In this section we shall focus on attitudes, mentality, and institutional arrangements which may be related to demographic characteristics of the population in the lower Yangzi region, with an emphasis on urban populations. Since information on this subject remains scanty, our discussion must be regarded as tentative, although it does provide useful insights into the demographic characteristics that we have found so far.
Although the remarriage of widowers was a normal phenomenon, marriage to much younger women was ridiculed.18 Moreover, although concubinage was regularly practiced in the towns, stories were told during the Qing period about righteous men who rescued unfortunate girls from becoming concubines and helped them to contract proper marriages, and these men were ultimately rewarded for their efforts.19 A concubine was usually obtained by purchase, and some wealthy men
17 Liu Shih-chi, “Taiping Tianguo luanhou Jiangnan shizhen de fazhan 太平天國亂後江南市鎮的發展, 1865-1911 (The Development of Market Towns in Jiangnan after the Taiping Rebellion, 1865-1911)”, Shih-huo Monthly, 7: 11 (1978), 547-576; M. Elvin, “Market towns and Waterways: The County of Shanghai from 1480 to 1910”, in G. W. Skinner (ed.), The City in Late Imperial China (Stanford, 1977), 441-474; C. W. Pannell, “Recent Growth and Change in China’s Urban System”, in L. Ma and E. W.
Hanten (eds.), Urban Development in Modern China (Boulder, Colo., 1981), 91-113.
18 Chu Jiaxuan 褚稼軒, “Jian-gu shou-ji 堅觚首集” (1695 edition), 1/11a-b in Biji xiao-shuo da-quan xü-bian 筆記小說大觀續編 (Additional Collection of Notes and Stories) (Taipei, reprint, 1962), vol.
13; Chu Jiaxuan, “Jian-gu shi-ji 堅觚十集”, 4/12b-13a, ibid., vol.15.
19 Liang Gungchen 梁恭辰, “Bei-dong-yuan bi-lu san-bian 北東園筆錄三編” (1845 edition), 2/6b in Biji xiao-shuo da-quan 筆記小說大觀 (A Collection of Notes and Stories) (Taipei, reprint 1962), vol.
23; Chen Kangqi 陳康祺, “Lang-qien ji-wen 郎潛記聞” (1880 edition), 2/8b, ibid, vol.22.
22
were able to afford to be generous and provided matchmakers with opportunities to profit.20
As regards remarriage of widows it would appear that only during the Qing period were remarried women looked down upon. Cases of families of scholar-officials were cited to show that “remarried women were not considered to be anomalous” during the Song dynasty.21 However, Qing customs in the lower Yangzi area meant that remarried women were treated differently in the marriage ceremony and there were often bitterly criticized.22 In these circumstances it is not surprising that there are countless cases in the literature of women who were praised for their virtue!23 Most local gazetteers contain chapters which tell stories of virtuous women, or at least list their names. In addition, philanthropic organizations were founded in many cities for the support of poor widows. For example, in Wujin county a jingjietang 敬節堂 (literally, a Hall for Respectable Charity) was founded in 1796 to support 300 virtuous widows every year.24 In Jiangdu county a lizhentang 勵貞堂 (literary, a Hall for Determinative Chastity) was founded in 1840 to support young widows less than 30 years old, and a xulijü 恤嫠局 (Office for the Assistance of Poor widows) to distribute subsidies to widows of the poor gentry class, and a baozhenjü 保貞局 (Office for the Protection of Virtuous widows) were set up in 1881 to provide pensions for widows who had decided not to remarry.25 This evidence of attitudes towards the remarriage of men and women in Imperial China in the lower Yangzi region supports our contention that the fertility of husbands exceeded that of first wives.
The reason for the rather moderate level of marital fertility in the lower Yangzi region in Ming-Qing China may lie in the fact that estimates based on genealogical records underestimate true fertility, as only recorded sons were counted. Could there be other reasons besides deficient data? It is well known that infanticide was practiced as a means of population control in traditional China.26 However, during the Qing
20 Cai-heng-zi 采蘅子, Chung-ming man-lu 蟲鳴漫錄 (1877 edition), 1/25b-26a in Bi-ji xiao-shuo da-guan, vol. 14.
21 Lu Jingan 陸敬安, “Leng-lu za-shi 冷廬雜識” (1865 edition), 1/10b in Bi-ji xiao-shuo da-guan xü-bian, vol. 13; Chu Jianxuan, “Jian-gu san-ji 堅觚三集”, 1/11a , ibid., vol. 14; Qien Yung 錢泳,
“Lu-yuan cung-hua 履園叢話” (1870 edition), 23/6a-b in Bi-ji xiao-shuo da-guan, vol. 17.
