ABSTRACT
The agrarian problem in China, although it may seem complex and confusing, is, in reality, extremely simple and obvious. Tawney has summarized it well in a few words: “The fundamental fact, it is urged, is of a terrible simplicity. It is that the population of China is too large to be supported by existing resources.” 26 The analysis presented in this book is in large measure merely a concrete illustration of this conclusion. The reader will see in the village described here a picture of one type of rural economy staggering under the heavy pressure of overpopulation, with the land system, the most vulnerable point in the structure, suffering the first impact. In a village like Luts’un, where even simple handicraft industry is not developed, almost the entire burden of the population, both landed and landless, must be supported by the land. Before proceeding to a discussion of the distribution of the limited land resources, let us test the validity of this statement by an inventory of the various enterprises other than farming which produce income for the villagers.
