136
C. MARTIN WILBUR
munity.1 Kin status is for all practical purposes also a prerequisite. To be a village elder a man must stand at the head of a large clan or family, and the more powerful the group behind him, the greater will be his influence. Age is a second value which custom requires, although this is losing its force in many places today. Ability, specifically scholarship, is the third desirable quality for village leadership. Scholarship, whether of the old or the modern style, almost universally brings leadership, both because of the traditional reverence for learning, and because the man of letters is able to talk on a plane of ease and familiarity with officials of the government higher up, a thing which the common villager can never do.
The traditional village leaders have behind them several very powerful psychological supports for their authority. The first of these is custom: all that is carried over from the familist system such as reverence for age, respect for status, and the habit of obeying vested authority. The central government, at least up until very recently, recognized them as the responsible authority in the village, and thus added to their prestige. Also, they hold their position partly because of their practical ability, their wisdom, and their popularity. At the same time these leaders are constantly protecting and reinforcing the customary values to which they owe their influence.
One of the most obvious indications of change in village government today is the emergence of a new type of leader in rural affairs. In villages where the influence of new forces has begun to penetrate, men who lack the traditional qualifications for leadership are beginning to assume an importance in village polity. These are men of natural ability who are able to exert power by inspiring and leading small, discontented groups, or the mob generally, to an opposition of
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1 Maybon, B.; Essai sur les Associations en Chine, p. 192 points out that throughout all associations in China runs this common trait of “particularism”. He says: "Entre les members d'une association existe toujours un lien de communauté. la commune n'est ouverte qu'aux habitants originaires des villages, à l'exclusion des aubains." From the point of view of the central government, speaking historically, it was only possible for a man to change his political residence (i.e. to become a member of a village other than that of his ancestral home) if the family from which he came had been destroyed. Then if he were the head of a family of his own, had been a registered land owner for twenty years in his new home, could speak the dialect properly, and were an honorable character, his name might be transferred to the local Yüan Chi (§#) or register which fixed his political residence. Bazin; "Recherches sur les Institutions Administrative et Municipales de la Chine" II, p. 258. On this point see also Boulais, Guy: Manuel du Code Chinois, p. 161-162.
136
C. MARTIN WILBUR
munity.1 Kin status is for all practical purposes also a prerequisite. To be a village elder a man must stand at the head of a large clan or family, and the more powerful the group behind him, the greater will be his influence. Age is a second value which custom requires, although this is losing its force in many places today. Ability, specifically scholarship, is the third desirable quality for village leadership. Scholarship, whether of the old or the modern style, almost universally brings leadership, both because of the traditional reverence for learning, and because the man of letters is able to talk on a plane of ease and familiarity with officials of the govern- ment higher up, a thing which the common villager can never do.
The traditional village leaders have behind them several very powerful psychological supports for their authority. The first of these is custom: all that is carried over from the familist system such as reverence for age, respect for status, and the habit of obey- ing vested authority. The central government, at least up until very recently, recognized them as the responsible authority in the village, and thus added to their prestige. Also, they hold their position partly because of their practical ability, their wisdom, and their popularity. At the same time these leaders are constantly protecting and reinforcing the customary values to which they owe their in- fluence.
One of the most obvious indications of change in village govern- ment today is the emergence of a new type of leader in rural affairs. In villages where the influence of new forces has begun to penetrate, men who lack the traditional qualifications for leadership are begin- ning to assume an importance in village polity. These are men of natural ability who are able to exert power by inspiring and leading small, discontented groups, or the mob generally, to an opposition of
+
1 Maybon, B.; Essai sur les Associations en Chine, p. 192 points out that throughout all associations in China runs this common trait of “particularism”. He says: "Entre les members d'une association existe toujours un lien de communuté. la commune n'est ouverte qu'aux habitants originaires des villages, à l'exclusion des aubains." From the point of view of the central government, speaking historically, it was only possible for a man to change his political residence (i.e. to become a member of a village other than that of his ancestral home) if the family from which he came had been destroyed. Then if he were the head of a family of his own, had been a registered land owner for twenty years in his new home, could speak the dialect properly, and were an honorable character, his name might be transferred to the local Yüan Chi ( §#) or register which fixed his political residence. Bazin; "Recherches sur les Institutions Administrative et Municipales de la Chine" II, p. 258. On this point see also Boulais, Guy: Manuel du Code Chinois, p. 161-162.
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