Journal of China in Global and Comparative Perspectives

Abstract: This article elaborates on Fei’s contrast between Chinese and Western societies that lies at the core of his book, Xiangtu Zhongguo (《乡土 中国》). I further develop this contrast to show its relevance to sociological theories of Western and Chinese societies. This task is important not only for Western scholars, who can learn from Fei’s analysis, but also for Chinese scholars, who misinterpret Fei’s analysis of Chinese society because they concentrate only on the Chinese half of Fei’s comparison between Chinese and Western societies and thus fail to understand the theoretical depth of his work. This article conceptualizes Fei’s contrasts in order to correct Weber’s flawed analysis of Chinese society.