Main content of chapter 4 of vernacular China

The main content of Chapter 4 of Vernacular China: explores the social structure, power relations, and cultural inheritance of Vernacular China. In this chapter, the author describes in detail family and kinship, village and community, social structure and power, ritual and rule of law, vernacular order and culture, vernacular concepts and modernization, and the future development of vernacular society.

1. The family is the basic unit of vernacular China, and its core members include husband and wife and children, but can also include other relatives. Kinship is an important link between families and they are formed through marriage, blood and adoption. In vernacular societies, kinship is regarded as an important social relationship that affects not only intra-family interactions but also inter-community relations.

2. The village is the basic unit of people's life in vernacular China, usually consisting of several families. Communities are made up of several villages which ****share resources, culture and traditions. In villages and communities, people are very close to each other, they help each other, **** together and cooperate, forming a strong sense of community.

3. The social structure of Vernacular China is based on kinship and geography. In the family, the older person has a higher status and power. In the community, on the other hand, people of high moral standing serve as leaders. This social structure and power relations reflect the values and cultural traditions of the hyungshi society.

4. In vernacular China, the rule of propriety and the rule of law are two different ways of social governance. The rule of etiquette is to regulate people's behavior through moral norms and traditional customs. The rule of law, on the other hand, governs society through laws. In vernacular society, the rule of etiquette is the more common form of social governance because it is more in line with cultural traditions and community consciousness.

5. The vernacular order is a synthesis of various relationships in the vernacular society including family, kinship and community relationships. This order is shaped by cultural tradition, which emphasizes harmony, stability and continuity. Culture plays a vital role in the vernacular order, not only as a guide to people's behavior but also as an important factor in maintaining social stability.

Academic Impact:

1. Localization of Sociology and Anthropology. As a discipline of sociology and anthropology that arose in Western societies, for Eastern sociologists and anthropologists, how can the theories and methods of Western sociology and anthropology be localized? This question still haunts many anthropologists and sociologists in East Asia until today.

And Fei Xiaotong's research and practice have proved that he has very brilliantly developed his own methodological characteristics. His theories and methods for local studies have been a model for non-Western scholars studying local societies. The concept of "differential pattern" is a great attempt to Chineseize anthropology and sociology.

Fei Xiaotong's localization of sociological attainments is not only reflected in his academic thinking, but also in his lifelong insistence on field research in China.

2. The research method of community analysis. Fei Xiaotong adopted the research method of community analysis to study various social systems and social structures by examining the spatial and temporal situatedness of people's lives. The abstract East and West are visualized, and the study of itself is indirectly studied through the study of the carrier of its activities.

His study of small towns demonstrated to the academic world that the charm of sociology lies in its ability not only to study the consequences of the development of the general facts of society, but also to become a scientific basis for predicting social change and formulating social policies.

3. Integration of cultural tradition and society. Fei Xiaotong's study of cultural traditions and social integration is the central part of his social anthropological research, which emphasizes a temporal and spatial structure. As for social anthropology, when studying the cultural structure of a community, it has always emphasized the structural transformation of the normative nature of high-level culture to the diversity of grassroots regional culture and the specific ways of expression.