Table of Content

20 July 2021, Volume 41 Issue 4

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Yiben and Yiti: The Basis of Chinese Sociological Theory

ZHOU Feizhou

2021, 41(4):  1-29. 

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This paper is a tentative exploration to identify a theoretical foundation of Chinese society. In recent years, empirical research has been unable to go further indepth in tackling issues of social relations and social structure of contemporary Chinese society. The fundamental reason of this problem lies in the lack of theoretical understanding of Chinese social structure, the same bottleneck difficulty for constructing sociology with Chinese characteristics. This article starts with the traditional Chinese family theory and uses the "feedback mode" proposed by Fei Xiaotong as an entry point to discuss in depth the nature of the father-son relationship to reach a basic understanding of the differential order pattern(chaxu geju) and Chinese social relations. The paper suggests that the basis of Chinese traditional social structure is an "integration standard" (yiti) rather than an "individual standard". The idea of oneness(yiti) stems from the social consciousness of "one foundation"(yiben), that is, regarding parents, rathan Heaven or God, as one's foundation, a belief that is explicitly reflected in traditional Chinese sacrificial rituals."Oneness"(yiti) refers to "father and son as one" and "mother and child as one". This deep social consciousness is prominently expressed in Chinese classic texts. The paper offers a detailed analysis and interpretation of relevant Confucian classics. The Chinese social consciousness of oneness(yiti) and one foundation(yiben) constitutes a system of social ethics based on "filial piety"(xiao), upon which lies the whole social structure of family and country. Under such a social structure, "filial piety" is not just personal virtue, but "public morality" with a basic social function. Filial piety is the foundation of all virtues, and a true filial son is also a loyal vassal. All this constitutes the theoretical basis for us to understand many social phenomena today. The transformation of Chinese society depends on the transformation of the deep social consciousness and social structure.

The Vertical-Mutual Constraint System: A Historical State Model in China

CAO Zhenghan

2021, 41(4):  30-68. 

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One of the conundrums in state-building is that the state must not only have sufficient capacity to defend its territory, enforce laws, and maintain social order, but at the same time, its actions must be regulated. In theory, two mechanisms have been proposed to address this problem:horizontal-mutual constraint and vertical-mutual constraint. The horizontal-mutual constraint refers to the horizontal separation of power within the same level of government, such as the separation of legislative power, judicial power, and administrative power, to form a relationship of checks and balances. The vertical-mutual constraint refers to a mutual relationship among central supervision, local governance and social accountability to constrain the power of the central and local governments, especially of the latter, through the hierarchy of division of powers from the central government to local governments and lastly, the society. In China, the horizontal-mutual constraint mechanism is hard to be functional because of the centralized Junxian system. However, the multi-level governance structure derived from the centralized Junxian system offers China the possibility of adopting the vertical-mutual constraint mechanism. Thus, for China, how to construct a vertical-mutual constraint mechanism and how to adopt the mechanism are the major concerns of state-building and state governance. Historically, Chinese scholars have made systematic studies of these issues. The direction of their exploration is to construct the relationship between the state and society based on the concept "Mandate of Heaven"(tianming) and expand it into mutual constraints between the central government, local governments and society. The significance of this exploration is that it reveals two important conditions for the full functioning of the vertical restraint mechanism. One is the separation of government and governance, and the other is the separation of dominion and administrative authority, in so doing it forms a mode of combining centralized government with decentralized administration. This paper characterizes this mode as the vertical-mutual constraint system.

The Combination of Local and Non-Local Labor: A Sociological Study on the Employment Mechanism of External Capital in the Countryside

CHEN Hangying

2021, 41(4):  69-95. 

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Taking the cabbage industry as a case study, this paper explores the employment mechanism of inflow capital in the countryside. The study finds that the large-scal e vegetable farms established by external investment adopt an employment model of "combination of local and non-local labor", in which non-local labor forms the major labor force while locals are used as supplements. The formation of this employment model is not due to the shortage of local labor but a result of the interaction and adjustment of external capital and rural society. The influence of rural society on external capital can be explored from the aspects of internal management and external environment. In terms of employment practices, the use of local labors enables the vegetable farms to connect with the rural society in the external environment but also brings potential issues of international management difficulties. The underlying reason is the conflict between the economic logic of the capital and the family livelihood logic of rural society. The specialized non-local laborers with rural background are just the right answer to the employment difficulties at the internal management because they are seen by locals as fellow rural townsmen. Therefore, this employment model including local and non-local labor has worked for the relationship between external capital and rural society. More importantly, this mode of employment reveals that, rather than ignoring the latter, the economic logic of capital must be based on the rural logic when capital goes to the countryside. It is in this sense that this paper argues that the employment mechanism of external capital is not a simple problem of labor supply and demand, but a complicated social process of outside investment and its relationship with the rural society.

