Fei Xiaotong
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Fei Xiaotong or Fei Hsiao-tung (November 2, 1910 – April 24, 2005) was a Chinese
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
and sociologist. He was a pioneering researcher and professor of
sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
and
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
; he was also noted for his studies in the study of China's
ethnic groups An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
as well as a
social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
. Starting in the late 1930s, he and his colleagues established Chinese sociology and his works were instrumental in laying a foundation for the development of sociological and anthropological studies in China, as well as in introducing social and cultural phenomena of China to the international community. His last post before his death in 2005 was as Professor of Sociology at
Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
.


Early years

Fei Xiaotong was born in Wujiang County of
Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
province in China on November 2, 1910. His world was one plagued with political corruption and abject poverty. He grew up in a gentry but yet not wealthy family. His father, Fei Pu'an () was educated in the Chinese classics, earned a shengyuan civil service degree, studied in Japan, and founded a middle school. Fei's mother, Yang Renlan (), the Christian daughter of a government official and also highly educated for her time, established a nursery school in Wujiang which Fei attended. Her brothers include Chinese politician Yang Qianli (father of Hong Kong director and lyricwriter Evan Yang), Architect Yang Xiliu (S. J. Young), Chinese-American animator Cy Young, and entrepreneur Yang Xiren.


Career in academic sociology

At missionary-founded
Yenching University Yenching University (), was a university in Beijing, China, that was formed out of the merger of four Christian colleges between the years 1915 and 1920. The term "Yenching" comes from an alternative name for old Beijing, derived from its status ...
in
Peiping "Beijing" is from pinyin ''Běijīng,'' which is romanized from , the Chinese name for this city. The pinyin system of transliteration was approved by the Chinese government in 1958, but little used until 1979. It was gradually adopted by various ...
, which had China's best sociology program, he was stimulated by the semester visit of
Robert E. Park Robert Ezra Park (February 14, 1864 – February 7, 1944) was an American urban sociologist who is considered to be one of the most influential figures in early U.S. sociology. Park was a pioneer in the field of sociology, changing it from a pas ...
, the University of Chicago sociologist. For an M.A. in anthropology, Fei went to nearby
Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...
where he studied with
Pan Guangdan Pan Guangdan (; 1898–1967) known in English as Quentin Pan, was a Chinese sociologist, eugenicist, and writer. He was one of the most distinguished sociologists and eugenicists of China. Educated at Tsinghua University on a Boxer Indemnity S ...
and learned fieldwork methods from a White Russian, S. M. Shirokogoroff. Fei's first fieldwork experience, in the rugged mountains of
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
province in the far south, ended tragically after Fei's leg was crushed by a tiger trap, and his young bride Wang Tonghui () died seeking help.


"Functional" anthropology

From 1936 to 1938 Fei studied at the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...
under the pioneer anthropologist
Bronisław Malinowski Bronisław Kasper Malinowski (; 7 April 1884 – 16 May 1942) was a Polish-British anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropol ...
. "From Malinowski and
A.R. Radcliffe-Brown Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown, FBA (born Alfred Reginald Brown; 17 January 1881 – 24 October 1955) was an English social anthropologist who helped further develop the theory of structural functionalism. Biography Alfred Reginald Radcli ...
, Fei learned to focus on the functional interrelationships of various "parts" of a community and on the meaning of a culture as seen by its members. He devised survey methods which incorporated the functional approach ... " Fei wrote his 1938 PhD thesis, based on earlier fieldwork in Kaixiangong (Chinese:) village, China and published it as ''Peasant Life in China'' (1939). Among Fei Xiaotong's contributions to anthropology is the concept that
Chinese social relations Chinese social relations are typified by a reciprocal social network. Often social obligations within the network are characterized in familial terms. The individual link within the social network is known by ''guanxi'' (关系/關係) and the fe ...
work through social networks of personal relations with the self at the center and decreasing closeness as one moves out. Among the criticisms of Fei Xiaotong's work is that his work tended to ignore regional and historical variations in Chinese behavior. Nonetheless, as a pioneer and educator, his intent was to highlight general trends, thus this simplification may have had significant justification for Fei's intent, even if they contributed to a bias in studies of Chinese society and culture. An important work of the period, ''China's Gentry'', was compiled from Fei's field interviews, and was published in the United States in 1953. It went on to become a staple of American university courses on China. The compilation and U.S. publication of ''China's Gentry'' grew out of a relationship Fei developed at Tsinghua University with the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
anthropologist
Robert Redfield Robert Redfield (December 4, 1897 – October 16, 1958) was an American anthropologist and ethnolinguist, whose ethnographic work in Tepoztlán, Mexico, is considered a landmark of Latin American ethnography. He was associated with the University ...
and his wife, Margaret Park Redfield.


