户籍制度简介[外文翻译]

本科毕业设计（论文） 外 文 翻 译 原文 ： Guest Editor’s Introduction Zhangtingting The Household Registration System (hukou) was a pivotal institution of political and social control in Maoist China. For more than twenty years, people under this system had no freedom to relocate. Rural-urban migration was particularly sanctioned. Though unintended, the incursion of economic reform in the late 1970s set in motion a chain of consequences that began the erosion of the hukou system. This issue of Chinese Law and Government presents translations of he selected government regulations, directives, and circulars regarding the administration of the hukou system before and after the reform. PartI contains the official definitions of the hukou-related concepts as well as an official explanation of the registration procedures. Part II includes two regulations that present a macro-picture of the framework of hukou registration before the reform: “Registration of the People’s Republic of China on Residence Registration” of 1958 and the “Circular Concerning the Institutions of Residence Registration Transfer Procedures for Transfered Cadres and Workers.” Part III introduces new regulations created to cope with the increasing population mobility since the reform, including “Regulations on Residence Identity Cards of the People’s Republic of China,” “Regulations on Applications for Temporary Residence Cards,” “Regulations on Public Security Management over Rented and Leased Housing,” to name a few. These regulations shed light on the changes that have occurred in the hukou system and its future. To usher in the main body of this issue, I shall briefly examine, in this introduction, the following questions: How did the hukou system come into being? How was it enforced during the Maoist era? What political, social, and economic forces brought about the changes in the hukou system? And what is the future of the hukou system? The Origin and Significance of the Household Registration System After 1949, China adopted a centralized command planning system and a Stalinist-type economic development strategy. Maximizing the industrial output was the major concern of the economic planners. Given its limited financial and economic resources, the Chinese government elected to develop industry at the expense of agriculture. In order to induce unequal exchanges between industrial and agricultural sectors, the Chinese government had to create, first and foremost, a political mechanism that not only artificially separated industry from agriculture, and the cities from the countryside, but also blocked the free flow of resources, including labor. The Chinese solution was the hukou system. On January 9, 1958, the standing committee of the First National People’s Congress passed “Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Residence Registration.” These regulations formally initiated a full-blown nationwide hukou system. It required each family in urban areas to register at the public security department and to hold a valid registration booklet. In the booklet, the name, birth date, occupation of each family member, residence of the amily, and family status (agricultural or nonagricultural) were recorded.1 China classified nearly 90 percent of the population living in the countryside as agricultural. This segment of the population was not allowed to change their hukou status or to migrate to urban areas. Anyone seeking officially sanctioned rural-urban migration was required to complete a dual-approval process: changing the place of regular hukou registration and converting hukou status from agricultural to nonagricultural (nongzhuanfei). To change the place of a hukou registration and to obtain a migration permit, an applicant was required to present appropriate documents to public security authorities. Converting a hukou tatus from agricultural to nonagricultural was subject to simultaneous “policy” (zhengce) and “quota” (zhibiao) controls. An applicant was required to satisfy the conditions set forth in the policy control criteria, while at the same time obtaining a space under the quota control.2 The process was usually extremely difficult. Enforcing the Hukou System From its inception, it was apparent that the hukou system could not function on its own. To assist the hukou system in controlling population mobility, collective farms were established throughout China. These farms were bestowed with government administrative functions. While the unit of the hukou registration was the household in cities and towns, it was the village in the countryside. Village collectives maintained a single register with the names of all households and individuals. Peasants were required to report to the collectives for daily work. If a peasant needed to travel, he was required to seek permission from his village to leave. If granted, he would receive a letter of introduction from the village, which would serve as an identification card during his trip.3 Collectivization of the farm sector was completed in 1956. Coupled with the hukou system, this assured a high degree of state control over the rural populace. Meanwhile, a formal urban rationing system was instituted in 1953. State-rationed products covered almost all foodstuffs and other consumer goods from cloth to bicycles. To purchase the state-owned products, people were required to present ration coupons in addition to the required payment. The allocation of food rations and other consumer goods, as well as social services, were directly linked to household registration. Ration coupons were given out only to registered urban residents. Stateowned work units (danwei) were in charge of distributing ration coupons. In addition, a danwei also provided housing, children’s education, health care, transportation, movie theaters, and even restaurants to its employees. Few from the countryside were able to earn a living in urban centers without an official job assignment. Thanks to rationing and the danwei system, urban residents, on average, enjoyed a far better standard of living than rural residents. Could peasants live in cities without urban registration before the economic reform? Although travel was occasionally restricted, it was not the main obstacle prohibiting spontaneous migration. The main obstacle was the requirement of urban registration for employment and the supply of basic necessities. Without a local hukou,