You Can’t Understand Modern China Without Looking at the History of Land Reform
Although China now has an urban majority, the key to its development since 1949 lies in the vast countryside. Maoist land reform redistributed land on a huge scale, but the country’s rulers are still reluctant to discuss the darker side of its history.
Depiction of a tea plantation in Southwest China, circa 1850. (Pictures from History / Getty Images)
I always end my courses on modern China with two final messages for my students: go to China, and when you go, be sure to visit the countryside.
That second message is much needed. Today we know China as a nation of sprawling megacities. My adopted hometown of New Orleans wouldn’t even crack the list of the top 150 Chinese cities by population. But there still exists ample beauty in a vast, diverse countryside, especially in remote villages that have managed to find a way avoid the sledgehammer of modernity.
In the early 2000s, I spent much time traveling the countryside and was constantly surprised by the hospitality of the villagers I met, as well as the quiet serenity that could still be found in rural China. But as my students should know by semester’s end, even the most remote and tranquil of villages holds a buried secret.
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