〔3〕Economic Background

Here the human geographer will be right in inferring the occupation of the people from the natural conditions of the land they occupy. A traveller in a train, passing through that region, would not lose sight of the rice fields for more than intervals of a few minutes. In Kaihsienkung, according to estimates, more than ninety per cent. of the land is used for rice cultivation. This single village produces, on the average, eighteen thousand bushels of rice every year (X–2). Only a little more than half of the produce is consumed by the people themselves (VII–5). Very few households in the village are entirely free from agricultural work. About seventy-six per cent. of the total number of households are engaged in agriculture as their main occupation (VIII–1). The time spent in cultivating rice amounts to six months in the year (IX–3). From this crop the people earn more than half of their income (XII–2). Thus from any angle, rice is of primary importance.

该地区人口密集，大多数人口居住在农村。如从空中俯视，可以看见到处是一簇簇的村庄。每个村子仅与邻村平均相隔走20分钟路的距离。开弦弓只不过是群集在这块土地上成千上万个村庄之一。

在数十个村庄的中心地带就有一个市镇。市镇是收集周围村子土产品的中心，又是分配外地城市工业品下乡的中心。开弦弓所依傍的市镇叫震泽，在开弦弓以南约四英里，坐手摇船单程约需两个半小时。震泽地处太湖东南约六英里，大运河及苏嘉线以西约八英里。目前，可乘轮船或公共汽车到达苏嘉线的平望站。通过现有的铁路线，可在八小时以内从震泽到达上海。开弦弓与上述各城市及集镇间的位置关系，详见所附地图（见地图I、II）。

三、经济背景

在这里，人文地理学者会正确地从人们所占据的土地的自然条件推论人们的职业。一个旅客，如果乘火车路经这个地区时，将接连不断地看到一片片的稻田。据估计，开弦弓90%以上的土地都用于种植水稻。该村每年平均产米18,000蒲式耳（第十章第二节）。仅一半多一点的粮食为人们自己所消费（第七章第五节）。村里极少有完全不干农活的人家。占总户数约76%的人家以农业为主要职业（第八章第一节）。一年中，用于种稻的时间约占六个月（第九章第三节）。人们靠种稻挣得一半以上的收入（第十二章第二节）。因而，从任何一个角度看，种植水稻的重要性是居于首位的。

But rice is not the only produce of the land. Wheat, rapeseeds and various vegetables are grown too, although they are insignificant as compared with the chief crop. Moreover, the water provides fish, shrimps, crabs, and different kinds of water plants which are all used locally as food.

The mulberry tree plays an important part in the economic life of the villagers. It enables them to develop their silk industry. Wright wrote early in 1908, "Raw white silk, the tsatlee silk of European markets, is produced by the hand reeling of the Chinese silkworm farms... The best white silk comes from the district surrounding Shanghai, which contributes by far the greatest proportion of the value exported."

Silk industry is common to the whole region but it is specially well developed in the villages around Lake Tai. This specialization is due, according to the local people, to the good quality of the water. It is said that the so-called tsatlee silk is produced only in the area about four miles in diameter around Kaihsienkung. How far this statement is true is another question, but the importance of the village in rural industry is beyond doubt. During its prosperous period, this area not only contributed a large part of China's silk export but also supplied the demand for raw material for the domestic weaving industry of the neighbouring town Sheng Tsê (Map II). The weaving industry of that town before its decline had been known to be able to produce "ten thousand pieces a day."

The rural silk industry began to decline when the modern factory for silk manufacturing with its improved technique of production was introduced both into Japan and China. This industrial revolution changed the fortunes of the domestic rural industry.

"Previous to 1909... the quantity of Chinese silk exported had been larger than that of Japanese silk. In 1907, for instance, the two were almost the same. It was only in 1909, however, that Japanese silk export began to exceed that of China, and this advantage the former has been able to keep up ever since. In fact, in recent years, the Japanese export was nearly three times that of this country. From the point of view of our foreign trade, silk also decreased in significance since 1909. Before that date it used to constitute from 20 to 30 per cent. of our total exports, but the average for the years 1909—1916 fell to 17 per cent."

