Prostitution and Sexuality in Shanghai: A Social History, 1849-1949

Christian Henriot

Cambridge University Press, Apr 23, 2001 - History - 467 pages

Shanghai's nightlife, from the mid-nineteenth century until the victory of the Communist Party in 1949, was dominated by the world of prostitution. Henriot portrays the Chinese sex trade, from the sophisticated life of the courtesan, to the common life of street prostitution. He examines the extent to which these worlds were integral to Chinese social life, commercial trends, and Chinese mores and sexuality. Henriot draws a picture of a sector that was sensitive to economic and social change, and thus a good reflection of Shanghai's changing social structure, societal attitudes, and commercial development.

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A comprehensive analysis on the changing role of prostitution during the 19th and 20th Centuries. Can be used as an insightful and analytical tool for the academic or a fascinating read for the common history fan.

Contents

• Prostitutes to the Elite and: 19
• Tables: 21
• 2 Age structure of a sample of courtesans: 28
• Plates: 39
• Lives of Splendor and Wretchedness: 47
• Portrait of a courtesan in the nineteenth century: 49
• A brawl in a brothel: 69
• Fuzhou Road: 94
• 1 Record of sentences handed out to prostitutes: 96
• Ancillary Forms of Prostitution: 99
• taxi dancers in 1946: 108
• 1 Approximate numbers of prostitutes 18751948: 120
• 6 The causes of entry into prostitution: 127
• 7 Reasons for leaving prostitution: 133
• Sex Suffering and Violence: 138
• 1 Record of venereal diseases treated in: 143
• 3 Prevalence of venereal disease among prostitutes: 149
• A courtesan being attacked in the street: 157
• The Female Market in Shanghai and China: 165
• 1 Number of sentences for abduction of women in: 168
• 4 Native province of 29 traffickers arrested: 174
• 5 Age of prostitutes as reported in Shen: 176
• Maps: 180
• 12 Sentences handed down by the Mixed Court of: 193
• Houses of Prostitution in the Urban: 201
• The Walled City in the midnineteenth century: 205
• Detailed map of a district of prostitution 1921: 221
• Houses of Prostitution: 226
• 1 Size of the courtesans establishments 19221924: 230
• The Economy of Sex: 248
• 1 Changes in the cost of licenses for the houses: 251
• Disease Prevention and the Policing of Morality: 273
• 1 Number of prostitutes registered at the lock hospital: 281
• The Abolitionist Movement in Shanghai: 291
• The Nationalists and Regulationism Chinese: 312
• Institutions for the Rescue of the Prostitutes: 334
• 1 Fate of the inmates of the Door of Hope: 344
• Notes: 363
• Figures: 382
• 2 Geographical origins of women and girls rescued: 395
• Bibliography: 431
• Index: 463

Popular passages

Page 455 - Ta Tsing Leu Lee, being the Fundamental Laws, and a Selection from the Supplementary Statutes, of the Penal Code of China.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Prostitution and Sexuality in Shanghai: A Social History, 1849-1949
• Author: Christian Henriot
• Translated by: Noel Castelino
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2001
• ISBN: 0521571650, 9780521571654
• Length: 467 pages
• Subjects: History / Asia / General; History / Modern / 20th Century; Psychology / Human Sexuality; Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social; Social Science / Prostitution & Sex Trade; Social Science / Regional Studies; Social Science / Sociology / General