(Yicai Global) July 3 -- 'Isolation zone' is an expression generally associated with adversity and punishment, and it will hardly recall single men once hearing it. But in the 21st century, an "isolation zone for single men" does exist in East China's Jiangsu Province. Different from the isolation zones of punishing nature, this kind of isolation is rather "soft," and can be somewhat regarded as a preferential treatment if being judged merely by the material conditions.

'The Single Man in The Village' recently published by Social Sciences Academic Press records the stories of dozens of single men in Jiangbian village in Jiangsu province. Through some interviews and participating observations, Peng Dasong, the author of the book and an associate professor at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, describes the lives of single men in the village, including their external social environment, and the struggle, depression and impulsive thoughts in their inner world.

The emergence of "isolation zone" can be traced back 10 years ago. In 2007, during the re-construction of the village, single men in Jiangbian village were asked to live with lonely old men in the three rows of bungalows, which are located in the west of the village. A single man living on collecting scraps used to live in an old house at the entrance of the village, which was convenient for him. But since he moved into the new house, he had to go across the village to collect scraps on the highway every day. What makes him more depressed is that a villager keeps a dog, which often barks when seeing him dragging rubbish bags. To avoid being bitten by the dog, he has to take a detour and go through the northwestern corner of the village. 

The "isolation zone" has left a deep impression on Peng. From the perspective of an observer, he feels that the newly built houses have much better conditions than old ones, but the zone is located at the periphery of the village, which is surrounded with clustered weeds, and dirty and messy environment, so villagers prefer not to go there. "Single men used to stay within the village, which would save them the sense of isolation although they lived in shabby houses."

Such soft "isolation" is created by providing preferential policies for single men, as well as lonely old men, to buy house. This is a natural move without any evil intention. As recorded in the book, some single men indeed steal, harass women, gamble or live in unhygienic conditions, and are regarded by other villagers as "poor and hateful." Such isolationist arrangement facilitates management and enables uniform planning.

In the eyes of He Shaohui, deputy director of the Center for National Governance and Public Policy Research, Hunan Academy of Social Sciences, it is rare to see piling up single men and establishing so-called isolation zones like the one in Jiangbian village, but single men are, in fact, in a disadvantaged position in rural areas. "The single life they have to endure is lonely and miserable," says He.

Instant Noodles and Sexual Depression

In 2012, on the night of the 24th day in the lunar 12th month, often marked as house cleaning day to create a festive environment for the Chinese New Year, Peng went back to Jiangbian village to do more research about single men's domestic environment they live in after coming home from work. The wind suddenly intensified when he reached the cottage area on the west side of the village.

Wang Er is a single man who generally goes home on New Year's Day. Walking into his house, Peng just saw two pieces of furniture: a 14-inch black and white TV set and a bed. One corner of the wall was littered with several leftover instant noodle boxes. There was also a package of unopened instant noodles at the end of the bed. Next to the TV stood an enamel bowl, beside which a pair of chopsticks scattered around, and several remaining instant noodles still hung on the rim of the enamel bowl. In contrast to other families, Wang would eat instant noodles during the New Year's holiday. Only the eve and the first day of the lunar New Year were exceptions. On those two days, his brother would take him home for two meals under the pressure of village leaders. The brothers were like two strangers. Wang once told Peng that only when playing cards would he feel alive.

Wang is a microcosm of single men in Jiangbian village. Their existence was suppressed under the sound of Spring Festival firecrackers. In the village, unmarried people are not counted as real families. This means that single men are rarely greeted in the most important festival of the year, and are often not invited to weddings and funerals. While the village people were in celebratory mood with families and relatives, single men would generally feel embarrassed, "hiding" in the community life.

In addition to social exclusion, single men also face the deterioration of economic conditions as single life can also exacerbate poverty. "Some people were not very poor at first, but they gradually became negative as they had no wives. They stopped working hard or earning money," Peng observed.

The sexual depression faced by single men is also another issue examined in the book "Single Men in the Village." Behaviors such as prostitution, voyeurism, exhibitionism, incest, wife renting and wife sharing are reflected in Peng's interviews. These stories, which are often not voiced, partly came from the evasive oral narration of the single men interviewed, and partly from discussions with other people in the village.

Peng told Yicai Global that the contemporary artist Mao Ding, who had done two years of field investigation in Xiangxi Miao Village, also perceived the sexual depression faced by single men and brought inflatable dolls for the local single men when he returned to the village. The artist's behavior was criticized by the media as "show," but Peng did not think so. "I also want to know what solutions are available, but there seems to be no way. Many people blame the artist, but his behavior is understandable if you go there and have a look.

