From the Ming Dynasty in Fujian, there were gender-differentiated population records in China local chronicles, and by the Republic of China, there were systematic population figures of men and women all over the country. However, most of these figures show that there is a serious gender imbalance in China, that is, the proportion of men is much higher than that of women. It was not until the late Republic of China that this disparity in sex ratio eased. Scholars are controversial about this issue. Some scholars believe that there is no excessive disparity in the sex ratio between men and women in the history of China, and the unbalanced sex ratio in history is mainly due to the fact that investigators rarely input the number of women. In my opinion, demography is never just a question of demography itself, but also a question of social history. In the past, experts in population history paid little attention to the phenomenon of female infanticide in the history of China, but in fact, this problem was very serious in the history of China. Since the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the custom of drowning baby girls has prevailed in Fujian, resulting in a social problem of more men and fewer women. During the Republic of China, with the popularity of the child bride system, the custom of high salary and honesty, and the role of war in reducing the number of men, the proportion of men and women in Fujian gradually eased. By extension, there is indeed a phenomenon of imbalance in sex ratio in the history of China, and the existence of this situation cannot be easily denied.
First, the custom of not raising children in Fujian in the Song Dynasty The custom of not raising children was widespread in China society in the Song Dynasty, which was recorded in the History of Song Dynasty: when people moved to build a state, their vulgar children were not raised, and Ding was banned. Jianzhou in this paper is the Jianzhou of Fujian Road, which is located in the north of Fujian. It can be seen that the custom of baby drowning in northern Fujian at that time has attracted the official attention. Later, Du Qi learned about Jianyang County, a folk custom, getting old and having children. Let the five guarantees look at each other, and the offender will get a felony. The above is the information of the Northern Song Dynasty. At the turn of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, Zhao Shanjun, another imperial clan, banned infant drowning in the local area. He also pointed out that it is usually not recommended to establish a custom and have children. Li Gang's "Ou Yue Ming": Shi's people said that Shu Ren had children, only one or two were left, and the rest were drowned. What geometry have you killed in 200 years? What goes around comes around, as it should.
In fact, this custom is common in the southeast region: Qu, Yan, Xin and Rao Zhimin, who don't have many children, please forbid it the next day. The custom of not raising children in the southeast is very hurtful. Please bring up the Han people's "order to raise a fetus" so that all of them can survive, so as to avoid Gou Jiansheng gathering people to inform him. When Wang xin was appointed as an Anfu envoy in eastern Zhejiang, he built a fishing dike, forbidding people to have children, bought a school field, set up a righteous burial ground and built all the post offices. It can be seen that the custom of infant drowning once existed widely in southeast China, but it is more famous in Fujian. The earliest record of the custom of infant drowning in Fujian can be traced back to Gu Kuang's mourning poem in the Tang Dynasty, which wrote: Born in Fujian, the official in Fujian got it, which is the best yang. In order to get it, the house is full of gold. In order to be a clip, it's like seeing vegetation. I was poisoned by ignorance of heaven. Blessed are those who know nothing about Shinto. Don't leave me alone I regret giving birth to you. People have advised me not to do this since you were born. If you don't listen to people, you will suffer. Say goodbye to lang, and my heart is broken, and I will never be in front of lang again at the grave. Fujian in the Tang Dynasty was regarded as a wild land, with some rather backward customs. Gu Kuang's poems reflect the custom of selling castration in Fujian in the Tang Dynasty. After entering the Song Dynasty, the official banned the custom of selling castrated children, but the custom of drowning babies still existed, which was called "not raising children". There are several reasons why Fujian people didn't have children in Song Dynasty: First, family planning. Yang, a Neo-Confucianist in Song Dynasty, said: Of the eight states in Fujian, only Jian 'an, Jian 'an, Ting and Shaowu have many children. This is very common in annals. The idea of how many children to raise according to the amount of family property is very progressive. If the date is not indicated, it is difficult for people to imagine the concept of ancient Fujian people. This shows that not all the ancients gave birth blindly. But because the ancients didn't understand contraception, they had to denounce the drowning of babies. On Fujian in the Song Dynasty in the Records of Yanping County: Fujian gave birth to many children until the fourth child, but they failed to raise them well because their income was not enough to support them. Because the people in Fujian generally felt the difficulty of raising children at that time, many of them were doomed to drown. Generally speaking, family planning directly reflects the contradiction between population growth and limited productivity.
