1. The China Quarterly, No. 21 (1965), pp. 46–60Google Scholar, reprinted in MacFarquhar, Roderick (ed.), China Under Mao: Politics Takes Command (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1966), pp. 407–421.Google Scholar

2. Ibid. p. 407 in MacFarquhar.

3. The Chinese term for comrade, tongzhi, means literally “common will,” implying that anyone called comrade shares in goals and values that supersede those of individuals. Thanks to Anita Chan and Jon Unger for stressing this.

4. Autobiographical accounts such as Loh, Robert and Evans, Humphrey, Escape From Red China (New York: Coward-McCann, 1962)Google Scholar and Chi-ping, Tung and Evans, Humphrey, The Thought Revolution (New York: Coward-McCann, 1966)Google Scholar stress the ritualization public behaviour as a survival mechanism in the 1950s.

5. For instance, Liu, 's “The inside news of the newspaper,” in Hualing, Nieh (ed.), Literature of the Hundred Flowers, Vol. II (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 411–64Google Scholar, and Wang, 's “A young man arrives at the organization department,” in the same book, pp. 473–511.Google Scholar

6. Watson, Andrew J., “A revolution to touch men's souls: the family, interpersonal relations and daily life” in Schram, Stuart R. (ed.), Authority, Participation and Cultural Change in China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973), pp. 291–330.Google Scholar

7. Pusey, James R., “On Liang Qichao's Darwinian ‘morality revolution,’Google ScholarZedong, Mao's ‘revolutionary morality,’ and China's ‘moral development,’” in Wilson, Richard W., Greenblatt, Sidney L. and Wilson, Amy Auerbacher (eds), Moral Behavior in Chinese Society (New York: Praeger, 1981), pp. 73–103Google Scholar; Meisner, Mitch, “Scarcity and moral ambiguity in contemporary China,”Google Scholaribid. pp. 176–96.

8. Stover, Leon E., The Cultural Ecology of Chinese Civilization (New York: American Library, 1974).Google Scholar

9. Whyte, Martin King and Parish, William L., Urban Life in Contemporary China (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984).Google Scholar

10. Blecher, Marc J. and White, Gordon, Micropolitics in Contemporary China (New York: M. E. Sharped 1979)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Shirk, Susan, Competitive Comrades (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982)Google Scholar; Walder, Andrew G., “Organized dependence and cultures of authority in Chinese industry,” Journal of Asian Studies, XLIII (1) (11 1983), pp. 51–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

11. The official P.R.C. press is an instrument used by the CCP. From 1976 and especially since the Party rectification campaign beginning in 1983, the reformist leaders utilized the media to expose their enemies and proffer their models, exaggerating both the nasty and the angelic. Recognizing this bias, the media are still a valuable source for understanding aspects of personal relations.

12. The “wound literature” of 1977–78 and the subsequent “new realism” or “literature which delves into life” revealed aspects of personal relations that had previously not appeared in literature. For English translations of important works, see: Barme, Geremie and Lee, Bennett, The Wounded: New Stories of the Cultural Revolution 77–78 (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing Co., 1979)Google Scholar; Link, Perry, Stubborn Weeds (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983)Google Scholar; Siu, Helen and Stern, Zelda, Mao's Harvest (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983)Google Scholar; Yee, Lee, The New Realism (New York: Hippocrene Books, 1983).Google Scholar Cartoons are an excellent source of data on all aspects of bureaucratism. See Wenzu, Ying (ed.), Satire and Humour (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing Co., 1981).Google Scholar

13. I was an exchange student at Fudan University in Shanghai from 1979–80 sponsored by the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the P.R.C, and also travelled extensively then and for two months in 1984. Interviewees and other Chinese I came into contact with must remain anonymous, although I have not altered details.

14. A recent study of guanxi is Jacobs, J. Bruce, Local Politics in a Rural Chinese Cultural Setting: A Field Study of Mazu Township, Taiwan (Canberra: Australian National University, 1980).Google Scholar A forthcoming dissertation by Mayfair Yang for the anthropology department. University of California, Berkeley, also deals with the subject of guanxi in the P.R.C. in depth.

