How Did Land Reform and Collectivization Reshape China’s Rural–Urban Relations

Abstract

Based on archival materials, this article examines Land Reform and Collectivization in 1940s and 1950s from the viewpoint of rural–urban relations. It argues that there were various strong ties between rural society and urban society in traditional China. However, the programs of Land Reform and Collectivization cut off these ties and made it impossible for Chinese people to be “amphibious” as they were previously. This fundamental change reshaped China’s rural–urban relations, making rural society and urban society two separate spheres. The new rural–urban relations lasted all the way down to the present without being overhauled.