History
Former Directors of the Institute
The First Director of the Institute (1980-1985): Professor Fei Hsiao-t'ung
FEI Hsiao-t’ung is a prominent sociologist, anthropologist and ethnologist in China. He was born in 1910 in Wujiang County, Jiangsu Province. He graduated from Yanjing University in 1933 with a B.A. degree in sociology. In 1935, he earned a M.A. degree in anthropology from Tsinghua University. The following year FEI enrolled in the London School of Economics, Britain and was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in 1938. His thesis Peasant Life in China (Routledge, 1939) won him international fame. Upon returning to the wartime China, he taught sociology at Yun’nan University and directed the Yanjing-Yun’nan Sociological Research Station. From 1945 to 1951, he served as the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and professor at Tsinghua University. He was then appointed as the Vice President and professor in the newly founded Central College of Ethnical Studies. Between 1980 and 1985, he was the director of the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He then became the Director of the Institute of Sociology in Peking University. He has also held positions in the government such as the Deputy Director of the Experts Bureau of the State Council, Deputy Director of the National Ethnic Affairs Committee, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Democratic Union, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Sixth Chinese People Political Consultative Conference, and Vice Chairman of the standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
FEI’s main published works include: Peasant Life in China (1939), Earthbound China (co-author, 1943), The Reproduction System (1947), Rural Reconstruction (1948), Fifty Years in the Field of Sociology (1983), Essays on Sociology by FEI Hsiao-t’ung (1985), On Small Towns and Other Issues (1986), Frontier Development and the Social Survey (1987), Essays on Ethnological Issues by FEI Hsiao-t’ung (1988), On the Development of Rural Towns (1992), and Collected Works of FEI Hsiao-t’ung (14 volumes)(1999).
Professor FEI Hsiao-t’ung has been active in teaching and research in the fields of sociology and social anthropology for more than five decades. He focuses on the fieldwork method, particularly on the comparative study of communities. His book Peasant Life in China has been regarded as a milestone in social anthropology. He has also conducted in-depth studies on small towns in China. He argues that the development of small towns holds the key to the growth of productive force, population distribution, urban-rural relationships, modernization and urbanization of China. With regard to the development of Chinese sociology, he advocates that contemporary Chinese sociology should grasp and reflect the characteristics of the Chinese society, and that it must also be deeply grounded in the given conditions of the Chinese society. His contributions to social sciences have been widely recognized. In 1980, he received the B.K. Malinowski Honorary Award from the International Applied Anthropological Association. In 1981, he was awarded the Huxley Prize by the British Royal Anthropological Society. In 1982, London School of Economics awarded him an Honorary Fellowship. In 1988, he received a Great Britannic Encyclopedia Award in the U.S.
The Second Director: Professor HE Jiangzhang, 1985-1988
Professor HE was born in 1929 in Nanhai County, Guangdong Province. His main research area: economic sociology. His main publications: On Production Price Under the Socialist Economy (1981), Exploratory Study on the Commodity and Price Issues in the Socialist Economy (1982), On the Planning and Management Issues in China (1984), Economic System Reform and Social Change (1986), On the Reconstruction of a Economic System with Distinctive Chinese characteristics and Selected Writings of He Jiangzhang (1987).
The Third Director: Professor LU Xueyi, 1988-1998
Professor LU specializes in rural sociology. He was born in 1933 in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. In 1962 he graduated from the Department of Philosophy, Beijing University. He then enrolled in the graduate program in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. After he graduated from the CASS, he continued in the CASS to work as a full time researcher. In 1987, he was appointed as Deputy Director of the Institute, and Director in 1988. He was selected as representative of the Eighth and Nineth National People’s Congress. He has been serving as President of the Chinese Sociological Association since ‘1996.
Main publications: The Golden Age of Rural Development (1983), On A System of Contracted Responsibility Linking Remuneration to Output (1986), Rural Areas and Peasants in Contemporary China (1991), On the Path to Modernization of Rural China (1998) and The Glorious Course (1999).
The Third Director: Professor LU Xueyi, 1988-1998
Professor LU specializes in rural sociology. He was born in 1933 in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. In 1962 he graduated from the Department of Philosophy, Beijing University. He then enrolled in the graduate program in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. After he graduated from the CASS, he continued in the CASS to work as a full time researcher. In 1987, he was appointed as Deputy Director of the Institute, and Director in 1988. He was selected as representative of the Eighth and Nineth National People’s Congress. He has been serving as President of the Chinese Sociological Association since ‘1996.
Main publications: The Golden Age of Rural Development (1983), On A System of Contracted Responsibility Linking Remuneration to Output (1986), Rural Areas and Peasants in Contemporary China (1991), On the Path to Modernization of Rural China (1998) and The Glorious Course (1999).
The fourth Director: Professor JING Tiankui, 2001-2006
Professor JING was born in 1943 in Penglai, Shandong Province, earned his Ph.D. from the CASS in 1987. Professor Jing is the Director of the Institute of Sociology and Editor-in-Chief of Sociological Research. He specializes in social development theory and social security system, and has published numerous books and articles, such as: Chinese Society in Transition (eds., Heilongjiang People's Press, 1991), The Basics of Modern Social Sciences—Qualitative and Quantitative (Chinese Social Sciences Press, 1992); Sociological Methodology and Marx (People’s Press, 1993); New Phrases of the Open-door and Reform Polices (eds., Social Sciences Documents Press, 1992); Ideas on China’s Social Development (Yun'nan People's Press, 1998); China's Social Development and the Sociology of Development (The Learning Press, 1999).