“Working Illegally”: Predicament of Economic Rationality and Moral Existence—A Case Study of J Factory's Assembly Fitters

HU Yuehan

2021, 41(4):  96-125. 

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The Chinese economic reform has brought a complex economic and social structure with the coexistence of market competition and bureaucratic monopoly, which gives rise to all kinds of "gray" or even "black" markets and industrial chains that are outside the legal boundaries. This paper is an investigation of the survival crisis of workers in state-owned enterprises under the monopoly economic system through the case of "illegally working" assembly fitters in a tobacco equipment factory. The "Scott-Popkin" perspective of economic rationality and moral survival is applied as theoretical framework in this study. The study finds that the combination of market competition and bureaucratic control allows economic monopoly such as the tobacco industry that, in turn, breeds an underground industrial chain. The monopolistic and underground industries constitute unequal competition in production and redistribution, leading to monopolistic entities using institutional resources and public powers to prohibit underground entities. In response, underground entities work on small scales and short-term and flexible production process to improve their "exit" ability. The codependence as well as competitiveness between the two economies lead to inevitable business crisis at the end of production cycles once the SOEs lose monopoly protection, and skill mismatch crisis for workers. State employed workers who are unwilling to seek work in job market often take risks to "work illegally" with underground entities for higher returns, and in so doing help resolve the skill matching problem. This behavior can be rationalized as moral survival and market necessity. However, in essence, the phenomenon is the continuity of the elimination process of outdated technology and production organization, and a gain-loss struggle between the interests of the state, enterprises and workers. It lacks either the logic purpose of economic rationality or the legitimate basis of moral survival. The economic rationality and moral existence of Scott-Popkin's perspective constitute a dilemma of antinomy. The case examined here shows that under a monopoly system, the choice made by the SOEs workers is not just from their own initiatives but also is forced by the external institutional structure. How to have economic rationality coexist with moral existence, to make a "win-win" outcome between the state, enterprises and workers, and to realize social co-governance, it will not only be a test of the survival wisdom of the workers but a priority agenda of government policy makers and administrators.

Distortion and Reshaping of Sociality: Rousseau's Doctrine of Amour-propre

CAO Shuai

2021, 41(4):  126-155. 

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Amour-propre provides a new way to understand the unity of Rousseau's writings and the sociality of modern self. Unlike amour de soi, which is concerned with self-preservation, amour-propre is a social and reflective product based on interpersonal comparison that urges people to pursuit superiority over the others. The formation of amour-propre is related to the deepening of interactions among natural men and the development of their rational ability. Individual amour-propre has its origin in the dependence and domination relationship caused by infants' crying while mankind amour-propre can be traced back to the evolution of love between sexes from physical love to moral love. Amour-propre is the psychological cause of the deepening of inequality, of the state of nature becoming the state of war, as well as the root of human sufferings and misfortunes of the civilized world. However, Rousseau agrees that amour-propre cannot be eliminated and can only be guided and reshaped. The" citizen plan" embodied in Social Contract and other political works, and the " man plan" elaborated in Emile represent respectively Rousseau's two different proposals of reforming amour-propre. In a deliberate contrast of pride and vanity, Rousseau confronts modern bourgeois with ancient citizens. In his views, correctly guided pride towards the public self is an important driving force for the shaping of civic virtues. The education of Emile, with its aim of returning to nature and cultivating an independent individual, can be regarded as another solution to the problem of amour-propre. In this plan, the passion that plays the main therapeutic role is pity. Egalitarian consciousness contained in pity helps Emile to foster a proper amour-propre. From Hobbes to Hegel, in the process of re-recognizing and taming human pride,modern thinkers have unfolded their theory of human nature, on which moral, political and social projects are founded. Rousseau's doctrine of amour-propre constitutes an important part of this endeavor.

