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THE GEOGRAPHICAL, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF DE-URBANISATION AND DE-CENTRALISATION IN THE PEOPLEtS REPUBLIC OF CHINA by Ace Leroy Hollibaugh B.A. (Hons.), Simon Fraser University, 1971 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF .REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of . Geography @ ACE LEROY HOLLIBAUGH 1975 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY All rights reserved. This thesis may not be re- produced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. , Name : Ace L. Hollibaugh L r Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: The Geographical, Social and Political Implications of De-urbanisation and De-centralisation in the People's Republic of China Examining Committee: Chairman: M. C . Kellman M.E. Eliot Hurst I Senior Supervisor - L R.B. Horsfall G.E. Johnson Assistant Professor Urliversity of British Columbia PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis or dissertation (the title of which is shown below) to userr of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single -- .... copies only for .such users or in response to a request fr-xn the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its 'own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permiesion for multiple copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted \ I\ by me or the Dean oE Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying \ t or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed \ without my written permission. Title of Thesis /~issertation : '"RW -, S0d.l and Poll- ~Uo.tiamtaf l)Jl-u&mb& Urn am Qa-osntmUemidnin the PempIsrrs Ibpublic of China" Author : - (s)gt;ature) Aar L. Holzbqh (name ) July 21, 1978 (date) ABSTRACT c O.', 1 A socialist landscape is in the process of emergence in the Peoplets Republic of Chlna today. Two facets of this landscape transformation form the focus of this thesis, namely, de- centralisation and de-urbanisation. Understanding of the Chinese landscape is sought through the utilisation of an historical and theoretical analysis of the domestic conditions of China and the connection of those conditions to the relationships with both the socialist and capitalist realms, Two interrelated themes run through the analysis of Chinese historical geography since 1919; first, the nature of the revolutionary struggle which took place in China, and second, the sinicising of Marxist-Leninist theory, both of which, it is argued, provide an understanding of the unique city-country relationships in China today. Initially, the(r historic role of the peasant in agricultural society is investigated. Special consideration is given to the importance of the role of the peasantry as visualised by Mao i~ his "Report of an Investigation of the Peasant Movement". In this report, Mao perceives the peasantry in agricultural society as analagous to the proletariat in industrial society. The thesis discusses this and other conceptual and methodological differences between Mao and the Moscow-oriented Chinese Communists and the theoretical split within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) engen- dered by Maols report. It poses questions relevant to the association and the estrangement of the Kuomintang (KMT) from the tri-partite alliance of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the KMT and the CCP. Ancilliary to the peasant question, the May 4th Movement is investigated because of its importance in the rebuilding of a Chinese nationalist consciousness and to the creation of a worker-student-literati rapport. A major objective of this thesis is to show how the vicis- situdes of a war--simultaneously a revolutionary civil war and a fight for national liberation--forced a hunted and persecuted minority of revolutionaries from defeat after defeat to ultimate victory. It follows the course of events and demonstrates how the revolutionaries profited from successive defeats and estab- lished a revolutionary headquarters in north-central China at Yenan. Yenan became the "cultural hearth1' from which revolutionary features of contemporary Chinese society came into being. Most important to this particular work is the emphasis therein devoted toward attainment of a de-centralised organisation of society. This is one aspect of the philosophy which developed in Yenan and became known as the "Yenan Way". It is argued that the influence of the Soviet Union after Liberation in 1949 resulted in a temporary (and from the perspec- tive of present Chinese thinking, an unwise) move toward centralisation in the Soviet model. A reassessment of the Yenan concepts, engendered by the emergence of contradictions in Chin- ese development, led to the split between China and the Soviet Union on the international level and a re-orientation to a policy of de-centralisation on the domestic level. The consequence of de-centralisation and de-urbanisation, as of this writing, is that an estimated 27 million people have moved out of the 17 lar- gest cities, pointing the way to a new socialist landscape. (iv) i DEDICATION To Amber, who started me; to Marge, who believes with me; to my Stranded comrades from P.S.A., who taught me. !- TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT iii DEDICATION LIST OF TABLES/LIST OF MAPS viii PREFACE INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE: FROM FEUDALISM TOWARD SOCIALISM Nature of Peasant Societies Stillborn Republic Inter-class Understanding Develops Growth of a Nationalist Consciousness May 4th Movement Birth of the CCP and the First United Front Chiang Kai-shek Gains Leadership Mao Theories Rejected Extermination Campaigns and the Long March The Yenan Way State Enterprises Pragmatic Innovations A New Kind of Army Developing in All Directions Internal Conflicts Reform or Revolution / CHAPTER TWO: FROM LIBERATION Land Redistribution Mutual Aid Teams Cooperatives Advanced Cooperatives Industrial Organisation With Soviet Aid Using the Soviet Model Questioning the Soviet Direction The Liu Shao-chi Line A Minority Position The Rural Commune Movement and the Great Leap Forward Positive and Negative Factors of the Leap Red versus Expert Dichotomy Sino-Soviet Schism Surfaces China's Internal and External Situation Why De-urbanisation and De-centralisation? The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution Regional Character From Theory to Praxis Page TWO Legs 85 CWAPTER THREE: SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE INDUSTRIAL: FROM AGGLOMERATION TO DE-URBANISATION 92 First Five Year Plan 92 Transportation Urban Growth De-urbanisation and De-centralisation Changing Spatial Patterns Street Factories Hsiafang (Downward Transfer) Medical Profession to the Countryside BIBLIOGRAPHY LI$$ OF FPS Page MAP 1: , Provinces of China a 86 MAP 2: The Routes of the Lank Plarch MAP 3: Areas Firmly Under CCP Administrative Control at End of W.W. I1 (1945) 23 MAP 4.: "Western Industrial Influence" (Pre-J.949) 51 MAP 5: New Industrial Centres and Areas of Increased Industrialisation as of 1955-57 63 '/ MAP 6: New Centres Established Between 1958 and 1963 Illustrating Dispersal of Manufacturing Capa- bility 64 I/ MAP 7: 1949 Areas of Rail Supply/Distribution and Transport 96 MAP 8; 1970 Supply/Distribution and Transport (Rail) 97 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1: Areas Most Economically Backward as of 1949 94 TABLE 2: The Seven Economic Regions 94 TABLE 3: Distribution of Factories and Percentage of Productive Power (Excluding Manchuria) 1949 100 TABLE 4: Population Ranking of Seventeen Largest Cities 101 TABLE 5: Cities Having a Population of More Than 100,000 Whose Populations Decreased with De-urbanisation and De-centralisation 107 TABLE 6: Rural-Urban Municipalities 109 PREFACE This thesis will examine and appraise the socio-geographic phenomena of de-urbanisation and de-centralisation in the People's Republic of China. Based on the premise of cultural relativim, a conscious effort is made to assess the developments and behaviour in China from the viewpoint of the Chinese rather than an ethnocentric, comparative evaluation based on the accepted criteria of the observer's society. The nomenclature of Marx, Lenin and Mao has been selected for this work. Although euphemisms might be found, it is main- tained that word substitutions obscure concepts and often prove imprecise and cumbersome. The bibliography contains source material which runs the gamut of the political spectrum, from those who perceive China and its development in a pejorative sense, to those who recognise no imperfections. Neither is considered free from error. While the writer's perspective has been shaped by the mater- ial itself, much insight has also been gained'from conversations and interviews with eminent China Scholars: Professor M. Briemberg, Rhodes Scholar. Area: political/technol- ogical/educational development; the Great Leap Forward and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Professor emeritus, Royal Roads College, Victoria, Charles Burchold. Area: Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the KMT. Dr. Edward Friedman, professor University of Wisconsin, member Concerned Asian Scholars. Area: China foreign policy. Professor Rene Gold_man. U.B.C., educated University of Peking and Columbia. Area: Chinese history and Confucianism. * Will.iam Hinton, author of Panshen, Iron Oxen, Turning Point and 100 Day War. Participant'observer in China from 1947 to 1952. Chronicled the transition to and consolidation of power by the Chinese Communist Party. f~r.Graham Johnnrvl Professor U.B.C., Sociologist and Anthropol- ogist. Area: peasant movements and communes in China. Dr. Paul T.K. Lin, degrees in International Law, Political Science and Sociology; Director, Asian Studies, McGi11. Lived and worked in China from 1949 through 1964. Dr. Rhoads Murphey, professor University of Michigan, Sino- geographer. Area: Resource and industrial development. Dr. Sam Nournoff, professor Asian Studies, McGi11, Political Scientist and analyst of China's political movement. Mr. Jack Scott, worker, long time friend of China and author of Sweat and Struggle, Painful Political Decisions and -Two Roads. Mr. Earl Willmot, missionary, teacher and resident of China for 31 years (1921-1952), author of numerous articles on China, guest lecturer, U.B.C.

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