本文為筆者反思施堅雅教授的學術風範：對於國家農耕社會（state agrarian society)及其現代轉變有興趣的學術世代’有深遠的影響。筆者將他的區域系 統分析與 Maurice Freeman、Arthur Wolf、Myron Cohen、Barbara Ward、James Watson和David Faure的作品並列’強調他們如何詮釋中國社會和文化的同一與 分殊’及理解原初之「跨地方社會（translocal society)與其現代命運」的觀點。

This is a personal reflection on how Professor G. William Skinner’s scholarship has deeply influenced generations of academics who are interested in state agrarian societies and their modern transformations. I juxtapose his regional systems analysis with the works of Maurice Freedman, Arthur Wolf, Myron Cohen, Barbara Ward, James Watson, and David Faure to highlight their perspectives in explaining unity and diversity in Chinese culture and history and in understanding “the original translocal society and its modern fate”