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The village as described is of interest in the following respects.
(1) It has been one of the important centres of domestic silk industry in China. The village can therefore be taken as a representative case of the process of change in Chinese industry; the change has been chiefly concerned with the substitution of the factory for the domestic system and the social problems rising therefrom. This is a general process, still going on in China, and also has parallels in different parts of the world. The problem of industrial development in China has its practical significance, but has never been studied intensively with a full knowledge of the social organization of the village. Moreover, in this village an experiment at industrial reform has been made during the past ten years. The social reform activities are of great relevance to the social changes in China; they should be carefully analysed in an objective way. It is possible that through such an analysis certain important but hitherto unnoticed problems may be revealed.
(2) Kaihsienkung is located in an area where, owing to superb natural resources, agriculture has been developed to a very high degree. The institution of land tenure also has here peculiar elaborations. The village would provide a good field for the study of land problems in China.
那些被视为外来户的人，在生活上一直未被同化。我注意到他们的非本地口音及非本地穿着方式，例如，药店里的妇女不穿裙子。
只要外来户保留着他们自己的语言和文化差别，而且本村人注意到这些差别，那么，在这个社区内，外来户总是过着多少有所见外的生活。对本村人及外来户作出区别是颇有意义的，因为这种区别已经具有广泛的社会意义。外来户全部从事特殊职业，没有土地，仅这一事实就足以说明，区别是有其深远的经济后果的。
这个村庄有下列值得注意和研究之处：
（1）开弦弓是中国国内蚕丝业的重要中心之一。因此，可以把这个村子作为在中国工业变迁过程中有代表性的例子；主要变化是工厂代替了家庭手工业系统，并从而产生的社会问题。工业化是一个普遍过程，目前仍在我国进行着，世界各地也有这样的变迁。在中国，工业的发展问题更有其实际意义，但至今没有任何人在全面了解农村社会组织的同时，对这个问题进行过深入的研究。此外，在过去十年中，开弦弓村曾经进行过蚕丝业改革的实验。社会改革活动对于中国的社会变迁是息息相关的；应该以客观的态度仔细分析各种社会变迁。通过这样的分析，有可能揭示或发现某些重要的但迄今未被注意到的问题。
（2）开弦弓一带，由于自然资源极佳，农业发展到很高水平。有关土地占有制度在这里也有特殊的细节。开弦弓将为研究中国土地问题提供一个很好的实地调查的场地。
(3) The extensive use of water communication in that region, with its net-like distribution of water ways, has led to a special relation between town and village, which is different from that found in North China. We are thus able to study a typical case of a marketing system based on water transport.
Besides these considerations, I had special facilities in investigating this village. My investigation had to be limited to a period of two months. It would have been impossible in this short time to carry out any intensive study, if I had worked in an entirely unfamiliar field. Kaihsienkung is a village belonging to the district of Wukiang of which I am a native. I thus started with certain linguistic advantages. Differences in Chinese dialect is one of the practical difficulties in carrying out field investigation. The people in villages usually cannot understand any other dialect besides their own. Being a native of the district, it was not necessary for me to spend time in learning the local dialect. The community feeling of being a native of the same district also enabled me to penetrate into more intimate life without arousing suspicion.
Above all, in this village I could fully utilize the personal connections of my sister, who, being responsible for the silk reform, had gained the confidence of practically every person in the village. I could without any difficulty secure the best possible co-operation of the villagers in general and the village heads in particular. Having understood my intention, they not only supplied me with all possible material, but made very intelligent and valuable suggestions and explanations to facilitate my investigation. Furthermore, I had visited the village several times before and had been kept continuously informed by my sister about the conditions there. Thus I could go directly into the problem without wasting my time in preliminary work.
My investigation covered the two months of July to August, 1936. Within this time limit, I was naturally not able to follow the complete annual cycle of social activities. However, these two months are significant in their economic life. They cover the last part of the silk industry and the first part of the agricultural work. Supplemented by oral information and my past experiences, the material so far gathered concerning their economic life and the related social institutions is enough for a preliminary analysis.
（3）这个地区广泛使用水上交通，有着网状分布的水路，因而城乡之间有着特殊的关系，这与华北的情况截然不同。这样我们就能够通过典型来研究依靠水上运输的集镇系统。
除去这些考虑之外，我调查开弦弓村还具备特殊便利的条件。由于时间有限，我的调查必须在两个月之内完成。如果我在一个全然不熟悉的地方工作，要在这样短的时间内进行任何细致的研究是不可能的。开弦弓村属于吴江县，而我就是吴江人，我首先在语言上就有一定的有利条件。中国各地方言的差别是进行实地调查的实际困难之一。村里的人们除自己的方言外，一般不懂得任何其他方言。作为一个本地人，就不必再花费时间去学习当地方言。而且同乡的感情使我能够进一步深入到人们的生活中去，不致引起怀疑。
尤其是在这个村里，我可以充分利用我姐姐个人的联系。我姐姐负责蚕丝业的改革，村里的人确实都很信任她。我能够毫无困难地得到全村居民的通力合作，特别是村长们的帮助。他们理解我的意图，不仅尽一切可能提供材料，而且还提出一些可行的办法和有价值的建议，这使我的调查得以顺利进行。此外，我以前曾多次访问过该村，姐姐也继续不断地向我提供该村的情况。因此，我一开始就能直接进入调查本身，无须浪费时间去做那些初步的准备工作。
我的调查历时两个月，是在1936年的7月至8月进行的。在这有限的时间内，我自然不能对完整的一年为周期的社会活动进行调查。然而，这两个月在他们的经济生活中是有重要意义的，包括了一年中蚕丝业的最后阶段及农活的最初阶段。以我过去的经验及人们口头提供的资料作为补充，到目前为止，我所收集到的关于他们的经济生活及有关社会制度的材料，足以进行初步的分析。