xton, 1991). Thus, the typical Mainland Chinese would be described as a rural dweller. It must be remembered, however, that the urban/rural distribution of the population is changing relatively rapidly. Fifteen years ago, almost 85 percent of Mainland Chinese resided in rural areas.
The typical Mainland Chinese is also a relatively young person. Almost one-half (46.07 percent) of the population is under age 20, and almost two-thirds (63.7 percent) are under age 30 (Waddle, 1987).
A key element of Chinese social planning is population control (Bose, 1984). Population planning is both extensive and specific, with policies dealing with growth, distribution, and other factors. The single-child family policy will likely change the fabric of Chinese society. This policy will also affect the supply of labor in the country, and will quite likely affect the urban-rural dichotomy--through labor competition, if in no other way. The 1979 law limits couples to one child, and is enforced through compulsory abortions and economic sanctions. The law was revised in 1988 to permit peasant couples to have a second child after four years, if a first child is a girl. The purpose of the policy change was to combat infanticide involving girl babies (Paxton, 1991).
Communal living and production was a part of Mainland Chinese life long before the arrival of the socialist, or communist, government. The common ownership of land by a village commune is a principal characteristic of the Asiatic mode of production, which has been prevalent in Mainland China for centuries (Tokei, 1979). With the advent of the Peoples Republic, communal ownership was formalized into government policy. In the-late-1970s, however, some revisions were introduced into China's agricultural system, in effect, the country's rural life.
These revisions were referred to collectively as the responsibility system. The responsibility system has been described as a t...