22 Cai-heng-zi, Chung-ming man-lu, 2/12b; Chu Jiaxuan, “Jian-gu shou-ji”, 4/8-13b.
23 Lu Jingan, “Leng-lu za-shi”, 6/8a-b; Zhu Meishu 朱梅叔, “Mai-you-ji 埋憂集” (1874 edition), 4/8b in Bi-ji xiao-shuo da-guan, vol. 10; Huang Junzai 黃鈞宰, “Jin-hu qi-mo 金壺七墨” (1895 edition), 51b-2a, ibid., vol.11; Zhu Mouxiang 朱畮香, “Ming-zhai xiao-shi 明齋小識” (181 edition), 4/1b-12a, 5/12a-b, ibid., vol. 13.
24 Wujin Yanghu hozhi 武進陽湖合志(A Combined Local Gazetteer of Wujin and Yanghu Counties) (1866 edition), 5/25b.
25 Jiangdu xü xianzhi 江都續縣志 (Additional Gazetteer of Jiangdu County) (1885 edition), (Taipei, reprint, 1970), 12b/18-21.
26 Chu Jiaxuan, “Jian-gu liu-ji 堅觚六集”, 3/2b-3a, in Bi-ji xiao-shuo da-guan xü-bien, vol. 14; Chen
23
period homes for foundlings (yuyingtang 育嬰堂, literally, homes for nursing babies) were set up in cities in the lower Yangzi region by members of local élite groups.27 At least forty-five such homes were founded between 1655 and 1736 in county towns or prefectural capitals.28 The motive behind the founding of such institutions was partly the revulsion felt by members of the élite classes against the practice of infanticide, but it was also true that economic development had made available more funds which could be used to set up and support these organizations. In short, effectiveness of infanticide as a measure of population control in the lower Yangzi region during the Qing period would have been checked provided these foundling homes were functioning properly.
Since age at marriage was generally quite low in traditional China,29 late marriage could not have acted as a preventive check. It is, however, noteworthy that the literature of the Ming-Qing period contains references both to contraception and to abortion. For example, in an essay written in memory of his mother, Gui Youguang 歸有光 (1507-71), a famous scholar form Kunshan崑山, mentioned that she had suffered when giving birth to her seven children (four girls and three boys, of whom two girls died when they were very young), and did not want to conceive again. She took some kind of drink, concocted by an old woman, which contained two spirals. As a result, she lost the power of speech, though she did not conceive again, and died a year later at the age of 25.30
Though this story does not suggest that the potion was particularly effective, it is revealing that the idea of contraception did exist, and that birth control was practiced in the area as early as the beginning of the sixteenth century. Moreover, it is mentioned in the contemporary literature that there were women who specialized in the provision of abortifacient drugs who were known as yaopo 藥婆 (women pharmacists), and who were skilled in providing abortions.31 However, scanty this evidence is, it does suggest that the practice of abortion could have affected the
Kangqi, “Lang-qien ji-wen”, 10/3b; G. Rozman, Population and Marketing Settlements in Ch’ing China (Cambridge, 1982), 35-38.
27 S. Fuma 夫馬進, “Zendō zenkai no shuppatsu 善堂、善會の出發 (The Beginning of ‘shantang and
‘shanhui’),” in K. Ono 小野和子 (ed.), Min-Shin jidai no seiji to shakai 明清時代の政治と社會 (Politics and Society in the Ming-Qing Periods) (Kyoto, 1983), 210-219.
28 Liang Ch’i-tzu 梁其姿, “Shiqi shipa shiji Changjiang xiayou zhi yuyingtang十七、十八世紀長江下 游之育嬰堂 (Foundling Homes in the Lower Yangzi Area during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries)” in the Institute of the Three Principles of the People (ed.), Papers on the Maritime History of China (Taipei, 1984), First collection, 97-130.
29 G. W. Barclay et al., “A Reassessment of the Demography of Traditional Rural China,” Population Index, 42: 4 (1976), 609; Liu Ts’ui-jung, “The Demography of Two Chinese Clans in Hsiao-shan, Chekiang, 1650-1850,” in S. Hanley and A. Wolf (eds.), Family and Population in East Asian History (Stanford, Calif., 1985), 13-61.
30 Gui Youguang 歸有光, “Zhenchuan xiensheng ji 震川先生集 (Collected Works of Gui Youguang), in Si-bu cung-kan ci bien 四部叢刊七編 (Shanghai, 1919-22), 25: 328.
