The Power of Words: Literacy and Revolution in South China, 1949-95

264 Pages·1997·16.632 MB·English

by  Glen Peterson

The Power of Words
Contemporary Chinese Studies
This new series, a joint initiative of UBC Press and the UBC Institute of
Asian Research, Centre for Chinese Research, seeks to make available the
best scholarly work on contemporary China. Future volumes will cover a
wide range of subjects related to China, Taiwan, and the overseas Chinese
world.
Glen Peterson's The Power of Words: Literacy and Revolution in South China,
1949-95 is the first book in the series.
Editorial Board
General Editor, Diana Lary, Department of History/Centre for Chinese
Research, University of British Columbia
Timothy Brook, Department of History, University of Toronto
Peter Y.L. Eng, Allied Holding Limited, Vancouver
Samuel Ho, Department of Economics/Centre for Chinese Research,
University of British Columbia
Elizabeth Johnson, Museum of Anthropology, University of British
Columbia
Richard King, Department of Pacific and Asian Studies, University of
Victoria
Daniel Overmyer, Department of Asian Studies, University of British
Columbia
Pitman Potter, Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia
fan Walls, David See-chai Lam Centre, Simon Fraser University
Glen Peterson
The Power of Words:
Literacy and Revolution in
South China, 1949-95
UBCPress /Vancouver
© UBC Press 1997
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior
written permission of the publisher, or, in Canada, in the case of photocopying
or other reprographic copying, a licence from CANCOPY (Canadian Copyright
Licensing Agency), 900 - 6 Adelaide Street East, Toronto, ON M5C 1H6.
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper °°
ISBN 0-7748-0611-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 0-7748-0612-5 (paperback)
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Peterson, Glen, 1956-
The power of words
(Contemporary Chinese studies, ISSN 1206-9523)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7748-0611-7 (bound); ISBN 0-7748-0612-5 (pbk.)
1. Literacy - China - Kwanztung Province - History. 2. Literacy - Government
policy - China - History. I. Title. II. Series.
LC157.C5P47 1997 302.2'244'09512709045 C97-910575-7
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Social Science
Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada.
UBC Press also gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support to its publishing
program from the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council,
and the Department of Canadian Heritage of the Government of Canada.
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To my parents
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Contents
Tables and Maps / viii
Acknowledgments / ix
1 Introduction: Literacy and Society in Modern China / 3
2 Minban Schools and the Reaffirmation of Voluntarism in
Village Education / 22
3 The Contested Priorities of Early Postrevolutionary Mass Education / 40
4 The Problem of the Teachers / 58
5 Collectivization and the Increased Importance of Literacy / 73
6 The National Literacy Campaigns of 1956 and 1958 / 85
7 Beijing's Language Reform and Guangdong's Opposition /103
8 Literacy Expansion and Social Contraction:
The Agricultural Middle School Experiment, 1958-65 / 118
9 The Cultural Revolution / 134
10 Literacy and Economic Development in the Post-Mao Era / 150
11 The Struggle for Literacy in Guangdong / 171
Appendix: Educational Levels in Guangdong by District,
City, and County, 1982 / 182
Notes /186
Bibliography / 216
Index / 243
Tables and Maps
Tables
1 Illiteracy in selected Guangdong townships, 1950 / 49
2 Number of adults acquiring basic literacy, 1949-81 / 87
3 Illiterates aged fifteen years and older by province, autonomous districts,
and directly administered cities, 1990 / 172
Maps
1 People's Republic of China, 1950 / xi
2 Guangdong, 1982 / xii
3 Literacy zones in Guangdong, 1986 / 173
Acknowledgments
This book originated as a doctoral dissertation at the University of British
Columbia. It is a pleasure to be able finally to acknowledge the many teach-
ers, friends, and colleagues who have given so generously of their help and
encouragement over the years. I am particularly grateful to Alexander
Woodside, who suggested the topic and guided my research; I have never
met a more superb critic or inspiring scholar. I am also grateful to my
cosupervisor, Edgar Wickberg, who first inspired my interest in the social
history of Guangdong many years ago and whose deep influence on my
thinking about the region is evident throughout these pages. I would also
like to thank Graham Johnson for patiently teaching me about the Pearl
River Delta and for facilitating my field research through his many contacts
in Guangdong. Diana Lary provided much-needed support and encourage-
ment and suggested the title for this book. I also wish to thank Ruth Hayhoe,
Stig Thogersen, Charles Hayford, Elizabeth Perry, Harvey Graff, William Wray,
and J. Donald Wilson for their wise counsel and encouragement over the
years.
This project would never have been completed without the generous as-
sistance and advice I received from a great many colleagues and friends in
China. I am indebted to Professor Yuan Ding, whose tireless efforts on my
behalf yielded many of the source materials on which this book is based.
Qiao Xiaoqin and Zhou Darning kindly allowed me to join them on their
regular research forays into the Pearl River Delta. Ren Gaoyu of the
Guangdong Social and Economic Development Research Center provided
valuable advice on the contemporary state of literacy education in
Guangdong, as did Zheng Deben of the Guangzhou Social Science Research
Unit. Ye Xianen helped me to see contemporary Guangdong rural educa-
tion in historical perspective by sharing with me some of his vast knowl-
edge of Guangdong's social and economic history. Zhu Yuncheng, director
of the Population Research Center at Zhongshan University, patiently an-
swered my questions and allowed me access to the centre's materials. In