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 historical  perspective  on  gender  issues  in  China  

by  Ruth  Schechter  on  09/11/09  at  6:02  pm  
 
China  has  32  million  more  men  under  the  age  of  20  than  women.  This  imbalance  is  
higher  in  rural  areas  and  leads  to  questions  of  marriage,  progeny  and  social  stability.  By  
perusing  through  China’s  vast  collection  of  legal  archives,  researchers  have  been  able  to  
glean  insights  into  widespread  historical  practices  that  set  the  groundwork  for  social  
behaviors  today.  
 
“The  central  and  county  archives  cover  a  wide  range  of  issues  that  establish  deep  
background  for  the  current  situation  in  China,”  said  Matthew  Sommer,  PhD,  an  associate  
professor  of  Chinese  history  at  Stanford  University  and  a  Clayman  Institute  for  Gender  
Research  faculty  affiliate.  “Though  we  study  legal  cases,  we  are  able  to  look  beyond  the  law  into  issues  of  gender,  
sex,  and  family  that  affected  ordinary  people.”  
 
Focusing  on  records  from  the  Qing  dynasty  (1644-­‐
1912),  Sommer  found  that  economic  stresses  of  the  
time  inspired  some  creative  solutions  among  the  poor  
and  marginalized,  where  about  15  percent  of  men  
were  never  married  in  a  culture  in  which  marriage  for  
women  was  nearly  universal.  
 
“For  the  poor,  there  were  just  not  enough  women  to  
go  around.  When  money  was  needed,  wife  selling  and  
polyandry  became  logical  solutions,”  said  Sommer,  
author  of  Sex,  Law,  and  Society  in  Late  Imperial  China.  
“Though  there  is  no  clear  way  to  measure  female  
infanticide,  more  subtle  forms  of  male  favoritism,  
such  as  feeding  boys  first  and  weaning  girls  earlier,  
made  females  the  minority.  The  bottom  line  is  that  women  became  a  coveted  asset  when  money  was  scarce.”  
 
Sommer  noticed  that  wife-­‐selling  often  took  place  around  the  new  year,  when  debts  were  traditionally  collected.  
The  husband  may  have  suffered  some  stigma  as  a  seller  and  his  chances  of  remarrying  were  low;  at  the  same  time,  
the  wife  may  have  had  some  input  as  to  who  she  was  sold  to  and  often  improved  her  economic  circumstances.  
 
Another  “under-­‐the-­‐table”  solution  was  polyandry,  a  household  of  more  than  one  husband.  The  second  husband  
could  buy  into  the  family  and  provide  labor  or  a  marketable  skill  if  the  first  husband  was  unable  to  work.  
 
“The  gender  system  was  certainly  biased  against  women,  but  they  still  had  some  say  in  these  matters.  Bringing  in  a  
second  husband  was  a  way  to  preserve  the  family,  to  avoid  selling  the  wife  or  children,”  said  Sommer.  ”Women  
were  not  necessarily  the  victims  because  you  can  see  that  these  arrangements  solved  problems  for  all  involved.  In  
fact,  sometimes  it  was  the  women  who  initiated  and  negotiated  these  arrangements.”  
 
 Though  both  these  practices  were  technically  illegal,  Sommer  found  archival  patterns  of  homicides,  when  sales  and  
wife-­‐sharing  went  awry,  and  cases  of  extortion,  when  a  husband  later  demanded  more  money  from  the  buyer  by  
accusing  him  of  kidnapping  and  rape—both  felonies  punishable  by  death.  Magistrates  would  sometime  ratify  the  
second  marriage  after  a  small  secondary  payment  to  the  first  husband.  Wives  could  also  go  to  court  or  make  a  public  
scene  if  they  were  unhappy  with  the  prospect  of  being  sold.  
 
In  China  today,  there  has  been  a  resurgence  of  the  
family  farm  and  with  it  a  material  and  cultural  
preference  for  sons,  said  Sommer.  As  a  result  of  
this  deficit  in  women,  a  newly  mobile  population,  
and  economic  realities,  there  has  been  an  increase  
in  kidnapping  and  sex  trafficking,  as  well  as  
marriage  fraud,  where  men  are  bilked  of  money  
through  fake  bride  sales.  
 
“It’s  obvious  that  these  problems  are  not  new  but  
based  on  a  skewed  sex  ratio  that  has  been  around  
for  a  very  long  time,”  Sommer  said.  “These  are  
problems  that  go  down  very  deep—a  complex,  
tenacious  intertwining  of  economic,  social,  
gender,  and  sexuality  issues.”  
 

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