31 Chu Jiaxuan, “Jian-gu liu-ji”, 4/10a; Zhu Meishu, “Mai-you-ji”, 4/8b-9a.
24
fertility of traditional women in the lower Yangzi region.
There were other customs relating to birth: women who specialized in midwifery (wenpo 穩婆) are mentioned in the Qing literature, but were also known during earlier periods. Stories about the skills of these women who practiced in the lower Yangzi region are told, and some of them became wealthy.32 Moreover, there were many medical and psychological procedures designed to assist women who had experienced difficulties in childbirth.33 These matters may be relevant for any future studies of infant mortality in China, a topic that has not so far been studied in Chinese historical demography.
Finally, we must mention institutions for the relief of the poor, help during famines, and the provision of coffins and burial grounds for poor persons and vagabonds. Some studies of famine relief in traditional China already exist.34 Their functioning would undoubtedly have reduced the number of deaths during periods of food crisis. As regards poor relief, organizations such as yangjiyuan 養 濟 院 (asylums for the relief of the poor), which were established by the state, and pujitang 普濟堂 (asylums for general relief), which were set up by local people, operated in most cities during the Qing period. Their object was to provide shelter for the aged and to distribute alms to widows and orphans.35 When these organizations functioned effectively, the support they provided will undoubtedly have saved the lives of many of the poor.
The provision of coffins and graveyards was considered to be an important philanthropic duty, at least during the Qing period. Such establishments were mentioned in many local gazetteers. Thus, between 1824 and 1841, in Wujin county, offices were set up in seventy-two rural districts to provide coffins for those who died on the roads or rivers, and these establishments kept close contact with the cunrentang 存仁堂 (literally, Hall of Benevolence) which was set up in the county town.36 Quite apart from the fact that these provisions constituted charitable acts which would
32 Chu Jiaxuan, “Jian-gu liu-ji”, Yu Yueh 俞樾, “Cha-xiang-shi xü-chao 茶香室續鈔”, 5/9b, in Bi-ji xiao-shuo da-guan xü-bian, vol. 16; Zhu Mouxiang, “Mai-you-ji”, 7/6b-7a; Lu Changchun 陸長春,
“Xiang-yin-lou bin-tan 香飲樓賓談”, 1/16a, in Bi-ji xiao-shuo da-guan, vol. 10.
33 Chu Jiaxuan, “Jian-gu yu-ji 堅 觚 餘 集 ”, 4/5b in Bi-ji xiao-shuo da-guan xü-bien, vol. 17;
Qing-cheng-zi 青城子, “Zhi-i xü-bien 志異續編”, 4/4b-5a, 7a, in Bi-ji xiao-shuo da-guan, vol. 22; Yu Yueh, “Cha-xiang-shi xü-chao”, 21/2b-3a.
34 P. E. Will, Bureaucratie et famine en Chine au 18e siècle (Paris, 1980); L. M. Li, “Introduction:
Food, Famine and the Chinese State,” Journal of Asian Studies, 41: 4 (1982), 687-710; R. Bin Wong and P. C. Perdue, “Famine’s Foes in Ch’ing China,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 43: 1 (1983), 291-331; Liu Ts’ui-jung and Fei Ching-han 費景漢, “Qing-dai cang-chu zhi-du gong-neng chu-tan 清 代倉儲制度功能初探 (Preliminary study on the operation of the Ch’ing Granary Systems)”, Academia Economic Papers, 7: 1 (1979), 1-29; Liu Ts’ui-jung, “Qing-dai cang-chu zhi-du wen-ding gong-neng zhi jian-tao 清代倉儲制度穩定功能之檢討 (A Reappraisal of Functions of Granary System in Ch’ing China)”, Academia Economic Papers, 8: 1 (1980), 1-31. ,
35 Fuma, “The Beginning of ‘shantang’ and ‘shanhui’”, 205-207; Wujin Yanghu hozhi, 3/32a-33a.
36 Wujin Yanghu hozhi, 5/31a-3b.
25
provide a return for the benefactors, the proper disposal of the bodies of those who died on the roads and rivers was an important hygienic measure for the protection of the environment.
4. Conclusion
Urbanization in the lower Yangzi region during the Ming and Qing periods developed not only through an increase in the number of market towns, but also through the specialization of towns in trading in particular commodities.
Studies based on a number of genealogies show that the proportion of remarried men tended to be higher in the towns than in the country and that this raised urban fertility. Mortality in the towns probably did not differ much from that of the rural population. Migration from the country to the town during the eighteenth and late nineteenth centuries around Shanghai also resulted in increased urbanization. Finally, qualitative information on institutions relating to marriage, births, and deaths can be used to give a better understanding of the quantitative data presented in this chapter.