1. Cooper, Gene, “An interview with Chinese anthropologists,” Current Anthropology, XIV, 4 (10 1973), pp. 480–82CrossRefGoogle Scholar;

2. A similar report of Fei's remarks appeared earlier in Mirsky, Jonathan, “China after Nixon,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, Vol. 402 (07 1972), pp. 89–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar;

3. We refer mainly to the debates, which will be discussed in this note, in Encounter involving Fei, , Wittfogel, Karl, Dover, Cedric, Empson, William, and Robert, and Redfield, Margaret Park, 01 1955, pp. 78–80Google Scholar; August 1955, pp. 73–75; February 1956, pp. 67–70. Also to be included is Fei's, “Old friends and a new understanding,” People's China, 11 (1 06 1956), pp. 12–17Google Scholar;

4. The terms “sociology” and “anthropology”, “sociologists” and “anthropologists”, will be used interchangeably throughout this discussion in view of the fact that anthropology and sociology were intertwined in China before 1949. For a brief discussion of the matter see Hsu, Francis L. K., “Sociological research in China,” Quarterly Bulletin of Chinese Bibliography, English Edition, New Series, IV, 1–4 (Chungking, 03–12 1944), p. 12Google Scholar;

5. Fei's, most acknowledged works in English are Peasant Life in China: A Field Study of Country Life in the Yangtze Valley (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1939)Google Scholar; with Chih-i, Chang, Earthbound China: A Study of Rural Economy in Yunnan (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1945)Google Scholar; “Peasantry and gentry: an interpretation of Chinese social structure and its changes,” American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 52, 1 (07 1946), pp. 1–17CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and China's Gentry: Essays in Rural-Urban Relations, rev. and ed. by Redfield, Margaret Park with an introduction by Robert Redfield (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953)Google Scholar;

6. Wu Wen-tsao, as chairman of the sociology department, Yenching University, from 1933 to 1938, was best known for his administrative talents. He was largely responsible for the introduction and application of the functional approach in community studies in China. (See Fried, Morton, “Community studies in China,” Far Eastern Quarterly, Vol. 14 (11 1954), p. 19.)Google Scholar Wu wrote many articles for Chinese sociological journals as well as a book in English, The Chinese Opium Question in British Opinion and Action (New York: Academy Press, 1928)Google Scholar; which was a revision of his Ph.D. thesis in the Faculty of Political Science, Columbia University, 1928. Lin Yüeh-hwa is best known for his book about the rise and fall of two Chinese families, The Golden Wing: A Sociological Study of Chinese Familism (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1948)Google Scholar;

7. Hawtin, Elise, “The ‘Hundred Flowers Movement’ and the role of the intellectual in China. Fei Hsiao-t'ung: a case history,” Papers on China, Vol. XII (mimeographed), (Cambridge, Mass.: Center for East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 12 1958), pp. 147–98Google Scholar;

8. Peasant Life in China (1939), pp. 5–6 and 286Google Scholar;

9. Earthbound China (1945), p. viiGoogle Scholar;

10. In Cooper, , “An interview with Chinese anthropologists,” p. 480Google Scholar;

11. In Cooper, , “An interview with Chinese anthropologists,” p. 481Google Scholar;

12. Owing to considerations of length and excellent treatment elsewhere, we did not feel it relevant to include a detailed biography of Fei in this discussion and are focussing only on those aspects, pre- and post–1949, which specifically relate to the recent interview. For a treatment of Fei's activities up to 1959, see “Fei Hsiaot'ung” in Boorman, H. L. (ed.), Biographical Dictionary of Republican China, II (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968), pp. 17–19, 184–85Google Scholar;

13. For an account of the China Democratic League, see Kennedy, Neville T. Jr, “The Chinese Democratic League,” Papers on China, Vol. VII (mimeographed), (Cambridge, Mass.: Center for East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1957), pp. 136–75Google Scholar;

14. Redfield, Robert, “Introduction,” in Fei Hsiao-t'ung, China's Gentry (1953), pp. 2–3Google Scholar;

15. Skinner, G. W., “The new sociology in China,” The Far Eastern Quarterly, Vol. 10, 8 (08 1951), p. 365CrossRefGoogle Scholar;

16. In addition to the already mentioned works, Fei also wrote the following two books in Chinese which specifically deal with the peasantry and their livelihood: Hsiang-t'u Chung-kuo (Rural China) (Shanghai: Kuan-ch'a she, 1947)Google Scholar; and Hsiang-t'u ch'ung-chien (Rural Reconstruction) (Shanghai: Kuan-ch'a she, 1948)Google Scholar;

17. Peasant Life in China (1939), pp. 4–5Google Scholar;

18. Ibid. p. 282.

19. Hsiao-t'ung, Fei, “Review of Chao Chao-kuo, One Month in Yenan (Chungking: Hsin Min Pao, 1944),”Google Scholar in Pacific Affairs, Vol. 18, 4 (12 1945), pp. 392–93Google Scholar;

20. Peasant Life in China (1939) p. 284Google Scholar;

21. “Peasantry and gentry” (1946), p. 12.

22. In Mirsky, , “China after Nixon,” p. 90Google Scholar;

23. Hsiang-t'u ch'ung-chien (1948), p. 56.

24. Ibid. p. 117.

25. Hsiao-t'ung, Fei, “Epilogue” in Shin Kuo-heng, China Enters the Machine Age: A Study of Labour in Chinese War Industry, ed. by Hsiao-t'ung, Fei and trans, by Hsu, Francis L. K. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1944), p. 176Google Scholar;

26. “Peasant and gentry” (1946), p. 284.

