Stet
5363-53
3. In theory, the pei nu (maid-servant or slave girl) system has no existence in China, where slavery, expressly forbidden in the latter years of the Manchu dynasty, is now a punishable offence under Article 313 of the Criminal Code of the Chinese Republic; but, in actual fact, it is in force from one end of the country to the other. Girls are everywhere openly bought and sold for maid-servants or slaves, the euphemism Yang nu (*)" adopted girl" usurping the place of pei nu (*) so offensive to the ear of the law, and their use as domestic slaves in the families of well-to-do Chinese is too common to call for comment, except on the rare occasions when inhuman treatment occasioning the death or injury of some unfortunate girl is brought to light. One such case of revolting cruelty, to which prominence was recently given in the local Chinese Press, has induced a few social reformers to start a "Society for the Liberation of Slave Girls in Amoy, but the support given to the Society is of a perfunctory and apathetic nature, public opinion being as yet unconvinced of the necessity of interfering with an age-long custom. This indiffer- ence arises in all probability from the belief shared by all classes that the generality of slave girls are well treated by their mistresses.
3. An agreement for the sale or purchase of a slave girl in any form other than that of "adoption by purchase " (Yang nu*) is void in law, and the principals are punishable under Section 257 of the Chinese Criminal Code. On the other hand, the purchase of a girl for the purpose of becoming the concubine of a particular man, as distinct from procuration for the purpose of general prostitution, would not appear to be prohibited in Chinese law, and is effected in conformity with local custom, which varies in some particulars in every province and, indeed, in every if drawn would district. No agreement or bill of sale is, as a rule, drawn up, nor, it be recognised as valid in law, but the assistance of the Chinese Courts can be successfully invoked for the protection of a girl whose person has been sold by her relatives against her will, and, more doubtfully, to regulate the relations of the parties or arrange for their subsequent separation.
up,
4. I have the honour to attach copy of the Chinese and English text of Articles 257 (1) and 313 (1) of the Chinese Criminal Code, to which I have made reference in this despatch.
*
I have, etc.,
W. RUSSELL BROWN,
Consul.
not printed
Extracts from the Criminal Code of the Republic of China. (Promulgated on 10th March, 1928, by the Nationalist Government.)
CHAPTER XVI.
Offences against the Institutions of Marriages and the Family.
Article 257 (1) :-
Whoever with or without his or her consent takes away any person, who has not completed the twentieth year of his or her age, from the person having parental authority or from his or her guardian or curator, shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than six months and not more than five years.*
Article 313 (1) :—
CHAPTER XXV.
Offences against Personal Liberty.
Whoever brings another into a state of slavery shall be punished with imprison- ment for not less than one year and not more than seven years.*
* Chinese Characters appear here.
Answer to your questions :-
Enclosure 3 in No.
Translation.
(1) Question-Have the magistrates of various Districts taken any definite steps to make enquiries about mui-tsai and get them registered?
Answer The Regulations for the Emancipation of Mui-tsai were amended in the 16th year of the Republic (1927), but few Districts have enforced them, since the Districts are generally vast in area, and poorly policed, and door-to- door enquiries are impossible. In the city of Canton, the Police have warned the people from door to door in compliance with the regulations to report in case they have any mui-tsai, and to submit for examination the deeds they have in respect of them. But in each Police Section of the city, not more than 10 cases have been reported, and the regulations are only a matter of form.
(2) Question-Has the buying and selling of mui-tsai been entirely suppressed in the Province ?
Answer-The regulations were very strictly enforced in the 1st year of the Republic (1912) by Chan King Wa (the then Police Commissioner in Canton). During his regime more than 10 cases of dispute over mui-tsai occurred, and the mui-tsai were handed back to their parents by him. Later the political situation changed, and as time went by slackness grew, and the regulations became practically a dead letter. After the regulations were amended in the 16th year (1927) purchases of mui-tsai still continued despite the prohibition specified therein, and this shows the impracticability of the regulations.
(3) Question-Have any notable cases of dispute occurred as a result of which mui-tsai have been sent to school?
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