阎云翔先生开创了中国私人生活变革的研究,探究了中国乡村家庭生活中的个人与情感问题,提出了研究私人生活的新模式,讨论了作为独立个体的个人之出现与发展和国家在私人生活的转型以及个人主体性的形成中所起的重要作用。他提出的“无公德的个人”的概念,成为洞悉中国乡村社会变迁、解读乡村生活的关键词。研究中略微不足之处在于作者对私人生活转型之原因的分析略微草率,对于私人生活的变革所带来的影响在判断上过于单一。他所倡导并身体力行的个人中心民族志方法,对中国乡村人类学的方法论建设有着很好的借鉴意义。
Yunxiang YAN makes a fundamental contribution to the research on the Chinese private life; his book creates a new way of thinking in countryside family life and deserves more relevant research. He introduces a new academic model and also gives some important concepts on the transformation of Chinese private life. His "Personal Center Ethnographical Methods" has great significance on the methodology of Chinese anthropological research at the same time.