民国期上海の女性誘拐と救済 : 近代慈善事業の公共性をめぐって

抄録

This article throws light on abduction in Republican China, using the letters and reports of the Anti-Kidnapping Society (AKS) founded in Shanghai in 1912 as its main source. According to the investigations of the AKS, about one fifth of the victims of abductions had been deceived and sold by their acquaintances, such as family members, relatives, neighbors, and fellow workers. However, abduction was the result of the arbitrary exchange of female and child labor rather than a product of the fixed status system of the traditional family and society. The paper also reconsiders the public character, or gong of charity, and explores how the AKS selected the beneficiaries of relief actions. For example, it rejected 'bad' women who swindled philanthropists by pretending to be victims, while tolerating the sale of children by family superiors. Moreover, it investigated women who had been involved in affairs or had run off with a man. In other words, this kind of charity was a paternalistic work with the intention of protecting decent families, or baoliang. Furthermore, the AKS never discussed clear criteria for the selection of beneficiaries, but depended on the ethical judgment of each employee.