27. Hsiang-t'u ch'ung-chien (1948), pp. 59–61.

28. Peasant Life in China (1939), p. 2Google Scholar;

29. Earthbound China (1945), p. 297Google Scholar;

30. Hsiang-t'u Chung-kuo (1947), p. 88Google Scholar;

31. In Cooper, , “An interview with Chinese anthropologists,” p. 481Google Scholar;

32. Hsiao-t'ung, Fei, Wen-tsao, Wu and Yueh-hwa, Lin in Cooper, , “An interview with Chinese anthropologists,” p. 482Google Scholar;

33. Ibid.

34. A volume of these articles titled Wo che i nien (This Year For Me) (Peking: San-lien shu-tien, 1950Google Scholar) ran through four prints within four months of publication.

35. Ibid. p. 7.

36. “Old friends and a new understanding” (1956), p. 16.

37. Hsiao-t'ung, Fei, “She-hui-hsüeh-hsi tsen-yang kai-tsao” (“How to reform sociology departments”), Hsin Chien-she (New Reconstruction), 2 (3 03 1950), pp. 20–23Google Scholar;

38. Fei was referring to the effects of the social survey studies conducted jointly by Chinese and western scholars in China in the 1920s and 1930s. These were chiefly motivated by the Christian ideals of foreign missionaries and had a strong reformist orientation. See Fried, Morton H., “Community studies in China,” Far Eastern Quarterly, Vol. 14 (11 1954), pp. 11–36Google Scholar;

39. Quoted in Skinner, G. W., “The new sociology in China,” p. 369Google Scholar;

40. Ibid. p. 368.

41. Snow, Edgar, Red China Today: The Other Side of the River (Harmonds-worth: Penguin Books, 1971), p. 391Google Scholar;

42. Hsiao-t'ung, Fed, “Kuan-yu she-hui-hsüeh shuo-chi chu-hua” (“A few words about sociology”), Wen-hui Pao (Wen Wei Pao Daily News), 20 02 1957, p. 2Google Scholar;

43. See Tung-hui, Wang, Kuang-hsi-sheng Hsiang-hsien tung-nan-hsiang Hua-lanyao she-hui tsu-chih (Social Organization of the Hua-lan Yao Peoples of Hsiang-hsien, Kwangsi) (Shanghai: Shang-wu yin shu kuan, 1936)Google Scholar; Fei wrote the postscript to this report of work done by him and his wife (who drowned in 1935 on a field expedition) on the Hua-lan peoples in Kwangsi in 1935. Fei published this investigation under his wife's name, claiming only to have edited it.

44. Hsiao-t'ung, Fei, Hsiung-ti min-tsu tsai Kuei-chow (Brother Nationalities in Kweichow) (Peking: San-lien shu-tien, 1951)Google Scholar;

45. “Old friends and a new understanding” (1956), p. 15.

46. Wittfogel, Karl A., “Review” of Fei Hsiao-t'ung, China's Gentry (1953), in Encounter (01 1955), p. 80Google Scholar;

47. Ibid..

48. En-lai, Chou, “Kuan-yu chih-shih fen-tzu wen-t'i” (“Report on the problem of intellectuals”), Jen-min jih-pao (People's Daily), 30 01 1956Google Scholar;

49. Hsiao-t'ung, Fei, “Chih-shih fen-tzu te tsao-ch'un t'ien-ch'i” (“The early spring weather for intellectuals”) Jen-min jih-pao, 24 03 1957Google Scholar;

50. Ad Hoc Committee on Scientific Planning, Central Committe of the Chinese Democratic League, “Kuan-yü yu-kuan wo-men k'e-hsüeh t'i-chih wen-t'i te chitien yi-chien” (“Some suggestions concerning our scientific enterprise”), Kuangming jih-pao (Kuang-ming Daily), 9 June 1957, p. 3.

51. Ibid..

52. Fei's, views were expressed in the following articles: “A few words about sociology” (1957)Google Scholar; “Jen-k'ou wen-t'i yen-chiu chiao hsieh shen-mo?” (“What should be involved in population research?”), Hsin Chien-she, 4 (1957), pp. 4–5Google Scholar; the forum on “Kuan-yu she-hui-hsüeh yen-chiu te tui-hsiang ho nei-jung” (“The object and context of sociological research”), Hsin Chien-she, 7 (1957), pp. 40–48Google Scholar; and the section on social science in the Democratic League's “Some suggestions concerning our scientific enterprise” (1957).

53. Reported in Kaneko, Mitsuru, “The present situation of Chinese sociology,” Japanese Sociological Review, 5 (1958), pp. 107–108Google Scholar; Abstracted in Sociological Abstract, XI, 4 (1963), p. 314Google Scholar;

54. Hsiao-t'ung, Fei, “Hsiang jen-min fu tsui” (“I admit my crime to the people”), Jen-min jih-pao, 13 07 1957Google Scholar; Translated in Current Background, No. 470 (26 07 1957), pp. 10–14Google Scholar;

55. “Old friends and a new understanding” (1956), p. 16.

56. Hsiao-t'ung, Fei, Wen-tsao, Wu, and Yüleh-hwa, Lin in Cooper, “An interview with Chinese anthropologists,” p. 482Google Scholar;