| List of Illustrations and Tables | | xi | |
| List Key Informants | | xiii | |
| Weights and Measures | | xv | |
| Preface | | xvii | |
| Acknowledgments | | xxi | |
| Abbreviations Used in the Notes | | xxiii | |
| Introduction: Entering the Village | | 1 | (22) |
| 1 Staying in the Village, Exploring the World of Renqing Guanxi | | 23 | (28) |
| "We are brothers and sisters, uncles and nephews" |
| | 23 | (2) |
| "We Hakkas are real Han; our ancestors came from the Central Plain" |
| | 25 | (4) |
| "Ku Village is such a good place, with good mountains and good water" |
| | 29 | (6) |
| "Natural geography brings our village good fengshui" |
| | 35 | (3) |
| "This is a world of renqing guanxi" |
| | 38 | (13) |
| 2 Talking the Past, Making History | | 51 | (30) |
| "The Communist army came to our village" |
| | 55 | (4) |
| "They said poor people had turned over" |
| | 59 | (3) |
| "The situation was at its worst; many died of starvation" |
| | 62 | (5) |
| "They were local emperors" |
| | 67 | (6) |
| "This was a period of chaos" |
| | 73 | (8) |
| 3 Planting the Pomelo, Walking away from Poverty | | 81 | (36) |
| "Villagers suffer poverty throughout their lives" |
| | 84 | (2) |
| "Dividing the land is good" |
| | 86 | (4) |
| "Pomelo is our golden fruit" |
| | 90 | (7) |
| "All day every day is almost the same in the village" |
| | 97 | (4) |
| "What do farmers rely on? A piece of land and two hands ..." |
| | 101 | (6) |
| "I prefer life in the village" |
| | 107 | (3) |
| "It was the way to achieve security" |
| | 110 | (7) |
| 4 Practicing Democracy, Losing Legitimacy | | 117 | (14) |
| "It is just old wine in a new bottle" |
| | 118 | (4) |
| "Our authority cannot be compared with before" |
| | 122 | (9) |
| "The game of the Communist Party can only cheat the dead" |
| | 125 | (6) |
| 5 Defining Responsibility, Negotiating Relationships | | 131 | (30) |
| "The government cannot cheat us any longer" |
| | 134 | (3) |
| "Today's government doesn't care about us" |
| | 137 | (8) |
| "The Maoist government cared for the poor and elderly ..." |
| | 145 | (3) |
| "Cadres have to serve the people" |
| | 148 | (4) |
| "They aren't good leaders; they lack education" |
| | 152 | (4) |
| "Not bad, he is the ideal candidate for a village head" |
| | 156 | (5) |
| 6 Expressing Discontent, Carrying out Resistance | | 161 | (24) |
| "Nowadays there are more and more taxes" |
| | 163 | (2) |
| "This is a double taxation" |
| | 165 | (5) |
| "Money is in our pocket. Nobody can get it." |
| | 170 | (5) |
| "The Communist Party is excellent at naming" |
| | 175 | (5) |
| | 180 | (5) |
| 7 Paying the Price, Getting a Son | | 185 | (24) |
| "A couple has the duty and obligation to carry out family planning" |
| | 187 | (2) |
| "Daughters are outsiders. Spending money on them is like spilling water" |
| | 189 | (5) |
| "Guerrillas of excess births are the troublemakers" |
| | 194 | (7) |
| "Those above have policy; those below have countermethods" |
| | 201 | (4) |
| "School is for education, not for birth control" |
| | 205 | (4) |
| 8 Bypassing Government, Rebuilding the Village | | 209 | (18) |
| "Whether we have a good or bad harvest depends on the heavens" |
| | 211 | (6) |
| "Never forget your roots" |
| | 217 | (5) |
| "We are old, Ku Village depends on you young people" |
| | 222 | (5) |
| Conclusion: Leaving the Village | | 227 | (14) |
| Villagers as Practical Philosophers |
| | 229 | (1) |
| | 230 | (2) |
| Economy, Culture, and Politics |
| | 232 | (1) |
| | 233 | (1) |
| Defining Zeren as Moral Politics |
| | 234 | (2) |
| Popular Resistance in Ku Village |
| | 236 | (5) |
| Epilogue | | 241 | (6) |
| Glossary | | 247 | (8) |
| Bibliography | | 255 | (16) |
| Index | | 271 | (16) |
| About the Author | | 287 | |