The Self and the Love: “The Love of the Heart” and “the Love of the Mind” in The Red and the Black

PAN Dan

2021, 41(4):  156-181. 

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The Red and the Black presents in succession "the love of the heart" that was gestated between Julien Sorel and Mme. de Rênal in the small town of Verrières, and "the love of the mind" that burst forth between Julien Sorel and Mathilde in Paris. These two facets of love constitute the Gallic identity incarnated in Julien Sorel, the spiritual son of Stendhal, who devoted himself to passionate love while examining himself and his emotion with a rational mind. Mme. de Rênal, who carried "the love of the heart", was the personification of the natural. She was true to herself at every moment. This unpretentious love of the heart inspired Julien's impulsion to extricate himself from the hypocrisy, and also resulted in a love affair oscillating between the natural and the hypocritical. Mathilde, who incarnated "the love of the mind", challenged Julien to win his laurels with her unique sharpness and intellect, while at the same time discerned the annihilation of these honors during the Bourbon Restoration. These two storylines are symmetrical in the book, but simultaneously interlace with one another, showing the three protagonists inspiring each other in a stormy and passionate love and reflecting the spirit of the new and old in the post-revolutionary era. The love stimulated them to overcome the vanity and the egotism, to free themselves from the hypocrisy and affectation prevailing during the time of the Bourbon Restoration, as well as to uncover their deepest motivations and original impulses. This passionate love is accompanied with inner struggles at different aspects of the self that inspire the emergence of the authentic self to rid of the annihilation or even the alienation of the self under the pressure of social convention and public opinions, and finally accomplish the spiritual crystallization of the authentic self.

Moral Configuration of Death in Contemporary China: Social Imagination and Common Practices

FANG Hongxin

2021, 41(4):  182-215. 

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This ethnographical study argues that in dealing with death, contemporary Chinese families are often conflicted between the two leading social imaginaries of "Ordinary Medicine" and "Life Quality"."Ordinary Medicine," a term borrowed from American medical anthropologist Sharon Kaufman, is defined in this study as the institutionalized radical life-sustaining treatments that may prolong and increase patients' suffering."Life Quality" refers to the efforts by families to give as much normality and enjoyment of life as possible to their terminally ill loved ones. In common practices, both "Ordinary Medicine" and "Life Quality" act as default moral rationality, and "Life Quality" particularly calls for the initiatives of the patient families.
"Life Quality" in practices illustrates the class distinction and structural inequality of contemporary China at multiple levels from affluent families facing the moral decision of prolonging life or ending suffering, to poor families facing the dilemma of economic ruin and moral duty, to the everyday moral and economic decisions of treatment and/or suffering, livelihood and/or dignity that the majority of ordinary families have to face. All this helps shape a class differentiated picture of morality in dealing with death that is "constant yet different" in contemporary China. Despite the discrepancies in what and how to have life quality among the different classes, faith in family has become a common value dependence. To have a good "family life" in its best at the end of one's life has become a shared normative moral practice in China, reflecting the search for certainty of contemporary Chinese families in the great uncertainty of social transformation.

Old-Age Social Security and Its Effect on Traditional Birth Preference

RUAN Rongping, JIAO Wanhui, ZHENG Fengtian

2021, 41(4):  216-240. 

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For thousands of years, the Chinese society has been affected by its patriarchal system that has an everlasting and strong stand of "boy preference". This study examines the impact of old-age social security on the traditional birth preference of Chinese urban and rural residents. The data is based on the four-phase survey of CGSS2006, CGSS2010, CGSS2012 and CGSS2013. The regression results show that participation in basic social security pension scheme has significant effect on birth preference. In summary, old-age social security can,(1) change people's attitudes toward traditional fertility values such as having sons for "old age security" and "carry-on family name";(2) reduce insecurity and dependency about old age among urban residents;(3) improve the quality of daily life and resources for the elderly. However, due to the household registration segregation and the social security expenditure disparity between urban and rural areas, old age pension has less effect on the traditional birth preference of rural residents. This study provides new insights into the impact of social security on important traditional cultural values at individual levels with a comparison between urban and rural residents.