Comparison of rural communities in the North China plain and the Yangzi delta

A Chinese rural community is a human settlement that occupies a finite physical space and also provides a tangible social space and source of identity. Numerous rural communities constitute the building blocks and organic cells of rural China. However, rural communities vary from each other significantly with different regions due to different geographical, ecological, social, and historical factors. This chapter surveys and compares rural communities on the North China plain and in the Yangzi delta in the late Qing period.1 Although both regions have long been under a common sovereignty, the geographical and social settings of the two regions differ substantially, thus two distinct types of rural communities have emerged.