The anthropologist and professor of sociology at Peking University has won global fame for his ground-breaking research into the lives and progress of people living in China's rural areas.

But it is in China that his achievements have had the greatest impact - influencing everyone from central government leaders to students.

And while Fei is inextricably linked to the development of China in respect of rural townships, he is also a beacon for those who believe that attention must be paid to history and traditional culture in the headlong drive to advance.

Before I met Fei Xiaotong, I wondered if such a man of profound knowledge and great achievements would be hard to approach and get along with for a common Chinese like me.

But my worry turned out to be unnecessary after my recent meeting with him in central Beijing.

When my friends and I entered his house, a two-storey building in traditional Chinese style, at Xiaoxitian, Xicheng District, Fei stood in his courtyard and greeted us with a big smile.

He appeared younger and more energetic than I had previously imagined.

As Fei and I hail from the same home city of Wujiang, East China's Jiangsu Province, it wasn't long before we struck up an easy conversation in the local dialect.

Then I felt relaxed and began to do my job - taking photos of him.

Fei said: "My goal in life, which has occupied me for decades, is to understand Chinese society, figure out its fundamental characteristics and those of rural Chinese society in particular."

In his view, countries all over the world are undergoing the process of modernization and China is no exception.

"But China has to find her own way. And we must first understand how Chinese society evolved from a historic and scientific point of view," said the 92-year-old scholar.

"Since my youth, I have been conducting sociological and anthropological research to help people understand Chinese society.

"Although I have tried very hard, I have to admit there is still a long way to go before I gain a thorough understanding of Chinese society. But I would like to share my experience with younger generations who are still working towards the same goal."

Fei often jokes that he is "a little ghost who missed the call to go back to Hell due to the negligence of Yama, King of Hell."

This is because he was born in the early morning of the first day of the 10th month of the lunar calendar. The night before the 10th month in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar was believed to be the day when ghosts are released from Hell to pay a visit to the home of their past life.

And before the dawn of the first day of the 10th month, traditionally the Ghost Festival, these spirits are expected to return to Hell.

But his remarks could be interpreted as a metaphor of his own complicated and sometimes painful personal history.

Fei was born into a family of knowledge and wealth on November 2, 1910 in Wujiang.

His mother, Yang Renlan, was the founder of one of the few earliest modern kindergartens in China. His father, Fei Pu'an, once studied in Japan and was a prestigious educator and founder of the first middle school in Wujiang.

In 1928, Fei Xiaotong entered Dongwu University in Nanjing, hoping to become a physician. But he changed his mind in 1930.

"I abandoned the lifelong aim of treating people's physical diseases and went after the greater goal of curing social illness and injustice. That was when I first had the idea of becoming a sociologist and anthropologist," he recalled.

Fei said that to understand China and Chinese society was his lifetime commitment.

But where to start since China is so big a country with so long a history?

He believed that scientific research must be carried out on the basis of reliable material, the most reliable of which comes from one's own observations.

Therefore, he began by carrying out field work.

For almost six decades, Fei has devoted himself to teaching sociology and anthropology in China while conducting research.

Fei received sociological training at the Yenching and Tsinghua universities in Beijing.

In 1935, Fei went with his first wife, Wang Tonghui, to do field research on the Lanhua Yao ethnic group in the Dayaoshan area of what is now the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China.

During that work, Fei was badly hurt when he fell into a trap and his wife drowned while searching for people to rescue him.

Later that year, Fei went back to recuperate in Wujiang where he conducted systematic field research of the social structure and functions of the Kaixian Village, talking to peasants person to person and one by one while taking detailed notes and gathering statistics.

In late 1936, Fei studied in London University under the tutorship of famous anthropologist B.K. Malinowski and received his PhD two years later with his dissertation entitled "Peasant Life In China."

The work, now widely considered a milestone in China's sociological field research, tackles for the first time in sociology and anthropology in the world, the dynamics among the development of small townships and the distribution of population and productive forces, and structural changes, modernization and urbanization of rural China.

In that summer, Fei came back to China and first taught sociology at Yunnan University in Southwest China and then at Tsinghua University from late 1945 to 1952. He taught at the Central Academy of Nationalities between 1952 and 1957.

Fei said that he felt happy and lucky that, after suffering hardship and humiliation during several years of political turmoil in China, he was able to resume his role as a sociologist in 1979 when he established and presided on the Chinese Sociological Association, which promotes sociological studies in China.

