丁戊奇荒 시기의 부녀자 매매 현상과 부녀자 구조 ― 1878~1879년 河南省 부녀자 代贖 활동을 중심으로 ―

Abstract

This article demonstrates Women Trafficking and Rescure operation during the Great famine in 1878~1879. Using modern newspaper Shenbao and 「齊豫晉直賑捐總錄」, While identifying the reality of women's sales routes, sales sizes, traders and sellers, and sales purposes, it attempted to examine the perception of women in the modern transition period revealed through severe disasters. In our sense of human rights, the practice of marrying a daughter for money or selling devorce(賣休) seems very strange. However, this was very common in the middle and lower-class communities of the Qing Dynasty. In Qing Dynasty, it was common practice to pay a bride a fortune called pinli(聘禮) or pincai(聘財) before marriage, and especially among the lower class, it was very common to marry their daughter for cash. Legal disputes arose between the two families if the promised pinli had not delivered to the bride’s family, or female family suddenly canceled after receiving pinli from the groom’s family. As such, transactions surrounding women's body were by no means unfamiliar, and occurred more frequently during disasters. In other words, in the event of famine or disaster, it was common to marry a daughter with a even lower pinli than usual, or to exchange some food and daughter in worse cases. In addition, although there was a law prohibiting the sale of women by kidnapping, but in the Qing Dynasty’s legal practice, selling wives for poverty was generally tolerated. In particular, in the event of famine or disaster, the government took a tolerant attitude, considering selling wives or daughters as a self-rescue measure for the disaster victims, saying that banning every selling altogether would cut off the lifeline of the disaster victims. Thus, in the event of a disaster, Qing government usually Even though the government has protected the female and children victims who ran from disaster(逃荒), it was rare to repurchase them with public funds and send them back to their original places. In the private sector, women were protected by charities, but it was mainly an organization for widows who raised young children alone, and did not engage in activities such as finding, accommodating, protecting, or returning women who traded in the event of a disaster. Therefore, the reason the government did not take an active position on the sale of women in the event of a disaster can be seen as because the practices related to the sale of women were already prevalent in the Qing society. Even during Ding-Wu femine, the government intervened in the sales of women mainly in the case of kidnapping and selling involved with human traffickers, and showed a lukewarm attitude toward the sale of women due to poverty. This suggests that at that time, it was not a problem for people to receive money and trade human beings, but only human trafficking under specific circumstances and conditions. This situation came to an end in the early years of Guangxi, which is said to be the worst famine. During the period, Xie Jia-fu, a well-known social activist from the Suzhou, set regulations and policies related to the act of retrieving women who are sold by husband or family. Since then, organizations for retrieving women were established in Henan province. In addition, at the request of activists, the government issued announcements that prohibits women from accompanying them to the south and conducted arrest and investigation activities. It is significant that detailed policies on women's rescue, protection, and follow-up measures were enacted and implemented through social consensus, and efforts were made to eradicate trafficking through cooperation with government officials. In particular, the idea of retrieving the sold women and returning them to their own families has never been seen in the previous activities of the private rescue organization. However, it should be notted that trafficking itself was not considered a problem. Sales by husbands or parents, especially those of underage women, were excluded from the retrieving activity. One reason for this was the influence of expenses and practical difficulties, but the most fundamental reason was the perception of society at the time when there was a widespread practice of trading marriages or selling divorce. In conclusion, Yizhen, which is often regarded as a modern relief that is distinguished from traditional relief activities, was also an extension of traditional practice. In other words, even though women's relief at the time was not only publized as a social issue, and in the process of striving to eradicate trafficking, inhumane treatment of women was problematic, but social awareness of women was still an extension of traditional practice in that women's rights about their own body were regarded as belonging to husbands and parents.