What were the changes in class relations in modern China after its gradual evolution from a feudal society to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society?

After the Opium War, along with the changes in the nature of Chinese society, the class relations in Chinese society also underwent profound changes, not only the old classes changed, but also new classes arose. The landlord class itself underwent certain changes, and a group of bureaucratic landlords and urban landlords who had risen through the ranks as a result of their military service appeared.

Some of the landlords invested the money gained from land exploitation in capitalist industry and commerce. Some invested in foreign-funded enterprises, some in foreign-funded enterprises, and some directly founded or participated in private enterprises to become capitalists. The old ruling class, the peasantry, is still the most numerous exploited class in modern Chinese society. Many peasants lost their land and became poor peasants or hired peasants. Some peasants became the reserve army of industrial workers. New classes arose, namely the working class and the Chinese bourgeoisie.

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Mao Zedong pointed out that "they are born out of feudal society and constitute a new social class. They are two interrelated and antagonistic classes; they are the twin children produced by the old Chinese society (feudal society)." Social classes in modern China are divided into two main categories, the old classes (the landlord class and the peasant class) and the new classes (the working class and the bourgeoisie).

The old class changes are reflected in the landlord class and the peasant class. In traditional feudal society, the landowning class ruled exclusively. But after 1840, with the rise of cities and unrest in the countryside, some landlords moved to the cities and began to transform themselves into capitalists.