary thought in terms of ideology and social control．Although farmers were not able to fully understand the revolutionary thought advocated by the Communist Party，the slogan of“overthrow the local despots and distribute land”conformed to the wish of farmers．The revolutionary thought advocated by the Communist Party improved the deep and rational understanding of it in the part of farmers．Due to the fact that the ideological control of farmers has been loosened，revolutionary thought was spread into rural society by the medium of rural intellectuals．Quite a lot of rural intellectuals have turned into revolutionary intellectuals，and some rural progressive youth even jointed the Party，providing more space for the spread of revolutionary thought．

2．Developing the revolutionary troops

One of the direct outcomes of the vicious change of rural culture is the worship of military force in rural areas．The war among new warlords of the same period and the dumping of surplus materials into China after the Frist World War led to the existence of numerous stragglers and disbanded soldiers and gun and ammunition in China’s rural society．Besides joining in the gangs and ethnic armed groups，it was the better choice for armed farmers to join in the Communist Party．It is justifiable to say that the cultural decay of rural society in modern times has contributed to development and transformation of traditional rural areas．By the advocating of revolutionary ideas and the revolutionary actions on the part of the Communist Party，revolutionary base areas were built in the vast rural areas．

3．Accelerating the construction of the revolutionary regime in rural areas

With the decay of rural culture，the cultural framework and moral environment of rural basic－ level regime have experienced great change．Those heads of underworld gangs and ethnic armed groups who were in the marginalized status of traditional rural social structure stepped to the stage of rural social life，and they took the lead of rural society by military force or other methods．Therefore，with the spread of the thoughts of the Communist Party，the long－exploited farmers became the“pioneer”in the attack of evil gentry．After gaining the regime of rural areas，the Communist party reconstructed the social structure of rural areas，which not only shook the basis of landlord ownership of land，but also won the support of farmers．

In the course of modernization，the relative decay of rural areas seems like the general result of commodity economy，however，compared to the disorder of social structure and laggard rural economy，the resilience of rural culture is extremely poor and the restore cycle is also quite long．The Communist Party spreads the seed of revolution in rural areas，lights the fire of rural revolution and finishes the enlightenment education in the instillation of revolutionary thoughts．As a result，rural areas have been turned into the revolutionary base area．The Communist Party has gained the victory of new －democratic revolution y the path of“using the rural areas to encircle the cities”，thus thoroughly changing the process of China’s transformation in modern times．

Notes:

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