Contemporary scholars place the rural-urban divide at the center of individual identity in China. This interdisciplinary collection traces the development and distinctions between urban and rural life and the effect on the Chinese sense of identity from the 16th century to the present day. It provides a daunting example of the influence that political ideology may exert on an individual's sense of place.

David Faure is Lecturer in Modern Chinese History and a Fellow at St. Antony's College, Oxford.

Tao Tao Liu is Lecturer in Modern Chinese History, University of Oxford and Tutorial Fellow at Wadham College.