1934年，我国遭受了几十年难遇的大旱灾，史称“甲戌大旱”。国民政府打着“科学”的旗帜勉力救灾，但旱灾造成的损失还是远远超过了国民政府的救援能力。同时，财政窘迫、技术障碍以及国民政府救荒机制本身的不足也极大降低了国民政府的救荒效能。为了减少社会恐慌、维护政权、巩固社会稳定，国民政府逐渐向“非法性”的民间传统祈雨活动妥协。这是一种基于现实的无奈选择，这种行为也显然违背了国民政府创建新国家的初衷。甲戌大旱无疑是对国民政府成立以来所进行的“现代化”尝试的一次检验，国民政府的应对深刻反映了中国抗灾救荒模式从传统向现代转型的曲折与困难，也充分体现出国民政府向“现代化”转型的曲折与困难。

In 1934, the southern and central parts of China suffered a severe drought that was difficult to encounter in decades, known as the "Jiaxu Great Drought" in history. The National Government is striving to provide disaster relief under the banner of "science", but the losses caused by the drought far exceed the rescue capacity of the National Government. At the same time, financial difficulties, technological barriers, and the shortcomings of the National Government's disaster relief mechanism have greatly reduced its disaster relief effectiveness. In order to reduce social panic, and consolidate social stability, the National Government gradually compromised towards the "illegal" folk traditional rain prayer activities. This is a helpless choice based on reality, and this behavior clearly goes against the original intention of the National Government to build a modern new nation. The Jiaxu Great Drought is undoubtedly a test of the "modernization" attempts made since the establishment of the National Government 7 years ago. The response of the National government deeply reflects the twists and difficulties of China's transition from traditional to modern disaster relief, and also fully reflects the twists and difficulties of the National Government's transition to "modernization".