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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。
现在让我们来观察一下村庄本身。村里的人占有土地共11圩。圩是土地单位，当地人称一块环绕着水的土地为一“圩”。每个圩有一个名字。圩的大小取决于水流的分布，因此各不相等。该村土地的总面积为3,065亩（或461英亩）。据1932年官方勘测，各圩的名称及面积如下表所示，其中有两圩部分属于其他村子，由于无明显的界限，我只能粗略地估计属于开弦弓那部分土地的面积：
The land can be roughly divided into two parts: namely, that used for cultivation and that used for dwellings. The residential area occupies rather a small portion. It is found at the junction of three streams and the houses are distributed on the margin of four yu. Names of these yu and number of houses on each are given in the following table:
The plan of the residential area must be studied in relation to the communication system of the village. In this region, boats are extensively used for heavy and long-distance traffic. The land routes connecting different villages and towns are mainly used for pulling the boats against unfavourable currents and winds. People usually come to the village by boats, except a few pedlars. Nearly every household possesses at least one boat. The importance of the boat in communication means that the houses must be near the water and consequently determines the plan of the village. Villages grow up along the streams; at the junction of several streams, bigger villages are found. As we can see from the accompanying map, the backbone of Kaihsienkung village is formed by three streams, designated here as A, B, and C. Stream A, the main one, runs like an arc, and from this the village gets its name. Kaihsienkung literally means open-string-bow.
Boats are not convenient for short distances or very light traffic inside the residential area. Roads are built for communication between the houses. In this case, the streams represent obstacles to communication and the separated yu must be connected by bridges.
土地可略分为两部分：庄稼用地及居住用地。住宅区仅占相当小的部分，就在三条小河的汇集处，房屋分散在四个圩的边缘。这四个圩的名称及每个圩边的房屋数目如下：
研究住宅区的规划必须同村子的交通系统联系起来。在这个地区，人们广泛使用船只载运重物进行长途运输。连接不同村庄和城镇的陆路，主要是在逆流、逆风时拉纤用的，即所谓塘岸。除了一些担挑的小商人之外，人们通常乘船来往。几乎家家户户都至少有一条船。由于船只在交通运输上的重要位置，为便利起见，房屋必须建筑在河道附近，这就决定了村子的规划。河道沿岸，大小村庄应运而生；大一些的村子都建在几条河的岔口。正如我们可以从附图上看到，开弦弓的“脊梁骨”系由三条河组成，暂且定名为A、B和C。河A是主流，像一张弓一样流过村子，开弦弓便由此而得名。字面上的意思就是：“拉开弦的弓”。
在住宅区内，用船装载轻便的东西，或作短距离运输，不甚方便。因此在住房之间修起了道路以利往来。在这种情况下，河流就成了交通的障碍。各圩被河流所分割，必须用桥来连接。
The road system of this village does not form a complete circle. In the northern part of yu III, a large part of the land is used for farming. In that part, there are only small paths among the farms, and they are not convenient for walking, especially during wet weather. Owing to this fact the bridge at the west end of Stream A is the central point in the system. Small shops are concentrated largely around the bridges, especially the bridge at the west end (XIV–8).
Nevertheless, in the village plan, there is no special place where the public life of the people is concentrated. Except for the informal gatherings in the summer evenings around the bridges, there has been no organized public gathering for more than ten years, since the annual opera performance was suspended.
The headquarters of the village headmen is at the east end in the co-operative silk factory. The position of the factory was selected for technical reasons. The current of Stream A runs from west to east. To avoid adding the dirt of the factory to the stream which provides the daily water supply of the people along the stream, the factory was built at the lower course.
Map III The
Two temples are found on the outskirts of the residential area: one at the west end and the other at the north end. But the position of the temples does not mean that the religious life of the people is con-centrated on the outskirts. In fact, their religious life is largely carried on in their own houses. It would be more correct to regard the temples as the residences of priests and gods, who are not only segregated some distance apart from the ordinary people but are also separated from everyday community life except on special ceremonial occasions.
The public school is at the south end. The building was originally used as the office of the silk reform bureau. It was given to the school when the factory was established.
The residential area is surrounded by farming land, which is low owing to the irrigation system (X–1). The area suitable for buildings has been covered by houses and for a long time has not expanded.
这个村的陆路系统不能形成完全的环行路。在圩III的北部，大部分土地用来耕种，田间仅有小路，不便于行走，雨天尤其如此，因此，河A西端的桥便成了交通中心。小店铺大多集中在各桥附近。特别是集中在村子西边的桥旁（第十四章第八节）。
虽然如此，村庄的规划中却没有一个人们集中起来进行公共活动的专用场所。自从一年一度的唱戏停止演出后，除了夏天夜晚人们随意地聚集在桥边乘凉以外，十多年来，从未有过组织起来的公众集会。
村长的总部设在村子东端合作丝厂里面。厂址的选择是出于技术上的原因。河A的水自西向东流。由于河A供给沿岸居民的日常用水，所以把厂子建在下游，以免污染河水。
在住宅区外围有两座庙，一个在村西，一个在村北。这并不意味着人们的宗教活动都集中在村外边进行。实际上，他们的宗教活动多数都在自己家里开展。比较确切地说，庙是和尚及菩萨的住所。和尚、菩萨不仅同普通的人隔开一段距离，而且也与社区的日常生活隔开，但进行特殊仪式时除外。
公办小学在村的南端。校舍原先用作蚕丝改进社的办公室。合作丝厂建立以后便把房子给了学校。
住宅区周围都是农田，由于灌溉系统的缘故，农田地势较低（第十章第一节）。适宜于建筑的地区都已盖满了房屋，而且长期没有扩大。
The newly introduced public institutions such as the school and the silk factory could only find their location at the outskirt of the old residential area. Their location is an expression of the process of change in the community life.
A census of the village was taken in 1935. Because no continuous registration of births and deaths has been properly carried out, I can take this census only as the basis for my analysis. In the census, all the residents in this village, including those temporarily absent, are recorded. The figures are summarized in the following table:
Those temporarily residing in the village but living in definite households are recorded in the census in a special class called "Persons living together"; these are not included in the above table. The total number in this class is 25.
The density of population (excluding surface of water in computation) is about 1,980 per square mile. This cannot be compared with the average density of the province. The latter is calculated from the general area of the province which includes the surface of water and uncultivated land; it is a gross density. My figure represents the actual ratio between men and land used. The gross density of the province (Kiangsu), as quoted by Professor Tawney, is 896 per square mile.
新的公共机构，例如学校和合作丝厂，只有在老的住宅区外围找到地盘。它们的位置说明了社区生活的变化过程。