Second, I am afraid of the separation of many children. In ancient Fujian, Fujian people and Vietnamese people lived there. Later, although this person merged into the Han nationality, their heritage had a great influence on the Han nationality in Fujian, such as inheritance. The parents of the Han people in the Central Plains split up after their death. As long as their children are adults, Fujian people split up even if their parents are still alive: men and women have discussions, and private affairs are dominated by their parents. In this way, adult children are very reluctant to add siblings to their parents. We will continue to have children after separation. It is better to be swaddled and drowned. Parents tolerate ninjas, and brothers are afraid of their differences and have to kill them from the side. People in some places simply keep only one son because they are afraid of the separation of many children. For example, Liu Pingshan, a native of Chong 'an in the Song Dynasty, said that there was no war in Hezhou, and the disaster in Fujian and Guangdong was not eliminated. Or kill the child and get angry. The land is barren and narrow, and the world is not immune. Girls are divided, boys are divided, and they often wear clothes. The heirs are unparalleled. In Hong Mai's Jane Yizhi, the story of Huang Chong, a native of Chong 'an, was recorded: at the beginning, his mother was dead, and his father was in his sixties. He was pregnant when he bought a concubine, but recently he was pregnant and went to school in the county. The father and his brother conspired:' I have this shame in my later years. Will it be lifted today? Or with someone? Otherwise, what if you raise your aunt and treat her well and become a monk?' Yes:' this is common sense, only the orders of adults. If you don't give birth to it, you have to go somewhere. "My concubine gave birth to a boy. My brother sent a letter of filial piety to pay tribute to his father in class. The father told the story and ordered the baby to go out. In the autumn and a half, every family in Fujian makes wine, and several giant barrels are filled with water and put in court to check their leaks. Hand in hand, throw it into the bucket and drown. This is a story about a brother drowning his younger brother, which reflects the customs of Fujian at that time. This concept is different from that of northerners. The custom of inheriting the only son in northern Fujian also influenced the local land system. Originally, due to the existence of China's equal inheritance system, the landlord class will return to the small land system because of separation. In this way, the relative balance between the big land system and the small land system has been formed. However, due to the birth control of Chong 'an people, there were not many rich children and the property was not easily divided, so this balance was broken, and the land system in Chong 'an was particularly developed in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. According to Zou Biography of Yuan Dynasty, more than 50 big landlords in Chong 'an County accounted for five-sixth of the county's cultivated land, while others only owned one-sixth of the land. This shows that the rich people in Chong 'an really drowned their babies for fear of separation.
Third, the per capita tax is heavy and unbearable. In ancient Fujian, there were always corvees and taxes. People in many places drowned their babies because they couldn't afford too high taxes. Zheng Xingyi said in the Southern Song Dynasty: Since Gai's military rise, the hukou has withered, and corrupt officials, traitors and blasphemers have resurfaced, trying to kill children without losing taxes. Due to the heavy taxes in most dynasties in Fujian history, the inability to pay taxes has always been an important reason for infant drowning.
Fourth, I am afraid of getting married and going bankrupt. There is a proverb in the history of China: You can't steal from five women, which means that your daughter will be poor if she raises too many families, even if she steals taxes. Due to the influence of the legacy of Fujian and Vietnam, coarse marriage prevailed in ancient Fujian. For example, Liao Gang talked about the wedding and funeral customs in Zhangzhou: if you marry a woman's family, you must have hundreds of neighbors. Cattle drink wine, but also receive silk, money and silver, and then think it is a gift. When a woman gets married, outsiders are forbidden to look at the thickness of the dowry, and they have to pay for the car. There are thousands of people with a large rate, and no fewer than hundreds of people have infiltrated. If not, neighbors will laugh and men and women will be dissatisfied. ..... The rich are proud of luxury, and the poor are ashamed of incompetence. They often borrow money to trade, but if they are unable to do so, they would rather ignore it. Therefore, men and women are out of date and can't get married ... It's also a trend to go to the hot springs to revive flowers. This county is very special. I tried to ask around. Ignorant people know their mistakes, but they are afraid of customs and cannot change themselves.
Fifth, in the absence of birth control measures, without looking at whether it is male or female and unable to support it, the newborn baby is inserted backwards into the toilet, resulting in suffocation and death of the newborn baby.
Sixth, medical diagnostic equipment and medical technology are backward, and it is impossible to determine whether the fetus conceived by pregnant women is deformed or congenital mental retardation. After birth, these babies were artificially eliminated and drowned.
