Regulating Prostitution in China

Author’s Purpose of Writing the Book 

Elizabeth J. Remick, in the book “ Regulating Prostitution in China: Gender and Local Statebuilding, 1900-1937 ,” explores one of the notable moral and governmental challenges that China was facing, which was prostitution. The book serves as a social and political analysis that provides an honest and forceful discussion on how local governments in China grappled with the issue of prostitution in the early 20 th century. The purpose of writing the book is to explore how many of local governments in China benefit through taxation, monitoring, and regulation of prostitution in China. Remick (2014) takes note of the fact that prostitution was one of a few fates available for many of the women in the Chinese society, which presented an opportunity for cities to register, tax, and monitor prostitutes. The book explores a rise in distinct trajectories that involved bureaucratic management that would span beyond regulation of prostitution occurring in different cities.

The book also examines how local governments helped shape the institution of prostitution with the view being that many of these governments gained significantly from the business, which had gained popularity among Euro-American customers. Remick uses the book as an opportunity to highlight how the Chinese government failed to curb the illicit business of prostitution with the view that this would have changed the trajectory of how the cities were managed. However, many of the local governments exploited the business with the view that it would build their capacity as part of creating an enhanced framework for regulation. Remick indicates that the amount of money that local governments collected from prostitution through taxation meant that it was one of the most important businesses. Therefore, this paved the way for the introduction of policy structures for effective regulation.

Another purpose of the book was to examine how local governments in Chinese cities came under immense international pressure to address a vice that sought to create a negative perception about the low status of Chinese women. Many of these women were exploited leading them to prostitution as a form of slavery. Remick describes the acts of prostitution in China as a form of ‘white slavery’ in which many of the women were trafficked to work as prostitutes in some of the larger provinces as a way of earning their wages. To help in projecting this purpose, Remick discusses three models that developed locally, which were the “light,” “revenue intensive,” and “coercive-intensive” approaches. The understanding of each approach is of great importance in trying to create a proactive understanding of how prostitution grew to become one of the key social issues among Chinese women.

Kind of Sources Employed and their Impacts on the Book 

Remick makes use of several sources, which play an essential role in building the effectiveness of her discussion focusing on the issue at hand, which was prostitution in China in the early 20 th century. The first type of source used was official documents from local governments in China that showed how cities registered, monitored, and taxed prostitution within their jurisdictions. Remick makes use of official documents provided by the Chinese government for specific regions, such as Guangzhou and Kunming. The use of official government documents has a significant impact on the content considering that it ensures that all information presented remains valid and relevant for the topic at hand. The documents help to highlight how some of the local governments exploited girls and women luring them into prostitution as a way of gaining from the taxes they charged.

The official documents, provided by the Chinese government, also show that the Chinese government was not especially interested in intervening on matters associated with regulation of prostitution attributed to the huge economic impact that this had on local cities. Prostitution helped in attracting foreigners from countries in Europe and America, which of great significance for the country's economic expansion. That shows the impact that using official government documents had in shaping the nature of the discussion that the author had in the book. The second kind of source that Remick used was scholarly publications that explored how prostitution helped in shaping the early-20 th century China. Most of the publications that Remick considers as part of the book explore different aspects associated with prostitution in China and how local governments may have aided the business. Using these publications, Remick is able to highlight different aspects associated with how prostitution was undertaken in China while trying to get a clear understanding of the role of the local government in the business.

Summary of the Book 

In the book, Remick (2014) offers her readers a complex portrait of state-building initiatives developed in the first decades of the 1900s, which reflected on areas such as prostitution. Remick engages in a discussion focused on three regulatory models, which had been developed by Chinese cities at the beginning of the century. The models focused on two distinct aspects of leadership in the cities, which were bureaucratic management and regulation of prostitution. The basis for this discussion reflects more on the understanding that the majority of the local cities in China composed highly gendered processes that failed to consider the implications that their actions would have on Chinese women. Remick builds her discussion on the understanding that moral issues, such as prostitution, may have resulted from shifts in the way the society embraced gender equalization.

The three reform models that Remick discusses extensively in the book are the “light,” “revenue intensive,” and “coercive-intensive” approaches. The light approach, which was adopted in the 1920s and 1930s, involved the idea of lightly taxing and monitoring prostitution as it related to how the business progressed in Chinese cities. Remick (2014) offers an in-depth perspective of how police, in the local cities, failed in their bid to crack down on unlicensed prostitution, especially in the 1920s. The discussion also outlines a failed attempt by the local governments to put in place strategic measures that would phase out prostitution altogether. According to Remick, “big picture’ political commitments ran into trouble when local officials tried to implement them on the ground” (p.53). The revenue-intensive and coercive-intensive approaches were specifically focused on the need to examine how the prostitution business thrived as part of the Chinese social environment.

Some of the cities, such as Hangzhou and Guangzhou, become so much dependent on the taxes that they raised from prostitution in the late 1920s and early 1930s, which served as a clear indication of the fact that indeed regulation of prostitution was a key step for the local cities. The local governments viewed prostitution from the perspective of the expected revenue gains as opposed to the negative implications that it was having on the women, some of who were forced to work as prostitutes. Remick (2014) believes that the amount of monies that the cities were able to raise from prostitution made this business indispensable considering that it was an important component of the cities' budgets. Therefore, this may have been a key reason it was somewhat challenging for cities to eliminate prostitution because it was of great importance in supporting other areas of the business to define how the cities would build their positions in the country.

Remick’s analysis of the late Qing, Warlord, and Republican eras presents a viable understanding of how the local cities embraced gendered processes that would impact the position of the women. From this analysis, it can be noted that China was going through notable shifts in its political terrain, which resulted in changes in norms, especially focusing on the morality of women. Remick (2014) discusses how the Chinese society shifted its focus to areas of morality, hence, the introduction of regulations for prostitution and the setting up of institutions, such as the jiliangsuo that was a prostitute rescue center. The shift in societal views may have been a key contributor to panic among the Chinese people attributed to the perceived immorality, as well as, the public health threat that was directly linked to sex work. However, most of the views did not deter defiant women and brothel owners, who viewed this as an opportunity for them to achieve overall effectiveness in building their business.

Author’s Conclusions 

Remick concludes that different local governments played a key role in the institution of different regulatory models focused on prostitution. From an analysis, Guangzhou (revenue-intensive), Kunming (coercion-intensive), and Hangzhou (light regulation) defined how the cities gained from their approach towards prostitution. The regulatory models may have been of great value towards establishing clear-cut strategies on how the governments would gain from prostitution without due consideration of the negative implication that it was having on the position of women. It is from this view that Remick concludes that the local cities may have fueled prostitution through their understanding that prostitution was a key component of their business structure. The conclusions are adequately supported through official government documents and scholarly publications that examined one of the key moral and governmental challenges that China experienced in the early 20 th century. Remick makes use of different sources of information to support her arguments with the view that this would help outline some of the key changes that China may have experienced over the years.

References

Remick, E. J. (2014).  Regulating prostitution in China: Gender and local statebuilding, 1900-1937 . Stanford University Press.