Leading intellectual in People's Republic of China


1950s and 1960s: Politics in command

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Fei played an important role in national intellectual and ideological life, and before long he began to hold a growing number of political positions. He was made vice president in 1951 of the Central Institute for Nationalities in Beijing (today,
Minzu University of China Minzu University of China (MUC, ) is a national public university in Haidian District, Beijing, China designated for ethnic minorities in China. MUC was selected as one of national key universities to directly receive funding from Double First ...
), and in 1954 attended the First National People's Congress as a member of the Nationalities Affairs Commission. Soon thereafter, however, departments of sociology were eliminated (as a "bourgeois pseudo-science"). Fei no longer taught, and published less and less. During the “
Hundred Flowers The Hundred Flowers Campaign, also termed the Hundred Flowers Movement (), was a period from 1956 to 1957 in the People's Republic of China during which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) encouraged citizens to openly express their opinions of t ...
” thaw of 1956–57, he began to speak out again, cautiously suggesting the restoration of sociology. But then the climate suddenly changed with the “
Anti-Rightist Movement The Anti-Rightist Campaign () in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from 1957 to roughly 1959, was a political campaign to purge alleged "Rightists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country as a whole. The campaign was l ...
.” In 1957, Fei stood with head bowed before countless assemblies to confess his “crimes toward the people.” citation? Hundreds of articles attacked him, not a few by colleagues, some viciously dishonest. Fei became an outcast, humiliated, isolated, unable to teach, do research, or publish. Twenty-three years of his life, he would later write, years that should have been his most productive period, were simply lost, wasted. At the height of the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
, physically attacked by
Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...
, forced to clean toilets, he contemplated suicide.


1970s and 1980s: A 'second life'

In the 1970s, Fei, internationally known, began to receive foreign visitors, and after Mao's death he was asked to direct the restoration of Chinese sociology. He visited the United States again and was subsequently able to arrange the visits to China of American social scientists to help with the gigantic task of training a whole new cadre of Chinese sociologists. In 1980 he was formally rehabilitated, and was one of the judges in the long, televised trial of the
Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...
and others held responsible for the crimes of the Cultural Revolution. His 'second life' was more than ever that of the public intellectual, with important political posts and contact with policy makers. His influence is thought to have been important in convincing the government to promote rural industry, whose rapid growth in the 1980s raised the income of hundreds of millions of villagers all over China. Virtually every week in the 1990s his name was in the newspapers and his face on television. He traveled all over China, went abroad, to the US, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, and elsewhere, and was showered with international honors: the Malinowski Award of the Society for Applied Anthropology, the Huxley Memorial Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, an honorary doctorate from the University of Hong Kong, and other honors in Japan, the Philippines, Canada. He played a role in promoting and directing the reestablishment of sociology and anthropology in China, training scholars and developing teaching materials after thirty years of prohibition. Fei is also known for his influential theory on
ethnic groups in Chinese history Ethnic groups in Chinese history refer to various or presumed ethnicities of significance to the history of China, gathered through the study of Classical Chinese literature, Chinese and non-Chinese literary sources and inscriptions, histori ...
, which follows the tradition of
Lewis H. Morgan Lewis Henry Morgan (November 21, 1818 – December 17, 1881) was a pioneering American anthropologist and social theorist who worked as a railroad lawyer. He is best known for his work on kinship and social structure, his theories of social ev ...
's stage-developmental evolutionism. A representative example of his work is Fei's 1988 Tanner lecture in Hong Kong, "Plurality and Unity in the Configuration of the Chinese Nationality." According to Fei, the
Huaxia ''Huaxia'' (華夏, ) is a historical concept representing the Chinese nation, and came from the self-awareness of a common cultural ancestry by the various confederations of pre-Qin ethnic ancestors of Han people. Etymology The earliest ext ...
became a true ethnic group, the
Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
, during the
Qin Dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...
. Afterwards, the Han became "a nucleus with centripetal force" with their stable agricultural society attracting and assimilating ethnic nomads from China's northern frontier such as the Qiang.


The 1990s and 2000s: reminiscence and caution

Above all, it was as a writer that Fei flourished in his 'second life'. Virtually all of his old books were republished during these years, and he turned out new books and articles in even greater quantity. Of the fifteen volumes of his “Works” (1999–2001), new writings from the 1980s and 1990s fill over half. Many of the themes were familiar. He repeatedly and forcefully set forth the case for sociology and anthropology in China if modernization were to succeed. He reminisced about his village fieldwork, his studies, and his teachers. There were articles and books on rural industrialization, small towns, national minorities, and developing frontier areas. He championed the cause of intellectuals. He recounted what he had learned from his trips abroad and made some new translations from English. There was even a little book of his poetry. What is different in all this new writing is political caution; Fei had too much to do and too little time in the last decades to risk playing with fire again. He was Professor of Sociology at
Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
at the time of his death on April 24, 2005, in Beijing at the age of 94. A memorial has been set up in the Department of
Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
at the university, where he has taught and directed since the 1980s.