People often say that having more children is the traditional idea of China people, which seems to be inconsistent with historical facts. At least in the Song Dynasty, people in northern Fujian did not have the idea of having more children. The custom of infant drowning was forbidden in the Southern Song Dynasty. As mentioned earlier, as early as the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a custom that local officials prohibited infant drowning in northern Fujian. However, this prohibition was only a moral issue at that time. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the imperial court lost a lot of territory in the north, hoping that the population in the south would increase greatly to enhance its national strength. Therefore, the call from Confucianism to ban infant drowning has gradually become an official policy. First of all, philosopher Shi Yang made great contributions to changing the custom of infant drowning. When his friend Yu Zhongkuan was appointed as the magistrate of Shunchang County, Shi Yang wrote a letter to Yu Zhongkuan, asking him to ban the custom of drowning infants locally. Therefore, Yu Zhongkuan wrote an article about forbidding killing children, and asked the elders of all townships to sit down and pay tribute to their relatives. If you publish an article, you will be persuaded by your fellow villagers not to be killed. There are thousands of people living in the years. Therefore, children often use "Yu" as the fine print. Judge Cao Fu was transferred to the court. I changed Zhongkuan to another official, and I still ordered a new appointment, a new formulation, and implementation all the way. A few years later, Yu Zhongkuan passed Shunchang on his way home, and hundreds of children surnamed Yu met him in the suburbs. The imperial court promoted Yu Zhongkuan's methods in various places and encouraged ordinary people to have more children. In the eighth year of Shaoxing, Liu Dazhong, the minister, played: Since the fall of the Central Plains, the people in the southeast died of fire, plague, floods and droughts, and even became soldiers and thieves. In all cases, the rest survived. The traitors abused the people and demanded too much, and the salt and oil silk was the worst. Stupid people would rather kill their children than live without them. Zheng Xingyi particularly emphasized that Fujian should prohibit babies from drowning. He said: I'm afraid of fashion. At first sight, obedient boys will go down the well, which is out of nature and out of love. If you don't force it, ordinary people will naturally. As for the father and son, they will be cruel if they get used to it. As for having more children, it will hurt the harmony between nature and justice, destroy the relationship between adults and the world. This is especially true when you build a pavilion and think less about Suzhou. Since the start of the army, the registered permanent residence has withered, and I have been greedy for more than bullying less, repeatedly abusing money, paying attention to salt and silk, not seeking art, being a stupid villain, killing my son and unwilling to lose taxes, and being awarded Fujian Road by my favor. I have been here for two years, and I can't tell you the terrible situation. I secretly see that your majesty is sympathetic to the people, and every time he breaks through, he tries his best, and I don't know how to tolerate it. I am willing to abide by the rules of this dynasty, so I killed my descendants for two years. The four States were forbidden to abide by the law, show good and evil, tell people to sue officials, examine the facts, and the prisoners paid money. The client also instructed the landlord to lift the ban. Waihe respectfully requested to command Shen Yan. I look forward to your careful examination and prompt implementation. There are more and more ordinary teeth and more registered permanent residence, which has been a blessing for hundreds of millions of years. Under the guidance of this policy in the Song Dynasty, local officials in Fujian tried to change the custom of infant drowning prevailing in mountainous areas in various ways. When Zhu Song, Zhu's father, was an official as a county commandant, he wrote "Don't Kill" and came to Fujian. When he heard that Fujian didn't like to have more children, it wouldn't be a shame to kill him. Killing children and grandchildren for no reason is clear. He advised people not to drown babies. One day, he said to his descendants, "New Year (Qiao Year is Zhu Song's word). Wei Maozhi also took persuasion as the main way, and established customs to have more children, which was forbidden by Wen and won the hearts of the people. Some officials take the way of rewarding childbearing, and Liu is good at seduction, which is strictly forbidden in Nanjian State Government. Those who help Xiaomi, those who do not, are guilty. Getting used to it is easy. Another example is Yu and Zheng Qiaoyan. Fujian is too small and densely populated to support. There are many children. Fujian raised Song Zhirui to beg for exemption, construction, court and Shao official land and collect their rent to help the people raise children. The imperial court decreed that money should be given to foster children and boxer, and it was forbidden for the poor not to raise children, and those who could not have children should be given money to raise them. Outside Fujian, there are people who implement similar policies, such as Yong, Dao, Chen, Guiyang supervisor, Chaling county, etc. They have never given up their children or their money, silk and rice. Taoist priests such as Zhu and others also cooperated with the official action. There is a custom of infanticide in Shaoguangze County. Middle and lower-class families, when giving birth to children, are not excited and give up killing. However, under the influence of Zhu and others, the local government set up a foster home and a social home, in which the income from the foster home was specially used to feed abandoned babies. It should be said that it is not so easy to change folk customs. Although there is an official ban, in fact, the custom of infant drowning has a long history in Fujian. However, due to the official ban, this custom was restricted in the Song Dynasty. The bad habit of drowning infants has changed to a certain extent, leading to the population growth in Fujian. For example, when Lin Jiren slaughtered Ou Ning for three years and the number of households increased by more than 15,000, he made the' four good and six good' class a league official, and Ou Ning was the first. It can be seen that the custom of prohibiting infant drowning in Song Dynasty has achieved certain results.
