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这是一本描述中国农民的消费、生产、分配和交易等体系的书，是根据对中国东部太湖东南岸开弦弓村的实地考察写成的。它旨在说明这一经济体系与特定地理环境的关系，以及与这个社区的社会结构的关系。同大多数中国农村一样，这个村庄正经历着一个巨大的变迁过程。因此，本书将说明这个正在变化着的乡村经济的动力和问题。
这种小范围的深入实地的调查，对当前中国经济问题宏观的研究是一种必要的补充。在分析这些问题时，它将说明地区因素的重要性并提供实事的例子。
这种研究也将促使我们进一步了解传统经济背景的重要性及新的动力对人民日常生活的作用。
强调传统力量与新的动力具有同等重要性是必要的，因为中国经济生活变迁的真正过程，既不是从西方社会制度直接转渡的过程，也不仅是传统的平衡受到了干扰而已。目前形势中所发生的问题是这两种力量相互作用的结果。例如对我们观察的这个村庄的经济问题，只有在考虑到两方面的情况时才能有所理解：一方面是由于世界工业的发展，生丝价格下跌，另一方面是以传统土地占有制为基础的家庭副业在家庭经济预算中的重要性。对任何一方面的低估都将曲解真实的情况。此外，正如我们将在以后的描述中所看到的，这两种力量相互作用的产物不会是西方世界的复制品或者传统的复旧，其结果如何，将取决于人民如何去解决他们自己的问题。正确地了解当前存在的以实事为依据的情况，将有助于引导这种变迁趋向于我们所期望的结果。社会科学的功能就在于此。
文化是物质设备和各种知识的结合体。人使用设备和知识以便生存。为了一定的目的人要改变文化。一个人如果扔掉某一件工具，又去获取一件新的，他这样做，是因为他相信新的工具对他更加适用。所以，任何变迁过程必定是一种综合体，那就是：他过去的经验、他对目前形势的了解以及他对未来结果的期望。过去的经验并不总是过去实事的真实写照，因为过去的实事经过记忆的选择已经起了变化。目前的形势也并不总是能得到准确的理解，因为它吸引注意力的程度常受到利害关系的影响。未来的结果不会总是像人们所期望的那样，因为它是希望和努力以外的其他许多力量的产物。所以，新工具最后也可能被证明是不适合于人们的目的。
It is more difficult to achieve successful changes in social institutions. Even when an institution has failed to meet the need of the people, there may be no substitute. The difficulty lies in the fact that since a social institution consists of human relations, it can be changed only through concerted actions which cannot readily be organized. Moreover, the social situation is usually complicated and expectation varies among the individuals involved. Therefore in the process of social change, it is always necessary in order to organize collective actions to have a more or less accepted definition of the situation and a formulated programme. Such preparatory activities generally take a linguistic form. It can be seen in its simplest form in the command of a captain to his crew when directing the course of a ship. It can also be observed in the well staged debates in parliament or congress. Different definitions of the situation and varying expectations about the results form the centre of the debates. Nevertheless, such preparatory activities are always present in an innovation in socially organized activities.
An inaccurate definition of situation, either due to deliberate aberrations or to ignorance, is dangerous for the group because it may lead to an undesired future. There are many instances in the present account to illustrate the importance of an empirical definition of the situation. In anticipation of the following pages, I shall mention a few of them. In kinship organization, the present practice of inheritance is defined by the legislature as an instance of inequality between sexes. Since the situation is so defined, once the idea of sex equality has been accepted, the resultant actions would involve a revision of the unilateral kinship principle. As I shall show, the transmission of property is a part of the reciprocal relation between generations; the obligation of supporting the old, in a society where that responsibility falls upon the children, cannot be equally shared by sons and daughters under the present system of patrilocal marriage. Therefore the bilateral inheritance combined with unilateral affiliation creates inequality between the sexes. Seen in this light, the consequences of the legislation are obviously contrary to expectation (IV–6).
对社会制度要完成一个成功的变革是更加困难了。当一种制度不能满足人民的需要时，甚至可能还没有替代它的其他制度。困难在于社会制度是由人际关系构成的，只有通过一致行动才能改变它，而一致行动不是一下子就组织得起来的。另外，社会情况通常是复杂的，参与改革的一个个人，他们的期望也可以各不相同。所以在社会变革的过程中，为组织集体行动，对社会情况需要有一个多少为大家所接受的分析和定义以及一个系统的计划。这种准备活动一般都需要一种语言形式。最简单的形式如一个船长在指挥一条船航行时，对他的船员们发出命令；又如在议会或国会里进行一场有准备的辩论。对形势或情况的不同解释和关于结果的各种期望形成辩论的中心。无论如何，这样的准备活动总是会在有组织的革新活动中出现的。
对形势或情况的不准确的阐述或分析，不论是由于故意的过错或出于无知，对这个群体都是有害的，它可能导致令人失望的后果。本书有许多例子说明了对情况或形势的实事求是的阐述或分析的重要性。下面我想先举几个例子：在亲属组织中，目前法律对财产继承问题的规定似已成为两性不平等的实例。一旦男女平等的思想被接受，这样的规定将产生一种修改单方亲属原则的行动。正如我要说明的，财产的继承是两代人之间相互关系的一部分。供养老人的义务，落在子女身上的社会里，在目前父居家庭的婚姻制度下，女儿和儿子不能分担同等的义务。因此，双系继承与单方立嗣相结合将形成两性的不平等。从这一点来看，立法的后果显然与期望是背道而驰的（第四章第六节）。
A definition of situation sometimes may be accurate but not complete. In the silk industry, for instance, the reformers have defined the situation mainly in technical terms. The omission of the factor of international trade in the decline of the price of silk had resulted in their failure for many years to fulfil their promise to the villagers of big incomes from the industry (XII–8).
