Long described as lost, this report was the result of Mao Zedong's investigation in 1930 of the people, economy, society, and history of the obscure rural county of Xunwu in South China. An extraordinary document that far exceeds in scope and depth Mao's other investigative reports on rural China. The report is a rich source of information on rural administration, commerce, transportation, communication, education, land tenure, taxation, religion, diverse social relations and practices and struggle in one obscure area that was a microcosm of China. Thompson has translated and presented Mao's report with extensive notes. The book is designed to welcome non-specialists, and it will be welcomed by those interested in the Chinese countryside, comparative revolution, and historical anthropology. Because Mao's report on Xunwu was part of a revolutionary program, the report raises complex questions about academic and activist readings of social realities.

Long described as lost, this report was the result of Mao Zedong's investigation in 1930 of the people, economy, society, and history of the obscure rural county of Xunwu in South China. An extraordinary document that far exceeds in scope and depth Mao's other investigative reports on rural China. The report is a rich source of information on rural administration, commerce, transportation, communication, education, land tenure, taxation, religion, diverse social relations and practices and struggle in one obscure area that was a microcosm of China. Thompson has translated and presented Mao's report with extensive notes. The book is designed to welcome non-specialists, and it will be welcomed by those interested in the Chinese countryside, comparative revolution, and historical anthropology. Because Mao's report on Xunwu was part of a revolutionary program, the report raises complex questions about academic and activist readings of social realities.

Dazzled by the model of Japan's Western-style constitutional government, Chinese officials and elite activists made plans to establish locally elected councils. By October 1911, government agencies had reported the establishment of about 5,000 councils.

Throughout the period, data on self-government reforms collected from localities were compiled in provincial capitals, then collated, summarized, and archived in Beijing. Simultaneously, directives were being sent from the capital to the provinces. From this wealth of previously unexamined material, Roger R. Thompson draws a portrait-in-motion of the reforms. He demonstrates the energy and significance of the late-Qing local-self-government movement, while making a compelling case that it was separate from the well-studied phenomenon of provincial assemblies and constitutionalism in general.