15. Yang, Lien-sheng, “The concept of ‘pao’ as a basis for social relations in China” in Fairbank, John King (ed.), Chinese Thought and Institutions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957), pp. 291–309.Google Scholar

16. Fried does not discuss guanxi (kuan-hsi). He defies ganqing (kan-ch'ing) as “the quality of the relationship between the parties,” varying in warmth and intensity, for the most part expressing “a relationship between two individuals who are not in precisely the same social plane … Kan-ch'ing is the primary institutionalized technique by which class differences are reduced between non-related persons … (I)t differs from the state of friendship which, in many cases, makes a tacit assumption of equality.” Fried, Morton H., Fabric of Chinese Society (New York: Praeger, 1953), p. 103.Google ScholarOi, Jean C., in “Communism and clientelism: rural politics in China,” World Politics, XXXVII(2) (01 1985), pp. 238–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar, distinguishes guanxi as “a somewhat casual and nonpermanent alliance. Ganqing comes closer to describing a clientelist type of relationship” (p. 252). I think ganqing refers more to the quality of a relationship, not the relationship itself. In China, I never heard the term ganqing used for the pervasive instrumental relationship I describe here.

17. For discussions of guanxixue see Chun, Xin, “‘Guanxixue’ he Guanxixue” (“Guanxixue and the study of social relations”), Shehui (Sociology), No. 3 (1983), p. 48Google Scholar and special commentator, “Jianchi dangxing, pochu ‘guanxixue’” (“Uphold Party character, get rid of “guanxixue”) Beijing ribao (Beijing Daily) (hereafter, BJRB). 29 09 1981Google Scholar in Xinhua yuebao (New China Monthly) (hereafter XHYB), No. 10 (1981), pp. 61–62.Google Scholar

18. See, for example, “‘Guanxiwang’xia de angzang jiaoyi” (“Dirty exchange in a guanxiwang”). Renmin ribao (People's Daily) (hereafter, RMRB). 6 03 1984, p. 5.Google Scholar A case of a cadre who “broke through guanxiwang and made it through the relatives and friends pass” is illustrated in “Xiandangwei shuji Lin Lairong binggong banshi ling ren jingpei” (“The impartial work of county Party secretary Lin Lairong earns respect”), RMRB, 12 12 1983, p. 1.Google Scholar “Networking” has positive connotations in western societies, but guanxi is seen by the Chinese as pathological. I am indebted to William Liu for pointing this out.

19. An analysis of how a legitimate co-ordinating shop became a guanxihu in Fushun is presented in RMRB, 18 07 1981, p. 3.Google Scholar

20. I was present at a purely social get-together when, on a first meeting, a man presented a written list of “requests” (in pseudo-classical Chinese) to a minor official in a very obsequious manner. He obviously had nothing at all to offer in return. A Party cadre also present told me afterwards that the petitioner had humilitated himself and lost face by his inept performance.

21. Oi (note 16, above) uses gao guanxi to mean using connections, but in my experience, this is a rather crude term, meaning to engage in an illicit relationship, often sexual.

22. An analysis of 275 media reports from 1977 to 1980 is presented in Liu, Alan P. L., “The politics of corruption in the People's Republic of China,” American Political Science Review. 77 (3) (09 1983), pp. 602–623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

23. China Daily (hereafter, CD) on 23 March 1984, p. 3, discussed 45,300 cases of economic crimes from 1983 in “Inspectors find thousands of economic crimes.” The Chinese press has examples virtually daily. A neibu compendium to be used in the attack against economic crimes is Jingji Fanzui Anli Pouxi (Dissection of Cases of Economic Crimes), No. 5 of the series Falü Guwen (Legal Adviser), published in Shanghai by Huadong Zhengfa Xueyuan (10 1982).Google Scholar The second stage of the Party rectification beginning in 1985 took corrupt cadres as a primary target. Buzheng zhi feng is also the title of a hilarious xiangsheng (comedian's dialogue) that was enormously popular in 1979. The protagonist, Wannengjiao (All-Purpose Glue), calls to mind Sgt. Bilko in his manipulation of a guanxiwang that seems to include everyone in Tianjin. My translation of it will appear in Burns, John and Rosen, Stanley (eds), Policy Conflicts in Contemporary China: A Documentary Survey, with Analysis (New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1985).Google Scholar

