The subject of this full, richly detailed study is a typical village in one of China's oldest agricultural regions. The author, whose native village it is, writes with skill and candor of he life of its people. Family life and village disputes, crop planting and children's games are only a few of the many aspects of rural life which he describes. A happy blending of intimate knowledge and scientific accuracy, this is the first work of its kind to tie together the various phases of rural life in China in a thoroughly coherent story.