30 Million Potential Single Men

The concept of "30 million potential single men" was repeatedly mentioned by the scholars interviewed. The most professional source of this number may be the National Population Development Strategy Report released by China's National Population Development Strategy research team in 2007. The report says, by 2020, there may be 30 million men who would not be able to find a woman to get married in China. And some scholars indicated that 10 percent of the men born in the middle and later periods of 1980s would not be able to be married, and the 10 percent means a rough range from 30 million to 40 million, based on the data of the sixth nationwide population census in 2010.

"The men living in cities would not be the sticking point in this issue, while the men living in rural areas would cause more pressure." Ma Chunhua, the vice researcher of the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the number speculated by demographers is about "marriage squeeze." The 2011 data cited in Peng's book also supports this conclusion. The data show that men in rural areas can hardly get married once they are older than 33 years old, while the percentage of married men ranging from 33 to 50 years old in cities increases as the age rises.

In Ma's opinion, such imbalance is partly because of the spouse gradient theory that people follow, i.e. females prefer males whose social status is higher; whereas males prefer females with lower social status. He Shaohui pointed out that the population mobility under the background of urbanization is another important reason for such problem. "Rural females go to cities in large number, leading to fewer opportunities for not only rural men but also urban women to get married."

"Through former studies on population mobility, we find few men in villages choose not to work in cities. Their status in villages will be lower if they do not do so," Ma said. In his view, working in cities does not only mean more economic resources, but also plays an important role in marriage. "Staying in the village means fewer potential marriage partners, and the girls who have gone to cities and broadened their horizons despise the men who stay in the village, which is quite understandable."

"The Single Men in the Village" records the struggle of rural youth when they go out to work in cities. Different from many other young people who want to earn money by working in cities, Zhi Peng does so purely aiming to find a wife. "If it weren't for a wife, I would not work in cities. You cannot earn much money but have to work under others." Zhi Peng once managed a kiln in the village, and had never gone out for work until 29. His fiancé left him for another man, and said she would never be together with a man who never went to cities in his entire life. At that moment, he realized "girls in the village at the same age either got married or fell in love with other people." The opportunities available to single men staying in the village are limited, which forced him to work in cities for the first time, and start all over again. However, when he arrived in a city, he found the opportunity was not in abundance. His income was far lower than that from managing the kiln in his hometown, and his marriage partner has never shown up.

"Leftover Lady" and "Single Man" in Migrant Society

The bachelors in villages are left over while women have married one after one. Peng recorded the marriage of young girls in Jiangbian village as well, many of whom have found their spouses in the group of workers and some of whom have married just for the sake of settling in a city. He still remembers that a girl from the village has married with a disabled man in a city.

It seems that the single men in villages and women in cities are both "leftover." Yet, some sociologists claim that "leftover lady" is a pseudo-proposition, because this is the living state voluntarily chosen by the elite women. If they are willing to marry a man with lower status, they can eventually get married. Ma Chunhua adds that the problem of "leftover ladies" involves both active and passive factors. "Indeed, they have refused many men. Yet, all of the women who are interviewed are willing to get married. However, it is unnecessary for them to guarantee the material life through marriage and they are seeking for the spiritual agreement. It is more difficult to meet a man precisely meeting such requirements.  

In a mobile society, marriage is no longer limited by geographical location, but is more linked with social hierarchy. In this sense, the helplessness surrounding "leftover women" and "single men" is different, although they look the same. The former is hesitating to make a choice, while the latter has no choice, with only sole wish of "marrying a woman."

"As for the young men in cities, they are anxious about what kind of spouse to look for. As long as they like, they still have space to make a choice. The problem for the bachelors in villages is whether they can find a spouse or not. In other words, the bachelors in villages already have no choice as their standard for a spouse is reduced to the minimum," Peng says.

In Tibetan areas of North Sichuan where Ma made research, almost every village has over ten bachelors. However poor it is, there are girls from higher-altitude and more-isolated villages willing to come here. "What can the poorest villages do? How can the problem be solved for the men without resources to exchange?" Ma did not see any solution. But she has seen the influence that the bachelor group may bring to the whole society that is the total fertility rate decrease and less number of younger workers. And consequently, more and more old people will be supported by less and less young people.

Long before the research started, Chen Youhua, the supervisor of Peng Dasong's doctoral dissertation, reminded him that he should not have much expectation on his research, since the occurrence of a large number of bachelors is essentially a problem without solutions. He had hoped to find out some solutions in his research. Nobody, including the scholars and the dissertation judges, has any solution to the problem yet. Can Peng hope to find one by the time he completes his dissertation?