24. “Electric tyrants face blackout,” CD, 26 03 1984, p. 4Google Scholar, describes the case of electricity bureau cadres in Jiangxi demanding bribes to install lines. “Officials disciplined for extorting cash,” CD, 17 11 1984, p. 3Google Scholar, tells how local officials in Hebei made private transport businessmen hold banquets and give gifts to obtain licences or after traffic accidents. I have heard stories of cadres involved in foreign trade demanding expensive gifts from Hong Kong and foreign businessmen in order to clinch a deal.

25. A sampling: “Piping yixie danwei yong gongkuan qingke songli” (“Criticize some units using public funds to hold feasts and send gifts”), RMRB, 21 01 1984, p. 4.Google Scholar“Guxian Xianwei shuji Xu Peng bei yifa daibu” (“Gu county Party secretary Xu Peng arrested according to law”), RMRB, 12 04 1984, p. 4Google Scholar – for building his own house with state and collective monies and materials. “Heilongjiang Shengwei yansu chachu Hashida fen fangzi di cuowu” (“Heilongjiang provincial Party committee investigates and deals with errors in distributing housing at Harbin Teacher's University”), RMRB, 7 04 1984, p. 3Google Scholar where cadres took over housing designated for intellectuals. “Jiuzheng yiquan mousi nongxu zuojia di buzheng zhi feng” (“Correct the unhealthy tendency of abusing power for private gain and fraud”), RMRB, 22 03 1984, p. 4Google Scholar, where army officers in Beijing engaged in irregularities over a test.

26. An extremely serious case was Zhang Yingshou of Guangzhou who, in league with a Hong Kong businessman, defrauded the state of U.S.$ 2.97 million (RMRB, 8 04 1984, p. 1Google Scholar). Zhang was executed. Another case involved Zhao Guoxuan, deputy director of the Hebi Municipal Communist Youth League youth work department who was executed for rape and hooliganism. He tortured his wife and raped other women. He was the son of the city's former deputy mayor and current vice-chairman of the Municipal People's Congress and was protected by other cadres who owed their careers to his father (RMRB, 10 03 1984, p. 4).Google Scholar

27. The Hong Kong media publish such reports. For instance, see Ping, Lo, “Beixing fangyu” (“Talking about my trip north”), in Zheng ming. No. 74 (12 1983), pp. 12–13Google Scholar about Ye Jianying's son's involvement in smuggling gold from Hong Kong.

28. These appear in English in the works cited above in note 12, except for “People or monsters?” which is in Link, Perry (ed.), People or Monsters? (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983)Google ScholarPubMed; Power vs. Law which is in Chinese Literature, No. 6 (1980), pp. 31–91Google Scholar; and Diaodong which has not been translated but is in Qingming, No. 2 (1979), pp. 58–95.Google Scholar

29. A pun of the homonymous phrase where qian means “forward.” Detailed study of conditions in the countryside can be found in Thomas P. Bernstein, “Reforming China's agriculture,” a paper prepared for the conference “To reform the Chinese political order,” 18–23 06 1984Google Scholar, Harwichport, Mass; and Anita Chan and Unger, Jonathan, “Grey and black; the hidden economy of rural China,” Pacific Affairs, 55(3) (Fall 1982), pp. 452–71.Google Scholar Oi (above, note 16) presents an excellent analysis of conditions on the eve of reform, with implications for the post-1979 era. In late March 1985, the CCP Central Committee further loosened state controls over production and purchasing. See “China sets free its rural economy,” Beijing Review (hereafter, BR), No. 14 (8 04 1985), pp. 8–9.Google Scholar