The First Director of the Institute (1980-1985): Professor Fei Hsiao-t'ung
FEI Hsiao-t’ung is a prominent sociologist, anthropologist and ethnologist in China. He was born in 1910 in Wujiang County, Jiangsu Province. He graduated from Yanjing University in 1933 with a B.A. degree in sociology. In 1935, he earned a M.A. degree in anthropology from Tsinghua University. The following year FEI enrolled in the London School of Economics, Britain and was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in 1938. His thesis Peasant Life in China (Routledge, 1939) won him international fame. Upon returning to the wartime China, he taught sociology at Yun’nan University and directed the Yanjing-Yun’nan Sociological Research Station. From 1945 to 1951, he served as the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and professor at Tsinghua University. He was then appointed as the Vice President and professor in the newly founded Central College of Ethnical Studies. Between 1980 and 1985, he was the director of the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He then became the Director of the Institute of Sociology in Peking University. He has also held positions in the government such as the Deputy Director of the Experts Bureau of the State Council, Deputy Director of the National Ethnic Affairs Committee, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Democratic Union, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Sixth Chinese People Political Consultative Conference, and Vice Chairman of the standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
FEI’s main published works include: Peasant Life in China (1939), Earthbound China (co-author, 1943), The Reproduction System (1947), Rural Reconstruction (1948), Fifty Years in the Field of Sociology (1983), Essays on Sociology by FEI Hsiao-t’ung (1985), On Small Towns and Other Issues (1986), Frontier Development and the Social Survey (1987), Essays on Ethnological Issues by FEI Hsiao-t’ung (1988), On the Development of Rural Towns (1992), and Collected Works of FEI Hsiao-t’ung (14 volumes)(1999).
Professor FEI Hsiao-t’ung has been active in teaching and research in the fields of sociology and social anthropology for more than five decades. He focuses on the fieldwork method, particularly on the comparative study of communities. His book Peasant Life in China has been regarded as a milestone in social anthropology. He has also conducted in-depth studies on small towns in China. He argues that the development of small towns holds the key to the growth of productive force, population distribution, urban-rural relationships, modernization and urbanization of China. With regard to the development of Chinese sociology, he advocates that contemporary Chinese sociology should grasp and reflect the characteristics of the Chinese society, and that it must also be deeply grounded in the given conditions of the Chinese society. His contributions to social sciences have been widely recognized. In 1980, he received the B.K. Malinowski Honorary Award from the International Applied Anthropological Association. In 1981, he was awarded the Huxley Prize by the British Royal Anthropological Society. In 1982, London School of Economics awarded him an Honorary Fellowship. In 1988, he received a Great Britannic Encyclopedia Award in the U.S.
The Second Director: Professor HE Jiangzhang, 1985-1988
Professor HE was born in 1929 in Nanhai County, Guangdong Province. His main research area: economic sociology. His main publications: On Production Price Under the Socialist Economy (1981), Exploratory Study on the Commodity and Price Issues in the Socialist Economy (1982), On the Planning and Management Issues in China (1984), Economic System Reform and Social Change (1986), On the Reconstruction of a Economic System with Distinctive Chinese characteristics and Selected Writings of He Jiangzhang (1987).
The Third Director: Professor LU Xueyi, 1988-1998
Professor LU specializes in rural sociology. He was born in 1933 in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. In 1962 he graduated from the Department of Philosophy, Beijing University. He then enrolled in the graduate program in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. After he graduated from the CASS, he continued in the CASS to work as a full time researcher. In 1987, he was appointed as Deputy Director of the Institute, and Director in 1988. He was selected as representative of the Eighth and Nineth National People’s Congress. He has been serving as President of the Chinese Sociological Association since ‘1996.
Main publications: The Golden Age of Rural Development (1983), On A System of Contracted Responsibility Linking Remuneration to Output (1986), Rural Areas and Peasants in Contemporary China (1991), On the Path to Modernization of Rural China (1998) and The Glorious Course (1999).
The Third Director: Professor LU Xueyi, 1988-1998
Professor LU specializes in rural sociology. He was born in 1933 in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. In 1962 he graduated from the Department of Philosophy, Beijing University. He then enrolled in the graduate program in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. After he graduated from the CASS, he continued in the CASS to work as a full time researcher. In 1987, he was appointed as Deputy Director of the Institute, and Director in 1988. He was selected as representative of the Eighth and Nineth National People’s Congress. He has been serving as President of the Chinese Sociological Association since ‘1996.
Main publications: The Golden Age of Rural Development (1983), On A System of Contracted Responsibility Linking Remuneration to Output (1986), Rural Areas and Peasants in Contemporary China (1991), On the Path to Modernization of Rural China (1998) and The Glorious Course (1999).
The fourth Director: Professor JING Tiankui, 2001-2006
Professor JING was born in 1943 in Penglai, Shandong Province, earned his Ph.D. from the CASS in 1987. Professor Jing is the Director of the Institute of Sociology and Editor-in-Chief of Sociological Research. He specializes in social development theory and social security system, and has published numerous books and articles, such as: Chinese Society in Transition (eds., Heilongjiang People's Press, 1991), The Basics of Modern Social Sciences—Qualitative and Quantitative (Chinese Social Sciences Press, 1992); Sociological Methodology and Marx (People’s Press, 1993); New Phrases of the Open-door and Reform Polices (eds., Social Sciences Documents Press, 1992); Ideas on China’s Social Development (Yun'nan People's Press, 1998); China's Social Development and the Sociology of Development (The Learning Press, 1999).