此地不仅产米，人们还种麦子、油菜籽及各种蔬菜，尽管它们与主要作物相比是无足轻重的。此外，江河里尚有鱼、虾、蟹及各种水生植物等，这些都是当地的食物。

桑树在农民的经济生活中起着重要的作用。人们靠它发展蚕丝业。赖特早在1908年写道：“白色生丝，即欧洲市场中的‘辑里丝’，是中国养蚕农家用手抽制的。……最佳生丝产自上海附近地区，该地区出口的丝占出口额的绝大部分。”

蚕丝业在整个地区非常普遍，在太湖周围的村庄里尤为发达。据当地人说，它之所以成为该地特产是由于水质好。据说，所谓的“辑里丝”仅产于开弦弓周围方圆四英里的地带。这一说法的真实性暂且不论，但这个村庄在当地乡村工业中的重要地位确是毫无疑问的。在繁荣时期，这个地带的丝不仅在中国蚕丝出口额中占主要比重，而且还为邻近的盛泽镇（见地图II）丝织工业的需要提供原料。在丝织业衰退之前，盛泽的丝织业号称“日产万匹”。

现代制丝业的先进生产技术引进日本、中国之后，乡村丝业开始衰退。这一工业革命改变了国内乡村手工业的命运。

“1909年以前……中国蚕丝出口量比日本大。例如1907年，两国出口量几乎相同。但到1909年，日本蚕丝出口便超过了中国，而且从此以后，日本一直保持优势。事实上近年来，日本的出口量几近中国的3倍。从我国外贸角度来看，自从1909年以来，蚕丝的重要性也降低了。以前，蚕丝通常占我国出口总额的20%至30%，而从1909年至1916年的平均数下降至17%。”

The amount of produce, however, had been increasing although irregularly up to 1923. But owing to the fall in price, the increasing amount of export did not mean necessarily an increase of return. The amount of export has declined steadily ever since that time. During 1928 to 1930, the percentage of decrease was about twenty. The rate of decrease was more rapid in the period between 1930 to 1934. "As Japanese silk was dumped on the American market in the latter part of the year (1934), China's silk export dropped to the lowest point accordingly. The volume of silk exported amounted to only one-fifth of that in 1930, a fact which is indicative of the depression of the Chinese silk trade.

"The price of raw silk dropped to a new low level in 1934.... The 1934 price level for the same quality of silk was only one-third of the 1930 price level."

The internal market for silk has shrunk at the same time due to the same forces of industrial revolution affecting the weaving industry. The consequence of the shrinkage of the market is the break-down of the traditional domestic silk industry in the rural district. The traditional specialization in the silk industry and its recent decline form the background of the economic life of the village in the present analysis.

〔4〕The Village Site

Let us examine the village itself. The land occupied by the people in this village consists of eleven yu . Yu is the local term for the unit of land surrounded by water. Each yu has its own name. Its size is determined by the distribution of streams and thus varies. The total area of land of this village is 3,065 mow or 461 acres. The names and sizes of these eleven yu are given in the following table, according to the official survey of 1932. Two of the yu belong in part to other villages, and, since there are no clear boundaries, I can only make a rough estimate of the portion belonging to Kaihsienkung.

尽管如此，一直到1923年，蚕丝的产量一直是在增加的，虽然增长的幅度并不固定。由于蚕丝价格下跌，出口量的增长并不一定意味着收入的增加。从1923年以后，出口量便就此一蹶不振。1928年至1930年间，出口量下降率约为20%。 1930年至1934年间，下降得更为迅速。“1934年下半年，由于日本向美国市场倾销蚕丝，中国蚕丝出口量随之降到最低水平。出口蚕丝量共计仅为1930年的五分之一。这一事实，说明了中国蚕丝贸易的不景气。

“1934年生丝价格跌到前所未有的更低的水平。……同样质量的丝，1934年的价格水平仅为1930年的三分之一。”

工业革命影响丝织业的力量同样使国内蚕丝市场缩小。市场缩小的结果带来了农村地区传统家庭蚕丝手工业的破产。传统的专业化蚕丝业及其近年来的衰落就形成了我们目前所分析的开弦弓村的经济生活背景。 Kp5lealBJnRpXxZAq5FNbvhwWhV6w6pLgOQkm5KpTFIim7O9vxQw/fwOthWM229I