Local Elites and Rural Social Reconstruction: Conflict between gentry and The National Association of Mass Education Movements in Dingxian Experiment

民国时期地方社会精英进入了多元化时代,士绅和专业知识分子是两个重要群体。1933年河北定县成为县政建设实验县,当地士绅与主持实验县工作的中华平民教育促进会之间的激烈冲突随之爆发。该类型社会冲突以士绅阶层的抱怨、污蔑、制造负面社会舆论为重要特征,反映了士绅阶层在农村社会和乡村建设中权力地位的边缘化。士绅阶层地位的没落,表面看来是平教会在乡村建设中刻意通过组织创新扶植农村青年参与乡村建设,致使士绅在农村社会权力结构中大权旁落,其结构性原因则包括两个方面,一是士绅阶层在农村经济破产的情况下,经营高利贷活动,大量占有农村土地,与农民发生严重的经济利益冲突,致使社会负面评价增加；二是国家在县域单位推进现代化的意志受到士绅阶层的阻碍,平教会冷落士绅实际上代表了国家与地方社会在现代化问题上的角力。

In the Republic of China，local elites included gentry and professional intellectuals． When Dingxian in Hebei province was established as the experimental bases of the county administration construction in 1923，fierce conflict broke out between the local gentry and The National Association of Mass Education Movements ( MEM) presided the Dingxian Experiment． The social conflict，characterized by gentry's complaining，slandering and moulding negative public opinion，reflected the marginalization of gentry in rural community and the weakening power and status of rural construction． MEM fostered rural youth to attend the rural construction by organization innovations，which led to the gentry's lost of power． There were two significant structural causes: Firstly，under the circumstances of economic bankruptcy，the gentry practiced usury and occupied a large amount of land． The economic confliction of the gentry and peasant strengthened the negative evaluations to the gentry． Secondly, gentry class was an obstacle for the country to push forward modernization in the county． Actually，MEM's ignoring gentry shows the contest between the state and the local society in the modernization issue．

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