The Rural Reconstruction Movement was started in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
in the 1920s by
Y.C. James Yen,
Liang Shuming and others to revive the
Chinese village. They strove for a middle way, independent of the
Nationalist government
The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...
but in competition with the radical revolutionary approach to the village espoused by
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
and the
Chinese Communist Party
The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
.
History
Yen's
Ting Hsien (Ding Xian) Experiment in
Dingzhou, Hebei and
Liang's school at
Zouping, Shandong, were only the earliest and most prominent of hundreds of village projects, educational foundations, and government zones which aimed to change the Chinese countryside. After 1931, the
Nanking government offered qualified support but placed restrictions on the expansion of its work. American Christian missionaries gave their enthusiastic support. The movement was prominent in building
Chinese resistance to Japan during the latter's invasions by strengthening the village economy, culture, and political structure, including pioneering work in village health. Many social activists who participated in this movement were graduated as professors of the United States. They made tangible but limited progress in modernizing the tax, infrastructural, economic, cultural, and educational equipment and mechanisms of rural regions until the cancellation of government coordination and subsidies in the mid-to-late 1930s due to rampant wars and the lack of resources. The rural reconstructive activists advocated a “third way” between the communist
violent land reform and the reformism of the
Nationalist Government
The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...
based on the respect of human rights and individual liberties for educational doctrine.
After the outbreak of the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...
, Rural Reconstruction activists formed the Rural Reconstruction Party, at first an important part of the
China Democratic League
The China Democratic League (CDL) is one of the eight minor democratic parties in the People's Republic of China under the direction of the Chinese Communist Party. The CDL was originally founded in 1941 as a pro-democracy umbrella coalition g ...
but then rendered politically irrelevant in the emerging war between the Chinese Communists and the
Chinese Nationalists
The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the sole ruling party of the country during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until its relocation to Taiwan, and in Taiwan ruled under ...
. In 1948, however, James Yen persuaded the
US Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
to fund the
Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction. Before moving to Taiwan, the JCRR carried out the largest
land reform
Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution.
Lan ...
project carried out in mainland China before 1949, as well as health and education projects. In Taiwan in the 1950s, the JCRR was key in laying the rural foundation for the quick
economic growth
In economics, economic growth is an increase in the quantity and quality of the economic goods and Service (economics), services that a society Production (economics), produces. It can be measured as the increase in the inflation-adjusted Outp ...
of the 1960s and the 1970s.
The rural reconstruction movement started by Dr. Yen continues to be active in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The
International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) had headquarters in the Philippines and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010.
In the 1990s, several academics and social reformers in China started a
New Rural Reconstruction Movement, with stations at
Ding County and Zouping.
See also
*
New Life Movement
*
Y. C. James Yen
Y. C. James Yen ( zh, first=t, t=晏陽初, s=晏阳初, w=Yen Yang-chʽu, p=Yàn Yángchū, October 16, 1890/1893 – January 17, 1990), known to his many English speaking friends as "Jimmy," was a Chinese educator and organizer known for his wo ...
*
Nanjing Decade
References
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*
* {{cite book , last = Merkel-Hess , first = Kate, year = 2016 , title = The Rural Modern: Reconstructing the Self and State in Republican China , publisher = The University of Chicago Press, location = Chicago; London , isbn = 9780226383279
Agricultural organizations based in China
Politics of the Republic of China (1912–1949)
History of agriculture in China