THE RISE OF AGRARIAN ABSENTEEISM AND ITS EFFECT ON THE TRADITIONAL SOCIETY OF CHINA.

The effective functioning of the traditional society of China seemed to hinge upon two conditions: (1) prosperity of the peasant economy, and (2) adjustment between the landowning gentry and the peasantry, about half of the latter group being tenants or part-tenants. The impact of Western culture impaired the already worsening economy and brought disorders to the rural community, and, as a consequence, gentry families moved to cities. This exodus left behind not only agrarian absenteeism but also social anomie, for it deprived the villages of their elite leadership. Furthermore, the gentry, now unmindful of the peasant plight and confronting an ever-increasing outlay due to their tasting of urban luxury and comfort, resorted to raising their demands on the peasants for rent or interest, or both. Thus, agrarian absenteeism may be said to have contributed more than anything else to the breakdown of the traditional structure which opened China to a new phase of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]