30. This is discussed in Suzhen, Xue et al. , “An investigation of some marriage cases in urban Shanghai,”Google Scholar translated in Chu, David S. K. (ed.), Sociology and Society in Contemporary ChinaGoogle Scholar, a special issue of Chinese Sociology and Anthropology, XVI (1–2) (Fall-Winter 1983–1984), pp. 82–98.Google ScholarCroll, Elisabeth, Chinese Women Since Mao (Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1983)Google Scholar also discusses this, especially pp. 79–82. And see Hershatter, Gail, “Making a friend: changing patterns of courtship in urban China,” Pacific Affairs, 57(2) (Summer 1984), pp. 237–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

31. “Finding love on the marriage market,” CD, 15 11 1984, p. 3.Google Scholar

32. A 1982 survey found that the costs of getting married, including the wedding and furnishings for the home, averaged 3,500–5,000 rmb. (Tao, Zhang, “Cramping the style of courting couples,” CD, 2 04 1985, p. 5.)Google Scholar

33. Zixiang, Zhao, Xinlian, Lü, Zhanhua, Guo, “Lihun di yuanyin duozhong duoyang” (“The multifarious causes of divorce”), Shehui, No. 2 (1984), pp. 22–26.Google Scholar Also see David S. K. Chu, ibid.“Why can they not remain devoted couples to the end of their lives,” pp. 99–103Google Scholar and “What is the divorce situation after the implementation of the new marriage law,” pp. 104–116.Google Scholar The number of divorces has run about 500,000 a year since 1981. (Ning, Li, “How does China deal with divorce?”, BR, No. 5 (4 02 1985), pp. 18–21.)Google Scholar

34. For example, see BR, No. 7 (13 02 1985), p. 23.Google Scholar In April 1985, the National People's Congress standing committee considered a draft law protecting the inheritance of the means of production in addition to the means of subsistence. (“New law on business inheritance,” CD, 5 04 1985, p. 3.)Google Scholar

35. As of late November 1984, there were 860,000 workers with contracts to work in state and collectively owned enterprises (CD, 29 11 1984, p. 1Google Scholar). Most were urban school graduates or peasants (CD, 13 11 1984, p. 3).Google Scholar

36. The 13 March 1985 decision of the CCP Central Committee on the reform of the science and technology management system affirmed their right to moonlight and protected the ownership of intellectual property. See BR, No. 14 (8 04 1985), p. 20.Google Scholar

37. For an extended discussion of the role of the danwei, see Henderson, Gail E. and Cohen, Myron S., The Chinese Hospital (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985)Google Scholar, as well as Walder, “Organized dependence,” note 9, and his forthcoming book, Communist Neotraditionalism: Work and Authority in Chinese Industry (Berkeley: University of California Press).

38. RMRB, 25 01 1984, p. 4Google Scholar describes such a group formed by cadres of the water bureau system in Yuncheng, Shanxi.

39. An example of two such people getting a well-deserved come-uppance is related in “Rude pair launch service with smile,” CD, 3 04 1985, p. 3.Google Scholar

40. The pathbreaking story “Class counsellor” by Liu Xinwu first broached this issue. It can be found in English in Barme, and Lee, , The Wounded, note 12, pp. 9–24.Google Scholar Also see Gold, Thomas B., “China's youth: problems and programs,” Issues and Studies, XVIII(8), 08 1982, pp. 39–62.Google Scholar

41. Song, Xiao, “Protecting neglected old folk,” CD, 29 03 1984, p. 6Google Scholar discusses this issue, taking off from the case of a mistreated elderly woman in Fengtai district, Beijing. A counter-example of grandsons fighting over who is lucky enough to care for grandma appeared in RMRB, 10 11 1984, p. 5.Google Scholar

42. See Hershatter, , “Making a friend,” note 30 above.Google Scholar

43. See Chu, David S. K., “Marriage cases,” note 30, p. 86.Google Scholar Wu Duo discusses the relation among sex, love and marriage in “Dui xingai di jidian renshi” (“Some points about sexual love”), Shehui, No. 5 (1983), pp. 12–16.Google Scholar Other discussions on love include: Minghua, Li et al. , “Wuchangqu qinggong lianai hunyin xianzhuang diaocha” (“An investigation into the current status of love marriages among young workers in Wuchang district”), Shehui, No. 6 (1983), pp. 29–32Google Scholar; Changlin, Liu, “Daxuesheng lianaiguan wenti chutan” (“A preliminary exploration of the problem of college students' outlook on love”)Google Scholar, ibid. pp. 32–33.