Career landmarks


Major works

* ''Peasant Life in China: A Field Study of Country Life in the Yangtze Valley''. Preface by Bronislaw Malinowski. London: G. Routledge and New York: Dutton, 1939, and various reprints and a Japanese translation. * Fei and Chang Chih-I hang Zhiyi 张之毅 ''Earthbound China: A Study of Rural Economy in Yunnan.'' University of Chicago Press, 1945. * ''China's Gentry: Essays in Rural-Urban Relations.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953. * ''Neidi de nongcun'' 《內地的農村》(Villages of the interior). Shanghai: Shenghuo, 1946. * ''Shengyu zhidu'' 《生育制度》 (The institutions for reproduction). Shanghai: Shangwu, 1947. * ''
From the Soil ''From the Soil'' (), first published in 1947, is a work by Fei Xiaotong, a pioneering Chinese sociologist and anthropologist. The book is a compilation of the author's lecture notes and a series of essays he wrote for Chinese journal ''Shiji Ping ...
'' (Xiangtu Zhongguo, 《鄉土中國》). Shanghai: Guancha, 1948. (Translated as ''From the Soil: The Foundations of Chinese Society'', U. of California Press, 1992) * ''Xiangtu chongjian'' 《鄉土重建》 (Rural recovery). Shanghai: Guancha, 1948. * Fei Xiaotong et al. ''Small Towns in China: Functions, Problems & Prospects.'' Beijing: New World Press, 1986. * ''Xingxing chong xingxing'' 《行行重行行》 (Travel, travel, and more travel). Ningxia Renmin Chubanshe, 1992. * ''Fei Xiaotong wenji'' 《费孝通文集》 (Collected works of Fei Xiaotong), 15 vols. Beijing: Qunyan chubanshe, 1999.


Awards

* 1980:
Bronislaw Malinowski Award The Bronislaw Malinowski Award is an award given by the US-based Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) in honor of Bronisław Malinowski (1884–1942), an original member and strong supporter of the Society. Briefly established in 1950, the awar ...
of the International Applied Anthropology Association * 1981: '' Huxley Memorial Medal'' of the
Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...
* 1988: ''
Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
Prize'' in New York * 1993: ''USA and Asian Cultural Prize'' in
Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
, Japan * Doctor of Letters degree, ''
honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
'' by the
University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
* Doctor of Social Science degree, ''
honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
'',
University of Macau The University of Macau (UM; Portuguese: ''Universidade de Macau'', Chinese: 澳門大學) is an internationalised public comprehensive university in Macau. The UM campus is located in the east of Hengqin Island, Guangdong province in Mainland ...
* 1994: '' Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
.


Political positions

Fei also made significant contributions to the study and management of the development of China's
rural economy Rural economics is the study of rural economies. Rural economies include both agricultural and non-agricultural industries, so rural economics has broader concerns than agricultural economics which focus more on food systems. Rural developmen ...
. Before his death, Fei held a number of political positions, although these are mostly honorary; he was considered by many to be "active politically". * Vice-president of the 6th
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...
* Vice-chairman of the 7th and 8th
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state po ...
* Vice-chairman of the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China * Honorary Chairman of the Central Committee of the
China Democratic League The China Democratic League (CDL) is one of the eight legally recognized minor political parties in the People's Republic of China under the Chinese Communist Party's United Front. The CDL was originally founded in 1941 as an umbrella coalition ...
, a minor party which is part of the
United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...
led by the
Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
*Deputy Director of the Experts Bureau of the State Council *Deputy Director of the National Ethnic Affairs Committee *Chairman of the Central Committee of the Democratic Union


See also

*
List of sociologists This is a list of sociologists. It is intended to cover those who have made substantive contributions to social theory and research, including any sociological subfield. Scientists in other fields and philosophers are not included, unless at least ...
* List of Chinese sociologists and anthropologists * Francis L. K. Hsu


References


Further reading

* * * Pasternak, Burton, "A Conversation with Fei Xiaotong," ''Current Anthropology'' 29:637-62 (1988). * "Fei Xiaotong siao-tung Fei" ''American Anthropologist'', 108.2:452–461 (2006).


External links

*Wolfgang Saxon
"Fei Xiaotong"
''New York Times'' obituary, 9 May 2005 (registration required)] * ] *
Biographical information
at China Vitae.

Xinhua (26 April 2005). {{DEFAULTSORT:Fei, Xiaotong 1910 births 2005 deaths Chinese anthropologists Chinese non-fiction writers Chinese sociologists Alumni of the University of London Educators from Suzhou Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee members Members of the China Democratic League Vice Chairpersons of the National People's Congress Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Minzu University of China alumni Minzu University of China faculty National Southwestern Associated University faculty Peking University faculty People's Republic of China politicians from Jiangsu People's Republic of China writers Politicians from Suzhou Republic of China writers Scientists from Suzhou Tsinghua University alumni Tsinghua University faculty Victims of the Anti-Rightist Campaign Writers from Suzhou Yenching University alumni Yunnan University faculty 20th-century anthropologists 20th-century non-fiction writers