One finds it difficult to accept these justifications as the origin of the land reform.There is a great distance between ideology and practice.[10]The making and enforcing of new rules are costly events.After all,the same land"problems"had been discerned in China long before 1949.[11] Why,then,did the reform in Taiwan take place only after the war?The striking similarities of reform regulations in Taiwan,Japan,Korea,the Philippines,and else-where,and the fact that all started between 1946 and 1950,may suggest that these reforms were prompted by the"influence"of the United States.[12]But,this foreign"influence"could at best explain the rapidity of land reforms adopted in Asia after the war.It is doubtful that the United States originated the specific reform policies.In the historical development of land tenure,we find that reform measures similar to the"Land-to-the-Tiller Act"had been introduced several times（for short durations）in China before 1800,and in several European countries during the nine-teenth century.Why they took place poses a puzzle which I will not seek to solve in this study.
[1].See Cheng Chen,Land Reform in Taiwan（Taipei:China Publishing Co.,1961）,pp.181-292.
[2].See Hui-sun Tang,Land Reform in Free China（Taipei:Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction,1954）,pp.221-23.It is entitled"Regulations Governing the Lease of Private Farm Lands in Taiwan Province."In 1947,a similar rental share reduction had been attempted in a few provinces in mainland China.
[3].See Chen,Land Reform in Taiwan,pp.191-97；and Tang,Land Reform in Free China,pp.224-28.It is entitled"Farm Rent Reduction Act."The rules of enforcement were established on February 2,1952.See Tang,Land Reform in Free China pp.229-31.
[4].Chen,Land Reform in Taiwan,pp.199-212.
[5].See Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction,"JCRR Annual Reports on Land Reform in the Republic of China,"composite volume,mimeographed（1965）,chap.3.
[6].The most comprehensive record of the provisions governing the Land-to-the-Tiller program is seen in Chen,Land Reform in Taiwan,pp.202-92.For its complexity in legislative development and enforcement,see JCRR,"Annual Reports,"chaps.4 and 5.
[7].T.H.Lee,"Impact of Land Reform on Agricultural Development and Rural Employment in Taiwan,"（Taipei:Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction mimeographed paper 63-RED-M-176）,pp.1-2.
[8].These points are found in:Yen-tien Chang."Land Reform in Taiwan,"mimeographed report no.1（Taichung:Department of Agricultural Economics,1954）；Cheng Chen,An Approach to China's Land Reform（Taipei:Cheng Chung Book Company,1951）,chap.1；idem Land Reform in Free China（Taipei:Free China Review,1953）,chap.1；idem Records of Taiwan Land Reform（Taipei:Chung Hwa Book Company,1961）,chaps.1 and 2；Hsio Cheng,The Theory and Practice of Land Reform in China（Taipei:Chinese Research Institute of Land Economics,1953）；JCRR,"Annual Reports,"chap.1；Sidney Klein,The Pattern of Land Tenure Reform in East Asia after World War II（New York:Bookman Associates,1958）,chaps.1 and 3；Lin-Fong Pun,New Ideas of China Land Reform（Taipei:Chung Wah Cultural Publishers Association,1957）；Tang,Land Reform in Free China,chaps.1 and 2；H.S.Tang and S.C.Hsieh,"Land Reform and Agricultural Development in Taiwan,"in Land Tenure,Industrialization and Social Stability:Experience and Prospects in Asia,ed.W.Froehlich（Milwaukee:Marquette University Press,1961）,pp.114-42；and Young-Chi Tsui,"Land-Use Improvement:A Key to the Economic Development of Taiwan,"Journal of Farm Economics（May,1962）.No formal analysis is offered by any of them.It is interesting that tenure writers everywhere seem to share the same views.
[9].See the preceding footnote.
[10].And in spite of all claims,evidence has yet to be found that farmers demanded a change in the existing system of property rights.Peasant uprisings in modern Chinese history,to my knowledge,have occurred only in periods and locations in which（1）property rights were hardly enforced,（2）the taxation was allegedly high,or（3）inflation,by raising the relative price of land,effected a redistribution of income in favor of landowners.
[11].See,for example,Tang-Yuen Chen,Systems of Land Tenure in China（Shanghai:Commercial Press,1932）,chap.18；Ro Nagamu,A Study of Land System in China（Chinese translation,Shanghai:Kuo Kwong,1934）；Han-Sheng Chen,Landlord and Peasant in China（Shanghai:Kelly and Walsh,1936）；Chung Sen Department of Education,Papers on Land Rent Problems in China（Shanghai:Commercial Press,1937）；Lin-Ho Kim,A Study of the Economics of Chinese Farming Villages（Shanghai:Chung Wah Book Store,1937）；Richard H.Tawney,Land and Labour in China（London:G.Allen and Unwin,1937）；Institute of Pacific Relations,Agrarian China,Selected Source Materials from Chinese Authors（Shanghai:Kelly and Walsh,1938）；Quan-Chung Yu,Land Systems and Regulations in China（Szechwan:National Szechwan University,1944）,vols.1 and 2；and the writings of Yet-Sen Sun.