Table of Content

20 November 2024, Volume 44 Issue 6

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What is Mingfen? A Study of Status Based on Indigenous Perspective

ZHAI Xuewei

2024, 44(6):  1-30. 

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In modern social science research, a indigenous concept is often replaced by modern disciplinary concepts， making it difficult to bring its meaning and its research framework to light. Mingfen is a concept that has been replaced by hierarchy， role， identity， and norms of behavior， so much so that the academic interpretation of the concept remains shallow. Compared to these conceptual combinations， the meaning of Mingfen needs to be understood within its own conceptual combination. This paper therefore argues that in this regard Mingfen is the operationalization of ritual and etiquette， and that its purpose is to establish a matching hierarchy of superiority and inferiority in real vertical relationships in order to maintain daily order. Examining roles or identities， their commonality is based on “self-identity”， while the operation of Mingfen requires establishing “field-identity” in political and social context and reality. What is meant by “field-identity” is that social members can regard the power relationships and interactive situations in different fields as a unified whole， so that different identities and roles can be comprehensively ranked in this system. This is possible because Li （ritual） has a holistic cognitive aspect， and the hierarchical ordering of its ranks is provided by the ideal of Tian Di Jun Qin Shi（Heaven， Earth， Monarch， Parents， and Teacher）. The emergence of “field-identity” leads individuals to form a cognitive panorama of power relationships in the whole interactions due to their simultaneous confrontation with multiple roles. It enables an individual to clearly understand their own course of action and the appropriateness of their behavior on the one hand， and on the other hand to have a comprehensive understanding of the hierarchy of every individual， thereby leading their words and deeds to be less self-centered and more dependent on their status sequence and power. This interconnected pattern， although it achieves the expected order， stability， and harmony， also constitutes various potential power struggles in the field-identity.

The Zeng Guofan Family and Local Politics：On the Internal Tension and Collaboration of the Dual-Track System

LING Peng, HE Luo

2024, 44(6):  31-64. 

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This paper explores the internal tension and collaboration of the dual-track system in the case of the Zeng family in Xiangxiang, arguing that the basic feature of double track politics is two separate upper and lower tracks rather than two layers of a single track, and that the separation and linkage of the political system （zhengtong） and the ethical system （daotong） are much more fundamental than others as the theoretical foundation for the formation of the dual-track politics. The various tensions within the dual-track system were thoroughly manifested in the Zeng Guofan family’s involvement in local affairs in Xiangxiang. Zeng wanted to separate the double tracks， and expected his family to follow the ethical system in local affairs but his family did not share his view. Zeng Guohuang （his brother） had actively expanded his family’s wealth and power， disregarding Zeng Guofan’s repeated pleads not to be in collusion with the local officials’ private interests， and practically laying down a base for the linkage between the political and ethical systems. It was due to the ideas and actions of Zeng brothers that important events such as Zeng Linshu’s （Zeng’s father） involvement in helping collecting tax and his call on an upright official Zhu Shiqiao’s stay could have occurred. Thus， with Zhu’s dedication to serve people， a gentry and a government official had formed the kind of corporation that transcended the separation of the political and the ethic systems. In the structure of dual-track politics， theory and practice， national and local， private and public interest， are in tension with each other. The relationship between the state and the gentry in different times manifested differently in this tension structure. What Fei Xiaotong called the occlusion of politics in the Republic of China seemed to refer to a blockage of the passage between the top and the bottom， but the root of it in fact was the total loss of two sides separation of the dual-track and its internal tension. In this sense， Fei Xiaotong’s discussion of the politics of the Republic of China is an important contribution to the continuity of the spirit of the “dual-track”.

Between the Ancient and the Modern: Changes in Father-Son Ethics and the Imagination of the May 4th Movement on Family:Reinterpreting Lu Xun's “How Shall We Be Fathers Now”

SUN Yaotian

2024, 44(6):  65-96. 