Between 1980 to 1985, Fei worked as director of the Research Institute of Sociology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Since 1985, Fei has worked as director of the Research Institute of Sociology at Peking University.

Academic Achievements

Based on his detailed field research efforts, Fei has scored remarkable academic achievements churning out a large number of works either in English or in Chinese.

Among his masterpieces are "Peasant Life in China," "From the Soil," and "The Foundations of Chinese Society." These are all essential reading for sociologists interested in rural China and have also been listed as required reading for students of Chinese studies in a number of universities in the United States.

His works have been widely recognized as instrumental in laying a solid foundation for the development of sociological and anthropological studies in China.

"I admire Fei Xiaotong greatly for his careful and precise approaches and long-time devotion to conducting field research at grass-roots level in rural areas," said Li Shenming, vice-president of the China Academy of Social Sciences.

Jing Tiankui, a research fellow with the Research Institute of Sociology under the academy, said: "At the start of the revival of sociology in China, Fei Xiaotong, then the first president of our institute, presided over the investigation of the development of small and medium-sized townships.

"The results of his field work on this subject and his theory and propositions on the future development of townships in China have exerted a phenomenal influence on the central government's decision-making process in this regard."

David Arkush, from the University of Iowa in the United States, said: "What are the fundamental characteristics of Chinese society and how do they differ from the West? In 'From the Soil,' China's foremost sociologist offered his insights, based on his fieldwork in China and residence in the West, into this fascinating question."

Fei's insightful, decades-long research on rural China has won him international acclaim and numerous awards such as the Malinowski Prize of the International Applied Anthropology Association, Huxley Memorial Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Encyclopaedia Britannica Prize, and the USA and Asian Cultural Prize in Fukuoka, Japan.

As well as academic accomplishments, Fei has also made significant contributions to the modernization of China, particularly in the development of the country's rural economy.

In his recent articles and speeches, Fei has addressed such hot issues as preserving Chinese cultural legacies amidst the nation's drive to develop its western regions and the impact of globalization on Chinese society and Chinese culture.

"We must have a long-term, strategic point of view in developing local economies. It is a near-sighted and even dangerous approach to do it at the cost of rich and diversified local cultures in these areas," the scholar warned.

"We have not paid enough attention to retaining our traditional culture over the past two centuries. Now we should look back and rethink its significance and gain a stronger cultural awareness as globalization gathers pace."

Fei insists that we should hold an equal attitude towards any culture from widely different ethnic groups and different geographical areas in our country.

"Because these cultures together help us maintain our identity as a great Chinese nation and Chinese people in the Orient," he explained.

A Social Activist

Besides his work as a scholar, Fei has also led an active social and political life in China.

He has taken up such important roles as Vice-Director of the State Commission of Ethnic Affairs, Chairman of Central Committee of the China Democratic League, Vice-Chairman of Sixth Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress.

He was also Vice-Chairman of the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Every year, Fei continues to devote most of his spring and summer time to traveling and doing field research in rural areas.

Last year, he traveled to more than 10 provinces and autonomous regions and municipalities, visiting cities such as Shanghai, Changzhou, Wujiang, Suzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Shenyang and Lanzhou.

He said he has not been to Tibet Autonomous Region and Taiwan Province. "These two regions will be my future destinations for doing sociological and anthropological research, if possible," he said.

In the autumn and winter each year, Fei writes down his observations, questions and thoughts which later become much sought-after articles and books for readers and admirers.

Apart from work and academic pursuit, Fei said he still enjoys the simple pleasures in his daily life.

He is an avid music lover who loves both local music from Wujiang and Western music.

Fei is a good calligrapher and connoisseur of Chinese ink painting. He also published his collection of poems last year, which were written with a great variety of styles.

To maintain his good health, Fei has invented his own morning exercise routine and has been practicing it for more than 20 years.

Fei is an experienced gourmet who is willing to try every local snack and delicacy when traveling to a strange place in rural areas.

But "I still like youzha choudoufu (fried strong-smelling preserved bean curd) from my home town the best," Fei admitted.

Fei said he believes there is an untold mystery and beauty in Chinese food art which is hard to explain to Westerners.

"What I have been doing merely concerns the basic, material life of Chinese folks; but for a loftier level - people's spiritual life, that is the work artists should do," he said.

(China Daily September 26, 2002)