Kinship and Community in Two Chinese Villages . By Burton Pasternak . [Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1972. xiv + 174 pp. $8.50. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. £4–25.]
This book has the merit of being unusually short, but although it is written tightly, the ground to be covered is not small, and the pursuit of brevity may have caused the sacrifice of the fuller detail which I found myself wanting at some points. The author sets out not only to describe, compare and contrast two villages and their social organization, but also to use these two case studies in illustration of generalizations on lineage settlement and on the effects of irrigation. The two villages chosen for study are both in south-western Taiwan. Tatieh was founded in 1811 by Hakka people from Kwangtung Province, while Chungshe, 50 kilometres away, was founded a few decades earlier by Hokkien. The villages remain respectively Hakka and Hokkien speaking today. Both villages have populations of over 1,000, and both are predominantly supported by agriculture. Chapter one covers the geography, history of settlement and pattern of landholding in each of the villages. Chapter two, " Agriculture," is chiefly concerned with irrigation methods and changes in them of recent years, but labour, capital and credit are also discussed. A large section of the chapter, roughly from p. 39 to p. 52, has appeared elsewhere. Chapter three contrasts kinship organization in the two villages; and chapter four, "Village Integration," compares the cohesiveness of the two. The final chapter seeks an explanation for the differences between the settlements, concentrating particularly on differences in kinship organization, and looks at material from other parts of south-eastern China for comparison. Again, quite a lot of the argument has been presented before. The essential difference between Tatieh and Chungshe is seen by the author to lie in their kinship organization. Tatieh is a multi-surname settlement and is characterized as a village which eschews the playing on agnatic ties and the identification between kinship and settlement which might be expected of a lineage-village. Chungshe is also a multi-
The Role of the Frontier in Chinese Lineage Development
Many writers interested in Chinese culture and society have drawn attention to the uneven distribution of large, highly corporate, localized lineages in China. Many have noted the concentration of such lineages in the two southeastern provinces of Fukien and Kwangtung, but relatively few writers have attempted to offer anything like a systematic explanation for the distribution. The most recent and ambitious attempt to come to grips with the problem is found in Maurice Freedman's book, Chinese Lineage and Society. The author reviews a number of factors relevant to the emergence and persistence of strong lineages, and singles out a few which he considers to be of special importance. A relationship is suggested between rice cultivation, extensive irrigation, the exigencies of frontier life, and the emergence of large, localized, highly corporate lineages. The purpose of this paper will be to reassess the role of the frontier in the development of the Chinese lineage. We will consider the extent to which the conditions of frontier life may have functioned as a catalyst in the formation of elaborated, localized lineages in China. Freedman has suggested that the need for cooperation in opening and bringing water to wild land, and in defending life and property, stimulated a rapid development of corporate, localized lineages on the southeastern Chinese frontier.
The Common Descent Group in China and Its Functions
political groups, as well as constant co-operation with them during the period of tutelage. But is there not implicit in the idea of one-party rule the danger of removal or exclusion of political views and groups considered inimical to its interests? Those who wield power tend to attempt its maintenance and extension, although no group can expect to remain in power for long if it reflects the views and demands of only a small, elite group to the neglect of the vast majority of the population. Dr. Ch'ien has not given up the idea of party tutelage as the technique by which democracy might be achieved in China. The other alternative of democracy through a multiparty government has not been given a genuine opportunity but, in Dr. Ch'ien's view, does not find fertile ground in the structure of Chinese society. Until the question as to who shall wield political power in China has been settled, the question of how the government shall be organized will have little real meaning. While Dr. Ch'ien finds limitations and loopholes in Sun Yat-sen's five-power theory of government, he is just as critical of the Kuomintang's incorporation of it in the Nationalist Government of 1928. He considers its adoption "premature" and "not conducive to the realization of Sun Yat-sen's ideal, and to that extent. . .a misfortune for the Kuomintang" (p. 153). It resulted in the undue predominance of the executive yiian while Chiang was its president and the atrophy of the other yiian in power and functions. Dr. Ch'ien concludes that, without an alert, politically sophisticated people and a popular elective body representing them, the yiian could hardly have been expected to function as healthy, powerful organs of state. The Kuomintang's experience, while not conclusive, raises doubts concerning the effective operation of the five-yuan system of government. In analyzing some of these dilemmas of ends and means against the background of Kuomintang government, Dr. Ch'ien has not only contributed to further knowledge about that government but has also presented problems of vital concern to Americans having to make future decisions on foreign policy. He may also well be proud of having produced a book with a valuable appendix and a bibliography of both Western and Chinese sources.