Infant Abandonment in Early China
Abstract
Examining the birth and population control methods employed by a given culture reveals much about the power and politics of its religious and legal institutions; it can also yield important conclusions about the hierarchical relations between young and old and male and female. But conventional methods for controlling the size and gender composition of a family in the early phases of Chinese history have received little attention. In this essay I will focus on the ways in which one important form of population control, infant abandonment, was discussed and practiced in Han times, paying particular attention to the various rationales given for it and the arguments made against it.
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Infanticide or abandonment were widespread.
“infanticide or abandonment were widespread”
From Women of Later Han (2019) · cites this paper as Kinney 1993
Cites
Ritual Exposure in Ancient China
Schafer, E. H. (1951) · Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies · doi:10.2307/2718298 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
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de Crespigny, R. (2019) · Monumenta Serica · doi:10.1080/02549948.2019.1603431
- Authors
- Kinney, A. B.
- Corresponding author
- Kinney, Anne Behnke
- ORCID
- Kinney, Anne Behnke
- Venue
- Early China
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 1993
- Volume
- 18
- Pages
- 107-138
- ISSN
- 0362-5028 (ISSN-L)
- 2325-2324
- OpenAlex
- W2502800123
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 1.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Early China (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Chinese history and philosophy
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences
- Keywords
- infant abandonment, population control, Han dynasty, family size, contraception, ancient Chinese history, social hierarchy, gender relations, religion and law
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