44. “Couples under 35 ‘more likely to divorce,’” CD, 8 04 1985, p. 1.Google Scholar

45. When I gave a friend a copy of Love Story in 1979 he exclaimed “We have no idea what love is or models of it.” A highly regarded 1984 film, Zai diantishang (On the Elevator) explores the nature of love. A Japanese soap opera Xueyi (Uncertain Blood), shown during the summer of 1984 and watched devotedly, moved audiences with its story of the love between a boy and a girl with leukaemia (of course, it is much more complicated than that). It even prompted a double suicide. (RMRB, 1 12 1984, p. 8.)Google Scholar

46. See Whyte, and Parish, , Urban Life, note 9, Chapter 11, especially pp. 336–40.Google Scholar

47. For example, “Rich peasant gives 150,000 for school,” BR, No. 43 (22 10 1984), p. 31Google Scholar: “Sharing his good fortune,” BR, No. 14 (8 04 1985), p. 9.Google Scholar

48. Representative articles include: on Jiang, and Luo, : XHYB, No. 11, pp. 148–53 (Jiang), pp. 153–57 (Luo)Google Scholar; Zhu, : XHYB, No. 3 (1983), pp. 52–55Google Scholar; Haidi, Zhang: XHYB, No. 3 (1983), pp. 55–58Google Scholar; Hua, Zhang: XHYB, No. 11 (1982), pp. 158–62.Google Scholar There was a debate in the press over whether Zhang Hua had wasted the state's investment in him by dying in the attempt to save one of millions of old peasants. The conclusion was that he did the right thing. On the two Zhangs, see Rosen, Stanley, “Prosperity, privatization and the Chinese Communist Youth League,”Google Scholar a paper presented at the Association for Asian Studies annual meeting, March 1984, Washington, D.C.; forthcoming in Problems of Communism.

49. See, for instance, Smith, Hedrick, The Russians (New York: Ballantine Books, 1976).Google Scholar

50. Walder, , “Organized dependence,”Google Scholar and Shirk, , Competitive ComradesGoogle Scholar, note 10, discuss this in depth. Shirk proposes the term “virtuocracy” to describe systems which award “opportunities in part on the basis of political virtue” (p. 4)Google Scholar. Walder stresses biaoxian, what might be called the presentation of self in everyday Chinese life.

51. RMRB, 2 12 1978Google Scholar, “Encourage the common practice of addressing each other as comrade,” in Foreign Broadcast Information Service (hereafter, FBIS), 5 12 1978, pp. E7–8.Google Scholar

52. An excellent account of growing up in this environment is Heng, Liang and Shapiro, Judith, Son of the Revolution (New York: Knopf, 1983).Google Scholar

53. See Shirk, , Competitive Comrades, note 10, especially Chapter 5.Google Scholar

54. This is well illustrated in “Kill the chickens to scare the monkeys,” pp. 155–77Google Scholar, in Frolic, B. Michael, Mao's People (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1980).Google Scholar

55. For instance, see “The modern way of thinking,” CD, 29 11 1984, p. 4Google Scholar; and “Educational reforms are aimed at stimulating creativity,” CD, 24 11 1984, p. 4.Google Scholar

56. See Bernstein, , “China's agriculture,” note 29 and BR, No. 14, 8 04 1985, pp. 8–9.Google Scholar

57. Simple or segmental societies with a rudimentary division of labour are characterized by mechanical solidarity based on likeness and enforced by repressive law. As societies industrialize, roles are differentiated with a complex division of labour. They are characterized by organic and contractual solidarity. The place of the individual becomes greater and restitutive law dominates. See Durkheim, Emile, The Division of Labor in Society (New York: Free Press, 1933), especially Chapter 6.Google Scholar

