Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 7, 2023

The Chinese Path to Modernization and the Literary Representation of a Century of China’s Rural Transformation

(Abstract)

Zhao Shunhong

In parallel with the development of Chinese rural society, the literary representation of the century-long transformation of China’s countryside appears to be wave-like, showing marked staged characteristics. While most of the existing studies reflect a differential thinking that takes modern Western social culture and values as a reference when examining native Chinese civilization, they usually lack a genuine understanding of China’s earthbound culture and rural transformation practice as they are not in real touch with the Chinese countryside. This is not unrelated to their lack of contact with earthbound China and the distance between them. The theory of the Chinese path to modernization enables us to gain insights into the specific context of Chinese social reality and base our researches on native Chinese civilization, so as to free ourselves from over-dependence on the idea of a differentiated order, especially the belief in Western modernization. Starting from a dialectical understanding of the differentiated order and differentiation, we should further analyze and comb through the consciousness of agency, inner dynamics, and generation of meaning in the representation of rural transformation, so as to grasp the general trend and inner pulse of China’s rural transformation. This is the key to understanding the modernization of China’s rural society.