Chen Village: The Recent History of a Peasant Community in Mao's China

by Chan

The Recent History of a Peasant Community in Mao's China

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Sociology, Anthropology, Asia, Travel

301 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[AskHistorians]

This is a beautiful book that traces the life and growth of a village in Southeast China through the entirety of the communist revolution until 2009. Its ambition is incredible, and its execution satisfies its aims. It is effectively an anthropological ethnography written by historians, and the work reflects some of the best of both disciplines. Rarely have I felt as connected to historical characters as I have in learning of the exploits of low-level, unimportant peasant officials in Chen Village. This book communicates the trends in political and social change in China in the last 60 years in a way that is hard to replicate from pure analysis.

[Brian Griffith]

Rather than a personal account of the Cultural Revolution's horrors, or a big historical overview, Chan, Madsen, and Unger give us the story of a local community. Speaking in a matter-of-fact way, the villagers tell us what happened in the waves of political campaigns. As with other puritanical movements of world history, we see the force and appeal of extreme self-righteousness. We see what happens when idealism means zero tolerance for self-interest, and zealots lose almost all restraint in condemning other people's selfishness. We also see how the waves of idealism crest, break, and finally recede before the villagers' basic decency.

[Ken Matthews]

If you have any interest at all in understanding what life was like in China under Mao, you can't get much better than this. Probably the best village study you can find. Set through the eyes of of a young women living through the cultural revolutions and collectivization of China's agriculture.

[Rebecca]

A description of life in a village in southern China from the early 1960s until the early 2000s. It is a great sweep of a time period filled with rapid changes that are easily evident in the village life. Through interviews with villagers and outsiders who participated in the village life, the authors get a well-rounded picture of the village and the drastic changes it goes through. They also do a good job of placing the changes in the context of the policies and larger history of the time. A great resource for anyone looking to learn more about modern Chinese history on a local scale.

[Kathleen Forrest]

It's weird when you realize you have beef with a Chinese peasant who probably died before you were born... but that happened a couple times when reading Chen Village. The people are so real, and you get such a clear picture of the village and the relationships. I read this as part of a class called 'Mao's China' so it was juxtaposed by also reading a couple biographies specifically about Mao and the party leadership. This was such an interesting and important second perspective. I'd really encourage anyone that's at all interested in the subject area to read this.

[Verena Wachnitz]

If you are interested in 20th century Chinese history and like a microhistoric/sociological approach this is a top recommendation. Well researched and quite entertaining, Mao and the post maoist reform as viewed through the evolution of a single village and its inhabitants.

[Bathed In Sin]

Not bad, very historical and moving. Required reading for school

[Hillary]

I read this for my online history class People's Republic of China class.

[Robert]

Fascinating micro-history.