The Hukou System

Abstract

The long history of hukou division has had a profound influence on how the modern Chinese state has unfolded. Premodern forms of the hukou system were an integral part of the state building process, the centralisation of power and authority and restrictions on migration and social mobility. State building in the republican era revolutionised the Chinese system of governance but failed to end the age-old use of hukou to govern society. The hukou system was maintained when and where possible for conscription and agricultural and industrial organisation. At the dawn of the communist era, the hukou system was radically adapted to play an integral role in the establishment of the planned economy and to make possible state emphasis on socialist control and transformation. These roles were maintained and strengthened over the three decades before policies of reform and opening brought new forces to bear on the age-old institution.