Since the 1930s, many Chinese intellectuals have worked towards solving China's rural issues. Noted sociologist Fei Xiaotong proposed rebuilding rural areas through industry, thereby freeing farmers from the soil. In contrast to the Academic School represented by Fei Xiaotong were expedments in rural recon-struction in the 1920s and 1930s by a group of young intellectuals, outstanding among them Yan Yangchu (Y. C. James Yen)and Liang Shuming in the countryside, Dr. Yan Yangchu (1890-1990) was leader of the Rural Reconstruction Movement in Hebei's Dingxian, Another scholar Liang Shuming (1893-1988) meanwhile focused on rejuvenation of traditional Chinese culture in his experiment in Shandong's Zeuping County.