농민 츄쥐는 어떻게 중화인민공화국 국민이 되었는가? - 영화 『츄쥐의 소송(秋菊打官司)』 프리퀄 탐색

Abstract

The particularity of the Chinese Revolution is widely accepted by scholars. Unlike the revolutions of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, it was a land reform movement combined with a farmers’ revolution. The premises leading to such results, however, still remain unanswered. One of the most important questions is how to understand ‘farmers’ within China. I propose to approach the question from several perspectives. First, we need to think about what it meant to be a farmer in the Chinese tradition; what land reform meant for them; and how they were transformed in the process. Some may argue that these issues have been sufficiently addressed. Through land reform farmers ascended as the key player in the Chinese Revolution and the success of that reform ultimately brought Socialism to China as the dominant ideology. In order to gain a thorough understanding, I argue, it is imperative to go one step further and discuss in what context land reform was implemented and what concrete changes it generated among Chinese farmers. Second, we need to ask how Chinese farmers converted to Socialism, an ideology that was at odds with their traditional identity and profits. What was at the core of their agency during that conversion? And what was the source of the energy that ended up creating ‘reverse direction flow’ since China’s reform and opening. Unless we can answer these questions, we run into a contradiction that the Chinese Revolution was farmers’ revolution in its essence, but the outcome of that revolution ushered in Socialism. An inquiry of such questions will help us understand the so-called “Three Rural Problems”, a rising issue in contemporary China. This article is a re-examination of assumptions related to the Chinese Revolution initiated by farmers. As a departure point, this study employs The Story of Qiu Ju, directed by Zhang Yimou. The Story of Qiu Ju illustrates in realistic detail China’s agrarian society and the changes experienced by farmers since China’s reform and opening. The focus of the current article is the historical background that precedes the temporal setting of the film. That is, it examines the historical journey of Qiu Ju and other characters depicted in the film, offering to serve as a ‘prequel’ of the film, The Story of Qiu Ju.