Urbanizing China (review)

Reviews 119 the Ch'eng brothers is somewhat misleadingbecause the suggestion is that they appropriated the same. These difficulties notwithstanding, Graham's book will stand for some time to come as the starting point for future studies of the Ch'engs, however those studies maybe defined methodologically. This is true because Graham's analyses are buttressed by lengthy translations from the works attributed to the Ch'eng brothers. Though it is not a translation of any one "text," Graham's study includes as many translations from the Ch'engs as are found in a single volume except, perhaps, Wing-tsit Chan's rendition of the Chin-ssu Iu (1967), edited by Chu Hsi and Lu Tsu-ch'ien (1137-1181), or Ts'ai Yung-ch'un's The Philosophy ofCh'engI:A Selection ofTextsfrom the Complete Works (1950). John Allen Tucker University of North Florida Gregory EIiyu Guldin, editor. Urbanizing China. Foreword by Fei Xiaotong. New York: Greenwood Press, 1992. viii, 272 pp. $49.95. This book is a collection of seven major papers written by an interdisciplinary team of authors trained in anAiropology, geography, sociology, and urban planning . The papers focus on die progress of urbanization in China in an attempt to answer the question: "Can China now be considered urbanized?" The editor groups the papers into three parts: (1) PRC urbanization, then and now, (2) small towns and the urbanizing countryside, and (3) the Pearl River delta, an advanced area of urbanization. He also provides an introduction and an epilogue, thus setting die background and cross-referencing the ideas in this diverse group of essays . The book contains a glossary of Chinese terms and ends with an annotated list of further readings on the subject. This skillful arrangement ofpapers by the editor has helped gready to provide the necessary continuity which is commonly lacking in a collection ofthis nature. Part 1, which gives broad reviews of urbanization in China, contains Airee papers: (1) "The Role of Great Cities in China," by Clifton Pannell; (2) "Post-1949 Urbanization Trends and Policies," by Kam Wing Chan; and (3) "Urbanization© 1994 by University under Economic Reform," by R. Yin-wang Kwok. Pannell's valuable paper traces ofHawai'i Pressthe development of the great cities in China through history to modern times. He points out the political, social, and economic importance of these cities, and notes the increased peasant migration to the city and the pattern of circular migration 120 China Review International: Vol. 1, No. 2, Fall 1994 of population in the postreform period. He sees tiiat, as China's market-oriented economy progresses, modern Chinese cities will grow to sizes and scales unprecedented in the past, where such growth will bring with it the new problems of pollution, health, education, and infrastructure. Chan's paper attempts to clarify the confusion caused by the definition of "urban" used by Chinese administrators, and, by carefully sifting through available statistics, he reconstructs the correct trends of urban development in China since the beginning of Communist rule. In his usual rigorous style of analysis, Chan has succeeded in presenting an explanation of "anti-urbanism" in China, which, he argues, was intended to stimulate industrial growth rather than rural development by the Chinese government. Kwok's paper examines the impact of the economic reforms on urban development in China. Kwok points out that China is still practicing market socialism, which restrains the reform process. Market socialism favors the agglomeration and centralization of production in large cities. Part 2, which specifically discusses small towns as an approach to decentralized urban growth, contains two essays: (1) "Rural Transformation and Decentralized Urban Growth in China," byYok-shiu F. Lee; and (2) "The Development of Small Towns and Their Role in the Modernization of China," by Rong Ma. Lee's excellent contribution discusses in great depth the role of township enterprises in helping to absorb surplus rural labor after the implementation of the economic reforms. He examines the interpretations of the policy of"Ii tu bu li xiang" (to leave the land but not to leave the rural areas), and shows that the government policy is to allow the rural population to work in small towns or even in...