Socio-economic Conditions

The Li economy was backward and development was lopsided before liberation in 1949. Over 94 per cent of the Li area was in semi-colonial, semi-feudal society and the landlord economy was fairly developed. In general, the level of development in agriculture and handicraft there was lower than that of the Han areas, so were commerce and animal husbandry. People were impoverished under feudal exploitation and the Kuomintang government's heavy taxation.

In the heart of the Wuzhi Mountains, 13,000 Lis still lived a primitive communal life of collective farming by the time of liberation. A communal farm consisted of several families related by blood. They worked collectively and shared the harvests. This area was more backward than the rest of the island economically. The communal farms -- the "Hemus" -- fell into two major categories: smaller farms based on maternal or paternal blood relations and larger farms which admitted "outsiders" who had no blood ties with the original member families.

Each commune had a headman who was in charge of production and distribution and officiated at religious ceremonies with his wife's assistance. He was also a social leader who mediated disputes and was empowered to admit "outsiders" as communal members. Headmen and members were equals in the old days but, under the influence of feudalism, some headmen began to seize public grain reserves as their own and exploit "outsiders." Some later became government officials and degenerated into local tyrants.

While farm cattle remained public property, farm tools, hunting and fishing gear and work tools were privately owned by families. With the inception of private ownership of cattle and land, the practice of selling and pawning land became popular, as did the leasing of cattle and land. Rent was paid in kind. The exploitation of hired labor began to appear, and the primitive communal system gave way to serfdom and slavery. The establishment of prefectures and counties accelerated class differentiation among the Li people.

A social unit called "kom" existed for a long time in the Li areas. Koms were different in size, and had strict territorial boundaries between each other. A big kom consisted of several small ones which in turn were usually formed by two villages. Most disputes between the koms arose over infringement of each other's territory for hunting, fishing or wood-cutting purposes. Like many of the communal farms, the koms were based on blood relations, and each had one or several headmen chosen for their administrative ability or seniority. Headmen chaired meetings, settled disputes and formulated regulations. With the growth of the feudal economy, the headmen of the koms gradually came to represent those in power.

Hainan's liberation in May was followed by the campaign to wipe out remaining bandits and fight local despots. The Hainan Li-Miao Autonomous Prefecture was founded in July 1952 and the government provided the local people with seeds, farm tools, cattle and grain to help them develop production. Land reform brought tremendous changes to the Li areas. New water conservancy projects and improved farming methods have contributed tremendously to the growth of the rural economy over the years.

Poor farmers were mostly illiterate in the past. They made knots on ropes or counted beans to keep records and notes. Now school age children can go to school.

Hospitals, epidemic prevention stations and clinics have been set up in the prefecture and all the counties. Smallpox and cholera, once rampant here, have been brought under control while the incidence of malaria which once took the lives of a whole village, has been reduced drastically.

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