Page 47 - 《社会》2021年第3期

社会·2021·3

economic control of urban “rentners”，rural China must break with the original state of
small -scale peasant economy in all the aspects of economy，social structure and
mentality. Through a comparison of Peasant Life in China and Cocoon，this paper
attempted to argue that Fei Xiaotong advocated an intermediate state of development.
He argued that both traditional Chinese towns and trading ports were dominated by
“rentners”，from whom modernity could not emerge. However，he acknowledged that
universities were the birthplace of modernity （Chinese universities and cities were not
of the same origin），and that rural China could modernize through a way of intellectuals
going back to their hometowns to start industry. In Cocoon，educated urban young
people returned to their hometown and engaged in business ventures with locals. The
interaction eventually brought changes to those involved and ultimately reshaped their
life. Baozhu，the heroine in the story，presented an intermediate state of this transition.
She broke away from the confinement of traditional husband鄄wife relationship and
family duty but remained loyal to family and had no desire to move to the city to pursue
the freedom of individuality. This intermediate state was exactly what Fei Xiaotong
hoped for as the way to the modernization of Chinese society. He regarded the
countryside as a vehicle for modernity，nevertheless，emphasized that the totality of rural
society should be preserved to protect it from falling apart. Small towns could act a key
hub that brought the countryside into full contact with modernity but kept an organic
connection to the rural life for those who had left. From this perspective，Fei Xiaotong’s
theory of modern transformation can be seen as spacial modernization based on a rural鄄
town鄄urban relationship.
Keywords：Fei Xiaotong，“Family Triangle”， town， rentner， modernization

1936 年费孝通接受姐姐费达生的建议到吴江县庙港乡开弦弓村调
查时，他可能并未预料到这次为期一个多月的调查会产生那么多成果。
首先是调查期间的笔记《江村通讯》，其次是他到英国之后用这些材料
完成的博士论文。 此外，1938 年夏天，在论文答辩稿完成后，他还写了
一部文学版的《江村经济》———英文中篇小说《茧》（Cocoon），作为礼物
送给师母弗思太太（费孝通，2021；王铭铭，2021）。 考虑到费孝通不久之
后即回国到云南魁阁主持工作，可以说，后来“燕京学派”在魁阁时期的
主要研究思路都带有江村研究的影子。

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