58. This is spelled out in the “Communique of the third plenum of the twelfth Central Committee.” See BR, No. 44 (29 10 1984), pp. I–XVI.Google Scholar

59. Bosen, Wang, “Shilun jingji gaige yu daode jinbu di guanxi” (“Tentative discussion of the relation between economic reforms and moral progress”). Wen Hui Bao, 23 07 1984Google Scholar, in Hsinhua Wenzhai, 09 1984, pp. 21–24Google Scholar, refutes the claims that reforms will harm morality, arguing that the old morality must be eliminated in order to speed reforms. An example of a bad person who became good is the Uygur Tohuti, a bad egg in the CR, but, since becoming a 10,000 yuan household, a model peasant. (RMRB, 1 11 1984, p. 4.)Google Scholar

60. “No room in reforms for wanton self-interest,” CD, 19 02 1985, p. 4.Google Scholar

61. RMRB, 20 09 1984, p. 4Google Scholar asserts China now has the lowest crime rate in the world.

62. A sampling: Xinwu, Liu et al. , Rang women lai taolun aiqing (Let's Talk About Love) Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1979)Google Scholar; Lixiang, xuexi, aiqing (Ideals, Study, Love) Shanghai: Shanghai Renmin Chubanshe, 1979)Google Scholar; Guanggan, Chen, Shusong, Fu, Gingnian xiuyang zatan (Miscellaneous Talks on Youth Cultivation) (Fuzhou: Fujian Renmin Chubanshe, 1983).Google Scholar

63. Shuqi, Pang, “Jiading ren jiu shi ren” (“Assuming people were just people”), Shehui, No. 3 (1983), pp. 39–42Google Scholar, describes the ideal form of personal relations.

64. These are: to stress decorum, manners, hygiene, discipline and morality; to beautify mind, language, behaviour and environment; to love the Party, motherland and socialism. The three were linked in 1983. See RMRB, 6 01 1983, p. 4Google Scholar. in FBIS, No. 008, 12 01 1983, pp. K4–5.Google Scholar

65. For a national model at achieving these lofty goals, Sanming city, Fujian, see Jingshen wenming, dafang guangming (The Great Brightness of Spiritual Civilization) (Fuzhou: Fujian Renmin Chubanshe, 1983)Google Scholar. county, Zuoyun, Shanxi. has done a good job of building a civility village. “Zuoyun Xinfeng” (“New style in Zuoyun”), RMRB, 14 10 1984, p. 2.Google Scholar

66. Chen Guanggan and Fu Shusong. Miscellaneous Talks, note 51, in a chat called “Respect teachers and the elderly.” pp. 66–71Google Scholar, stress fine traditional values and note that Mao Zedong himself emphasized respect for parents and elders and he loved his parents. Zhu De and Chen Yi are also cited as exemplary sons.

67. Shaozhi, Su and Xueliang, Ding, “China and the making of the new socialist spiritual civilization,” Selected Writings on Studies of Marxism, No. 1 (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Institute of Marxism, Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, 1984), p. 39.Google Scholar

68. Smith, Arthur H., Chinese Characteristics (Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press, 1970 (originally 1894))Google Scholar. In Huang, Ray, 1587, A Year of No Significance (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981), p. 221Google Scholar, the author writes: “A highly stylized society wherein the roles of individuals were thoroughly restricted by a body of simple yet ill-defined moral precepts, the empire was seriously hampered in its development, regardless of the noble intention behind these precepts.”

69. Jowitt, Kenneth, “inclusion and mobilization in European Leninist regimes,” World Politics, XXVIII(1) (10 1975), pp. 69–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

70. Ibid. p. 69.

71. Ibid. pp. 75–82.

72. Jowitt, Ken. “Soviet neotraditionalism: the political corruption of a Leninist regime.” Soviet Studies, XXXV(3), (07 1983), pp. 275–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar