People's Communes shed light on China past, present, future
- By Ni Tao
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Shanghai Daily, October 19, 2011
Q: What motivated you to collect old documents from this period?
A: Chinese society is a repository of the world's most numerous historical documents in the past 50 years. This is because our nation went through recurrent movements from 1949 onward, such as the land reform and agricultural collectivization. There must be records for them all, especially the People's Commune period.
It would be unnecessary to keep records of monthly consumption of fertilizer and wheat if rural households worked separately. But collective farming required clear record of any expenditure. So rural life then was documented in great detail.
Yet little of this enormous and unbiased literature is used in academic research. Academic research often has to jibe with official ideology and in turn lend credence to it.
A consequence is that the value of Chinese academic works is not recognized in the West.
My collection is motivated by the desire to provide Chinese academia with a solid scientific foundation.
History belongs to the people and is shaped by them. It is full of dynamics and tension. Combined, they determine the course of history. One can comprehend these twin forces only through examination of the masses' daily life.
Q: You once said you started collecting old item in Haining by chance. What kind of chance was that?
A: I had previously spent 10 years in the countryside. This experience oriented me toward field research in Haining, where I suddenly discovered so much well-preserved antiquity.
So more than 20 years ago I had already committed myself to saving these items. I chose Haining because it's my birthplace. Familiarity with your research object is something social scientists must take into account. In this way you can have a better grasp of research materials.
Another reason I selected Haining is that it was not distinct from other Chinese villages. It is not adjacent to big cities and not very affluent. So Haining as a sample is typical of the general situation.
From the perspective of anthropology, a village will display its uniqueness if it's studied closely.
And that's how I did it.
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