The tax burden imposed upon the farmer has become a major source of discontent in the Chinese countryside and a worrisome source of political and social instability. Thomas P. Bernstein and Xiabo LÜ examine the heavy, informal taxation, revealing how peasants defend their interests by adopting peaceful and violent strategies of collective resistance. Bernstein and LÜ explain why the central government, often siding with the peasants, has been unable to resolve the tax burden issue by instituting a sound, reliable financial system.