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Because of the historical characteristic of organising society through ethics， China’s modernity began with the family revolution. Among the many discussions on family revolution in the late Qing and early Republican period， Lu Xun’s “How Shall We Be Fathers Now” not only focused on father-son ethics， but also represented the worldview and historical consciousness of the May Fourth revolutionaries. Inspired by Nietzsche and the theory of biological evolution， Lu Xun asked the “father” to utilize subjective initiatives and advocated for the “position of the youngster”. At the same time， Lu Xun emphasized the significance of social transformation for the reconstruction of the family， and his understanding of “society” was further related to the decline of nationalism and the rise of the consciousness of “humanity” after the First World War. Lu Xun’s emphasis on “love” carried forward the context of the family revolution in the late Qing， and it also reflected the influence from Japanese Birchen writers such as Saneatsu Mushakoji and Arishima Takeo， etc. He tried to counter the increasingly rigid and formalized rituals since the Ming and Qing Dynasties， thus breaking through the inherent paradox of filial piety. Lu Xun criticized the traditional father-son ethics as being infested with authoritarianism and utilitarianism， and had long since lost its intrinsic value. In this regard， he advocated for a return to the natural， humane and sensual dimension of ethics， and extended the temporal direction of the future in an optimistic imagination of life evolution. Lu Xun reframed the father-son ethics with life as its essence， which made his revolutionary discourse on the family subversive， but also created a dilemma for the individual in his overarching vision. In general， Lu Xun responded to the propositions of the times with his own experiences and his identity as a “father”， presenting a dialogue as well as tension between the past and the present. Among other things， his emphasis on the initiative of father-son ethics and his imagination of a mutually supportive society are still instructive for today’s discussions on family issues.

The Moderation of Private Property：Rousseau and the Political Economy of Equality

ZHAO Yutao

2024, 44(6):  97-127. 

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It is generally accepted that private property is the institutional foundation of modern civilised society. As an important critic of modern civilization，Rousseau’s attitude toward property seems ambiguous at first glance，criticising the inequality and corruption aroused by the integration of property and amour-propre，while at the same time recognizing that property is the sinew of political society and individual liberty. This article attempts to demonstrate that Rousseau’s ideas are in fact not contradictory and that his thinking on political economy is rooted in a systematic critique of “unsocial sociability”. According to Rousseau，once an individual must depend on others to satisfy his/her material and mental needs，distorted social relations will inevitable arise，leading to problems such as interpersonal oppression and the loss of one’s true nature. Rousseau provides different cures for the “natural man in civilised society”（Emile） and for the citizens. To make Emile a moderate property owner，Jean-Jacque limits the moral and social effects of private property with the logic of natural necessity，and then cultivates Emile’s universal love of humanity through the systematic restraint of amour-propre. As a consequence，Emile is a gentle property owner with a balance between natural “unsociability” and benevolent “sociable sociability”. To construct a moderate society，the scope of private property must be determined by natural necessity，the general will must be obeyed by the individual citizen，the relationship between the individual and the community must be used to block interpersonal comparisons，and economic policies to control the polarisation of the rich and the poor must be carried out. Such a society could be termed as “a society without sociability”. In sum，Rousseau’s political economy is distinct from mainstream contemporary liberalism，socialism and liberal egalitarianism，and remains an important inspiration for understanding inequality today.

The Change of Mœurs and the Spirit of the Age: A Discussion on Voltaire's History of Mœurs and Its Sociological Significance

LI Cuan

2024, 44(6):  128-158. 

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Building upon a critical departure from the traditional historical-theological framework of Christianity， Voltaire developed a novel historical philosophy imbued with a fresh perspective on world history and the history of civilizations. This provided France and indeed Europe， with a new vision of what constituted its own civilisation， its processes， and the historical positioning of other civilizations. Henceforth， the history of civilizations ceased to be a display of divine providence， but a history of Mœurs that chronicled the continuous advancement of human spirit and mind. Through a historical and empirical narrative of the changes of Mœurs， Voltaire’s philosophy of reason， natural theism， progressive historical view， and his notions of human nature and social theory are made into a unified whole. For Voltaire， “Mœurs” emerged not only as a pivotal concept for accessing and comprehending issues of civilization and order， but also as a novel perspective for analyzing the times and the spirit of the nation， the rationality of mankind and the progress of the mind. While Voltaire’s contributions were not fully absorbed into the subsequent sociological tradition of the study of Mœurs ， his history of Mœurs retained a significant place within the field of sociology of Mœurs， and was duly preserved and transformed. It became an important foundation for the theory of Mœurs since Montesquieu and for the science of Mœurs that Durkheim sought to establish， and it contributed a historical-comparative method of examining and analysing the zeitgeist of the times through the lens of the changes of Mœurs . Overall， the sociological significance of the history of Mœurs lies not only in the unique connotations of customs as a concept that encompasses character， psyche， and spirit， but also in its ability to capture the essence and fluctuations of the spiritual landscape of an era through the depiction of such customary elements as religion， law， science， and art. In short， the study of “Mœurs ” or “history of Mœurs ” provides an important conceptual and methodological foundation for understanding both the formation of Western sociology and the construction of early Chinese sociology，

Convergence and Divergence: Exploring Education-Occupation Mismatch among Highly Educated Individuals from an Employer Hiring Decision-Making Perspective

LI Xiaoguang

2024, 44(6):  159-193. 

