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Rural Marketing in China: Repression and Revival

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

G. William Skinner
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Extract

Rural markets and peasant marketing did not fare well during the Maoist era, which extended from well before the consolidation of communist power in China to the triumphal return of Deng Xiaoping as the central political figure in 1977. Maoist radicals, who in broad perspective may be said to have held the political initiative throughout the era, can be fairly characterized as having an anti-market mentality. While this set of attitudes derives in part from Marxism, it is also rooted in the ideological preconceptions of late-imperial Confucian bureaucrats. The Maoist elite in the People's Republic and the traditional bureaucratic elite of the late empire were equally unhappy with market exchange, and both showed a preference for redistribution.

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 103 , September 1985 , pp. 393 - 413
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1985

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References

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6. Strangely enough, however, a recent and otherwise balanced treatment of the extent and causes of the Great Leap subsistence crisis fails even to mention the closure of rural markets. See Ashton, Basil, Hill, Kenneth, Piazza, Alan and Zeitz, Robin, “Famine in China, 1958–61,” Population and Development Review, Vol. 10, No. 4 (12 1984), pp. 613–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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22. For a reflective “revisit” of my 1964–65 analysis, see “Rural marketing in China: Revival and reappraisal,” in Plattner, Stuart (ed.), Markets and Marketing (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1985)Google Scholar, which also includes portions of the present article.

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27. As Kenneth Walker points out (ibid. p. 786), contracting down to the household was hardly a post-Mao innovation. There had been recourse to it during the liberal phases bridging Cycles 4 and 5, Cycles 6 and 7, and Cycles 7 and 8.

28. Renmin ribao, 31 01 1978.Google Scholar

29. Ibid. 23 December 1978.

30. Ibid. 19 February 1979.

31. Jingpei, He, “Vigorously promote the healthy development of trade.”Google Scholar

32. Trans, in Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Report, 18 04 1983, pp. K1–K13.Google Scholar

33. Although the Central Committee's “Document No. 1 (1984)” was issued on 1 January, its publication was delayed until 11 June (Xinhua News Agency). For the official text, see Renmin ribao, 12 06 1984Google Scholar; for a full translation, see C.Q., No. 101 (03 1985).Google Scholar

34. Skinner, G. W., “Marketing and social structure in rural China, Part II,” Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 24, No. 2 (02 1965), p. 209.Google Scholar

35. I am grateful to Carol Benedict for calling these cases to my attention.

36. Weihui, Xu (comp.), Liaozhong xianzhi (Liaozhong County Gazetteer), 1930 (Taibei: Chengwen chubanshe, 1974 [reissue]).Google Scholar

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44. Ibid.

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46. Chonghai, Li, “Take off on two wings and build Wuhan into an economic center,” Wuhan Daxue xuepao (Wuhan University Journal), No. 6 (28 11 1983), pp. 71–78.Google Scholar Trans, in JPRS: CEA-84–052, pp. 5–21.

47. Interesting reports of early resistance appeared in Guangming ribao, 18 08 1978Google Scholar, and in Renmin ribao, 28 03 1979.Google Scholar

48. Xi'an Mandarin broadcast, 15 April 1984. Trans, in JPRS: CAG-84–013, 4 May 1984.

49. Provincial rural populations were extrapolated from the 10 per cent sample of 1982 census data. Provincial totals of rural markets in 1982 were pieced together from Zhongguo jingji nianjian (Almanac of the Chinese Economy) 1981, 1982, 1983Google Scholar, and from JPRS China: Economic Reports during 1983.Google Scholar

50. Deshan, Sun, “Active village markets.”Google Scholar

51. Nanfang rihao (Nanfang Daily), 18 12 1982.Google Scholar

52. Wen, Han, “Foster the establishment of markets, promote circulation of commodities,” Shaanxi ribao (Shaanxi Daily), 23 04 1984.Google Scholar Trans, in JPRS: CEA-84–053, pp. 110–111.

53. Cf. Walker, , “Chinese agriculture,” p. 801.Google Scholar