Rural archives in China over the past 40 years

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a qualitative study exploring the understudied history of China’s rural archives over the past 40 years and the forces that have driven different stages of their development. Applying a mixed-methods approach consisting of a literature review, website visits, document analysis and field research to examine both “administrative village” and “rural community” archives, the study developed a comprehensive understanding of the history, status and the future of China’s rural archives. It defines rural archives not from the traditional perspective of “villages” but rather from the perspective of being “rural.” It shows the landscape of China’s rural archives in the past 40 years and reveals the current conditions of rural archives in terms of resource construction, management workflow and utilization optimization. It analyzes the problems lying behind these achievements, critiquing the management system from the public’s point of view, not that of local governments. Finally, it proposes a network framework for addressing these problems and improving the situation of rural archives, as well as promoting the archiving and preservation of rural memory. The paper argues that the study thus provides a replicable model that might be used by archivists or researchers to study rural archives in other countries.