Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. Fate and Fortune in Rural China
  • Cited by 109
      • Show more authors
      • You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Select format
    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      20 October 2009
      28 February 1997
      ISBN:
      9780511563058
      9780521039697
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511563058
      Dimensions:
      Weight & Pages:
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.471kg, 308 Pages
      • Subjects:
      East Asian History, Area Studies, Regional and World History: General Interest, Asian Studies, History, Regional History after 1500
      Series:
      Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time (31)
    You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Selected: Digital
    Add to cart View cart Buy from Cambridge.org
    Subjects:
    East Asian History, Area Studies, Regional and World History: General Interest, Asian Studies, History, Regional History after 1500
    Series:
    Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time (31)
    Information

    Book description

    Fate and Fortune in Rural China is a major contribution to the study of both the social and population history of late traditional China, and that of historical demography in general. Lee and Campbell use the example of Liaoning to demonstrate the interaction between demographic and other social pressures, and to illustrate graphically the nature of social mobility and social organization in rural China over the course of the century from 1774–1873. Their conclusion - that social norms, rooted in ideology, determined demographic performance - is supported by a mass of hitherto inaccessible primary data. The authors show how the Chinese state articulated two different principles of social hierarchy, heredity and ability, through two different social organizations: households and banners. These different boundary conditions, each the explicit creation of the state, gave rise to contrasting demographic behaviour.

    Reviews

    ‘More than a decade in the making, this book is a brilliant achievement. Even those without a taste for numerical calculations should read this work carefully. Its conclusions are solid, and its implications very large for future studies of imperial China’s society.’

    Source: The Journal of Asian Studies

    ‘I strongly recommend this book to be a required reader for any future China scholars in the disciplines of anthropology, sociology, history, demography, or research methodology.’

    Source: American Anthropologist

    ‘This is a landmark work on Chinese social history.’

    Source: American Journal of Sociology

    ‘Meticulous … and intelligent … [A] major achievement.’

    Source: Population and Development Review

    ‘Lee and Campbell present a detailed and compex analysis of Daoyi Village …’

    Source: Asian Affairs

    Refine List

    Actions for selected content:

    Select all | Deselect all
    • View selected items
    • Export citations
    • Download PDF (zip)
    • Save to Kindle
    • Save to Dropbox
    • Save to Google Drive

    Save Search

    You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

    Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
    Cancel
    ×

    Contents

    Contents

    Metrics

    Altmetric attention score

    Full text views

    Total number of HTML views: 0
    Total number of PDF views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    Book summary page views

    Total views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    * Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

    Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

    Accessibility standard: Unknown

    Why this information is here

    This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

    Accessibility Information

    Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.