Edited upon Fei's dictation in English, these succinct chapters are a general description of the Chinese rural area and overall society and an extension of Fei's early fieldwork researches; There are two interrelated themes, he functions of the scholar and the gentry in the traditional Chinese society and the relations of the country and the city, which are key to the understanding of the typer-stability of the traditional Chinese society and the upheaval of the modern Chinese society.

在费孝通英文口述基础上编撰，是对中国农村和中国社会的总体描述，也是他前期所有社区调查研究的连续；文中有两条相互交错的线索：其一是传统社会中文人和士绅的作用，其二是乡村和城市之间的关系——对认识中国传统社会的"超稳定结构"具有重要意义，更是理解中国近代社会剧变的关键。