This two-volume set examines the process of rural integration in modern China. In short, this is how the state penetrates the countryside and transforms the rural population, thus consolidating the foundation of modern state governance.

Drawing on contemporary examples of state integration while observing the background of traditional China, this book systematically examines the entire process of rural reconstruction of China over the course of the 100 years since the late Qing Dynasty. In addition, the book discusses the special characteristics of each period and current societal trends in the Chinese countryside. This volume explores the following aspects of contemporary state integration: economic, fiscal, cultural, social, lifestyle, and technological.

The book will be an essential reading for scholars and students in Chinese Studies, Political Science, Rural Studies, and those who are interested in the rural reconstruction of China in general.

Xu Yong is a professor at Central China Normal University, who currently serves as the chief of its political science. He has been devoted to the research of rural China and Chinese politics and has a significant influence on the research on the relationship between the state and the country based on field study. His representative works include Unbalanced Chinese Politics: A Comparison of City and Country (1992), Villager Autonomy in Rural China (1997), The State: In the Change of Social Relations (Volume I and II) (2020).

1. Planning, Market, and Service: Rural Economic Consolidation 2. Extraction, Distribution, and Investment: Rural Fiscal Integration 3. Propaganda, Education and Literature: Cultural Integration in the Countryside 4. Class, Collective, and Community: Rural Social Consolidation 5. Consumption, Fertility, and Health: Life Integration in Rural Society 6. Discourse, Transportation, and Information: Rural Technological Consolidation 7. Conclusion 8. Epilogue