An adequate definition of situation, if it is to organize successful actions and attain the desired end, must be reached through a careful analysis of the functions of the social institutions, in relation to the need that they purport to satisfy and in relation to other institutions on which their working depends. This is the work of a social scientist. Social science therefore should play an important rôle in directing cultural change.
The need of such knowledge has become more and more urgent in China because the country cannot afford to waste any more of her wealth and energy in making mistakes. The fundamental end is evident; it is the satisfaction of the basic requirements common to every Chinese. This should be recognized by all. A village which stands on the verge of starvation profits nobody, not even the usurers. In this sense there should be no political differences among the Chinese upon these fundamental measures. Where differences exist, they are due to misrepresentation of facts. A systematic presentation of the actual conditions of the people will convince the nation of the urgent policies necessary for rehabilitating the lives of the masses. It is not a matter for philosophical speculation, much less should it be a matter for dispute between schools of thought. What is really needed is a common-sense judgment based on reliable information.
The present study is only one of the initial attempts of a group of young Chinese students who have realized the importance of this task. Similar studies have been carried out in Fukien, Shantung, Shansi, Hopei, and Kwangsi and will be pursued in the future by more extensive and better organized efforts. I am reluctant to present this premature account, premature because I have been deprived of chances of further field investigation in the immediate future on account of the Japanese occupation and destruction of the village here described. But I am presenting this study in the hopes that it may give a realistic picture to Western readers of the huge task that has been imposed on my people and the agony of the present struggle. Without being pessimistic, let me assure my readers that the struggle is evidently to be a long and grave one. We are ready for the worst and it may be a thousand times worse than the Japanese bombs and poisonous gas. I am, however, confident that, despite the past errors and present misfortunes, China will emerge once more a great nation, through the unswerving effort of her people. The present account is not a record of a vanished history but a prelude to a new chapter of the world history that will be written not in ink but in the blood of millions.
有时，对情况或形势的阐明或分析可能是正确的，但不完整。例如，在缫丝工业中，改革者主要从技术方面来分析情况，忽略了在丝价下降中国际贸易的因素，这就导致多年来，对村民许下的从工业中增加收入的诺言，未能实现（第十二章第八节）。
如果要组织有效果的行动并达到预期的目的，必须对情况有细致的阐述，而这种阐述需要对社会制度的功能进行细致的分析，而且要同它们意欲满足的需要结合起来分析，也要同它们的运转所依赖的其他制度联系起来分析。这就是社会科学者的工作。所以社会科学应该在指导文化变迁中起重要的作用。
中国越来越迫切地需要这种知识，因为这个国家再也承担不起因失误而损耗任何财富和能量。我们的根本目的是明确的，这就是满足每个中国人共同的基本需要。大家都应该承认这一点。一个站在饥饿边缘上的村庄对谁都没有好处，即使对放贷者也是如此。从这个意义上说，对这些基本措施，在中国人中间应该没有政治上的分歧。分歧之处是由于对事实的误述或歪曲。对人民实际情况的系统反映将有助于使这个国家相信，为了恢复广大群众的正常生活，现在迫切地需要一些政策。这不是一个哲学思考的问题，更不应该是各学派思想争论的问题。真正需要的是一种以可靠的情况为依据的常识性的判断。
目前的研究，仅仅是一群懂得了这一任务的重要性的中国青年学生们的初步尝试。在福建、山东、山西、河北和广西都开展了同样的研究。将来还会有更广泛的、组织得更好的力量，继续进行研究。我不太愿意把这本不成熟的书拿出来，它之所以不成熟，是因为日本人占领并破坏了我所描述的村庄，我被剥夺了在近期作进一步的实地
调查的机会。但我还是要把本书贡献出来，希望它能为西方读者提供一幅现实的画面，这就是：我的人民肩负重任，正在为当前的斗争付出沉痛的代价。我并不悲观，但肯定地说这是一场长期而严酷的斗争。我们已作了最坏的准备，准备承受比日本的炸弹和毒气还会更坏的情况。然而我确信，就算有过去的错误和当前的不幸，通过人民坚持不懈的努力，中国将再一次以一个伟大的国家屹立在世界上。本书并不是一本消逝了的历史的记录，而是将以百万人民的鲜血写成的世界历史新篇章的序言。