It should be noted that in Song Dynasty, Fujian people drowned not only baby girls, but also baby boys. For example, Hu Yin, a great scholar in the Song Dynasty, was from Chong 'an County in northern Fujian. In the Song Dynasty, Biography of Hu Yin recorded that Hu Yin almost drowned when he was born: Yin was going to have a baby, and his sister-in-law could not bear to lift it. Anguo's wife dreamed of jumping into the basin to hold her son. However, for Fujian people, baby boys are more valuable for preservation. Therefore, the baby girl is the most common folk drowning, and it is a rich family, but there are only two men and one woman, and there is a large rate of one man and one woman in the middle and lower families. This custom continued until the Yuan Dynasty. For example, the general rule of the Yuan Dynasty specifically stipulated the problem of drowning women: now every girl who falls into the water and stays behind, half of her family has no official or army. The existence of this historical data shows that the custom of drowning baby girls was very popular in the Yuan Dynasty, and under the guidance of this custom, it will inevitably lead to an imbalance in the gender ratio between men and women-more men than women. Second, the popularity of the custom of drowning baby girls in Fujian during the Ming and Qing Dynasties Since the Ming Dynasty, the custom of drowning baby girls in Fujian has undergone great changes. From baby boy and baby girl drowning, it gradually evolved into a drowning baby girl.
We know that there are four main reasons for infant drowning in Fujian in Song Dynasty: one is family planning; Second, fear of separation of many children; Third, the per capita tax is heavy and unbearable; Fourth, I am afraid of getting married and going bankrupt. By the Ming Dynasty, all four reasons had changed. First, in terms of family planning and child-rearing, northern Fujian in the Song Dynasty was a place lacking in food, which often happened. Therefore, people are afraid of having more sons. However, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, northern Fujian became the granary of Fujian, and a large amount of grain was continuously transported and sold in the lower reaches of the Minjiang River, so farmers in northern Fujian did not have to consider the problem of being unable to feed their children. Secondly, on the issue that many children are afraid of separation, the viewpoint of Fujian people gradually approaches that of most people in China, and the viewpoint that many children are blessed has become universal. As we know, during the Southern Song Dynasty, northern Fujian was the residence of Zhu and other rationalists. Due to the influence of these neo-Confucianists, some ideas of Confucianism originated in the north are gradually sought after by Fujian people, which is understandable. For example, in Fuan County, men and women farm and weave in peace, and brothers are inseparable. Third, in terms of per capita tax, there was a real per capita tax in Fujian in the Ming Dynasty, that is, the salt tax calculated on a per capita basis. However, whether or not to levy per capita tax in Fujian in the Ming Dynasty depends on the actual number of people, because the population figures were generally concealed in Fujian in the Ming Dynasty, and the population held by the government was far below the actual number, which is the common sense of Fujian history in the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, even if people have more children, they can hide them in various ways, thus reducing the per capita tax. Fourth, Fujian people in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were afraid of bankruptcy, and they still maintained the customs of the Song Dynasty: Shao Wu, for example, was more worldly than marrying a wife, and thrifty with his godson ... still beneficial to the fields, and the woman was arrogant to her aunt. Fuzhou, married only with economic strength, is a powerful family in the market, with a high price and even a fixture. If you delay the teacher, you have to correct it. As the saying goes,' money to marry a woman, no money to teach children'. The wind has stopped. Because the dowry is too heavy, people have to make every effort to prepare it. For example, in Chong 'an County, when the daughter is a few years old, the mother will prepare for the marriage, and the husband will not think about it. The heavy dowry burden often leads to the bankruptcy of families, such as Gutian County in Qing Dynasty: Gutian married a daughter, with a household fee of more than 1000 yuan, a middle household fee of several hundred yuan and a household fee of more than 100 yuan. Selling a house is often difficult to pay off debts. Men's homes are full of flowers and candles; The girl's family is full of people. What are its dimensions? Chen Yutang: There are also three immortals and double string tables. Chen in the room: Bat constellation, box class in Taiwan Province province. Decoration in the first place: pearl ring, agate and white jade hairpin. But what about thrift? He said,' I am afraid to laugh at the hard-working party, my aunt and sister, and Bo Xi's voice can also be afraid'. Fate is a last resort, and a woman is drowned at birth. Most of the drowned women in his city belong to the poor, and Gutian turned to enrich the people. In fact, this situation is very common. Another example is Haicheng County in the Qing Dynasty: marrying women's clothes is a waste of money, and ... bad customs, shameful drowning of women, and thieves harming conscience. Obviously, the custom of thick marriage was still popular in Fujian during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which led to the custom of drowning baby girls in Fujian. The change of customs made Fujian people change the custom of drowning boys in Ming and Qing Dynasties, but the custom of drowning girls was still circulating, which caused the change of sex ratio of Fujian population in Ming Dynasty.