ABSTRACT
According to Talcott Parsons, social stratification is defined as “the differential ranking of human individuals who compose a given social system and their treatment as superior or inferior relative to one another in certain socially important respects”1 and “the class status of an individual is that rank in the system of stratification which can be ascribed to him [sic] by virtue of those of his [sic] kinship ties which bind him to a unit in the class structure.”2 Social classes and stratification in China have evolved from ancient times to modern times as a result of political, economic, and social changes. However, among the two most important of the continuities from ancient times to contemporary China are (1) the social class structure and stratification are not based on wealth or hereditary social standing, but on the power and the officialdom that determine one’s social status in the political and social structure; (2) the state dominates and overrides society in many significant ways. In what follows, we will examine social structure and social control in traditional China, China prior to 1949, and Mao’s China and then observe the general trends of continuity despite social change, and conclude that the nature of power, political tradition, ideological centralization, and organizational control over resources has determined continuity over time in social structure and stratification as well as in state–society relations in China.