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The imbalance between supply and demand in higher education and job market is reshaping the employment quality and life opportunities of the highly educated individuals in China. Due to the labor market’s inability to absorb the rapidly growing number of college graduates in a timely manner，the proportion of educational mismatches among the highly educated is rising rapidly. Previous research on educational mismatch has focused on the impact of supply-side characteristics （e.g.，college ranking，field of study，academic achievement，and credentials），but has rarely considered the potential role of demand-side recruiters and their hiring decisions （e.g.，organizational structure，job requirements，and institutional environment）. This article，based on the neo-institutionalism theory，analyzes how the hiring decision processes on the demand side of the labor market affect educational mismatch，and provides an empirical analysis based on the data from the 2023 Conjoint Online Survey Research Experiment in China. The study finds：First，hiring decision processes show a convergent tendency towards a “preference for overqualification”， where employers tend to hire candidates with higher education levels than the jobs actually require. This preference for overqualification is prevalent across organizations of all sizes，leading to the rise of educational mismatch. Second，there is a clear divergence of overqualification preference in organizational hiring by occupation type， experience requirements，and tolerance for error，and this divergency is strongly driven by the logic of efficiency. Third，the overqualification preference in organizational hiring also varies based on type of ownership，type of industry，and urban environment，and this differentiation is governed by the logic of the system. The above findings reveal the mechanism of educational mismatch from the perspective of employers’ decision-making：on the one hand，facing with an oversupply of higher education degrees and high transaction costs in the recruitment process，rationalized organizations try to improve the hiring efficiency and reduce the recruitment risks through overqualification preference. On the other hand，in the face of the social recognition of highly educated people and the conceptual consensus of academic competitiveness in the industrial development，institutionalized organizations use overqualification preference to strengthen their own competitive advantage and to elevate their social status.

Advantage Accumulation or Resource Complementarity? A Study of the Spatial Differentiation of First-Time Homeowners of Shanghai Local Residents from an Intergenerational Perspective

MU Xueying, CUI Can, LU Tingting, CHANG Heying

2024, 44(6):  194-216. 

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Over the past forty years， China’s housing market reforms have rapidly reshaped urban spatial structures and deepened social-spatial differentiation. Simultaneously， the homeownership rate in China has risen dramatically. Against the backdrop of high homeownership rate and the increasingly significant spatial polarization of the housing market， the differentiation of owner-occupied housing location has become a key lens for understanding housing inequality. This study emphasizes the significance of residential location， focusing on residents in Shanghai as a case study. By integrating Points of Interest（POI） data with questionnaire surveys， we explore the degree of advantages， the factors influencing the property location of first-time buyers， and especially the influence of family background， a factor that is often overlooked in previous research. The findings reveal a distinct spatial gradient in locational advantage， which declines from the city center toward the periphery at a gradually diminishing rate. The distribution of locational advantage among first-time homeowners in Shanghai follows an inverted U-shape， with lower values at both extremes and higher values in the middle. The model results show that residents， whose parents are of higher education levels and superior economic status， and work in the public sector， are more likely to be located in an advantageous location. However， parental homeownership seems to impede their children from gaining homeownership at a more advantageous location because the younger generation tends to trade better locations for “newer and bigger” homes further away. The study also finds that the inhibitory effect of parental homeownership exacerbates if parents work in public sectors. The findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of intergenerational support in housing location differentiation， providing a crucial perspective for understanding social stratification.

The Cost and Differentiation of Ability：Digital Harms in the Third-Level Digital Divide

CHEN Fuping, XIE Yijing

2024, 44(6):  217-242. 

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The study of the third-level digital divide focuses on the differential effects produced by digital skills， often assuming the benefits of these effects while neglecting the varying capacities of different groups to guard against potential negative effects.With the application of the theory of resources and appropriation， this study analyzes the relationship between digital skills and digital negative effects from a new dimension of digital harm in the Chinese context. It also explores the inequality in the prevention of digital harm.
Based on an analysis of the 2017 data from the China General Social Survey （CGSS）， the study finds that younger individuals， higher-educated， higher-income， and urban dwellers possess higher digital skills， but also by extension are exposed to higher levels of digital harm. Digital skills play a crucial mediating role between categorical inequality and digital harm. However， the study also indicates that there is a differential capacity among groups to mitigate the negative effects of digital skills， with those in positions of advantage， such as highly educated and high income， being better able to buffer against the impact of digital harm. The study deepens the understanding of the negative effects of digital skills， and highlights the potential emergence of new inequalities characterized by a widening effect gap between digital benefit and digital harm. Therefore， compared to the previous digital divides， the third digital divide exhibits greater variability and complexity among different groups.