Young cadres overseeing rural mediation, legal advice

Convention, pragmatism

He said village cadres are constantly shifting between different roles — such as villager, manager and mediator — and they have to adapt their thinking to that particular role, instead of only using their status to order people to do certain things or constrain others. He thinks that village cadres and mediators should acquire a wide range of knowledge, including the law, and take practical steps to help villagers resolve any issues they encounter.

"I firmly believe that the law is the bottom line for all behaviors. By the time villagers confront each other in court, a considerable gap has already opened between them. As the old saying goes, 'Anything beyond the scope of the law is a matter of sentiment'," he said. "Each village has its own set of conventions, formed by gathering input from all the residents and votes on matters. These conventions play a pragmatic role in practice. I think these village conventions have a stronger emotional impact than the law when handling village issues."

At 36 years old, Wang Lingyun is chair of the women's federation in Ruolian, a village in Lanzhou's Honggu district, and also a member of the mediation committee. She said that ways of raising awareness of the law and undertaking dispute mediation in rural areas cannot be learned overnight.

She recalled the first time she and her colleagues visited villagers' homes for interviews: some people were initially resistant and felt that their agricultural work was being disrupted by the visit.

"I've learned that it's important to engage in some casual small talk first, getting to know the people a little before moving onto work-related topics. Or during their breaks, I join them for a chat and introduce legal awareness into our conversation. To truly gain the villagers' trust, you have to get into their hearts," she said.

In the past two years, Wang has seen a significant decline in the number of disputes in the village, mainly due to diligent implementation of local conventions and the dissemination of legal knowledge.

"The village's legal advisers also regularly explain points of law based on the residents' needs. As the villagers begin to understand the regulations, they become more conscious of the legality of their actions, thus reducing disputes," she said.