注番号気.docx

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注番号気

JournalofSocialHistory33.1,1999,7-36

BecomingUrban:

MendicancyandVagrantsinModernShanghai

HanchaoLu

①　注番号には気をつけてください。

NewYear'spictures（nianhua）,aformofChinesefolkartprimarilyusedaswalldecorationsandoncalendars,oftenhaveastheirsubjectmatterdailylife,customs,andfolkways.Inthe1920s,aseriesofNewYear'spicturesentitled"360walksoflife"（360hang）wereissuedinShanghai.Eachpictureintheserieswasanimageofaprofessionorjob,andtheartiststriedtodrawhundredsofsuchpicturestoillustratethe"360walksoflife,"meaning,"everywalkoflife"or"allprofessions."

Abeggarwasoneofthesubjectsintheseries.Contrarytothecommonimageofbeggarsaswretched-lookingtrampsdressedinrags,theseriespresentedagentry-likeoldmanattiredinalonggownwithdecorationsonthefront,wearingaskullcapandclothshoes;therewasnotasinglepatchonhisapparel.Whydidtheartistchosetoportraythebeggarinthisway?

Itwas,obviously,notbecauseofthenatureofNewYear'spictures,inwhichanartistmaysometimesartificializeasubjecttomeetpeople'sconcernthateverythingassociatedwiththeNewYearbeauspicious.Thewholeserieswasforthepurposeofcollection,andwasplainlydrawn,inarealisticstyle.Anumberofcharactersintheseries,suchasthepearsellerandthegoldleafmaker,appearedinpatchyclothesandlookedpoorerthanthebeggar.1

Thepictureofbeggar,perhapsunintentionally,revealssomeimportantbutoverlookedaspectsoftheurbanpoor.IfstreetbeggarsinChinawereagroupcomparabletohobos,trampsorhomelesspeopleinAmerica,then,ChinesebeggarsdrewlesspublicattentionandsocialconcernthandidtheirAmericancounterparts,butprovokedmore"imagination"inculture（or,morespecifically,infolklore）.ScholarsinAmericahaveusedtermssuchasthe"trulydisadvantaged,"the"dispossessed,"the"Underclass,"andsoon,torefertoinnercityurbanpoor.2WhilethesetermsmightwellfitconventionalimagesofstreetpeopleinChina,theycannotconveysomeimportantcomponentsoftheChinesebeggars'lifeandtheirambiguoussocialstatus.3

②　注番号には気をつけてください。

ThisessaystartswithananalysisofmendicancyasacompetitiveurbanprofessioninmodernShanghai,4acitythathadoneofthenation'slargestarmiesofstreetbeggars.Thisisfollowedbyaglimpseoftherichvarietyofpublicviewsonmendicancythat,takentogether,formedwhatmightbecalledacultureonpoverty.5Mostofthepublicviewsandimagesofbeggarswereskillfullyexploitedbythebeggarsthemselvestodevelopbeggingtacticsandtechniques.Thisinturnaffectedtheimageofbeggarsinthepublic'seyes.Finally,byexaminingtherelationsbetweenthestateandvagrants,Iwishtosuggestthattheabsenceofstateinterventioninthebeggars'worldbroughtforthbeggingracketsandpolitics.Beggarsorganizedandgovernedthemselvestoachievesomedegreeofcontrolovercompetitionandtoestablishsocialorderamongthemselves.Inthisrespect,beggarsocietywasnotunlikeothersocialgroupsinChina,suchastradeorganizations,nativeplaceassociations（tongxianghui）,professionalsocieties,[EndPage7]andthelike,whichexistedtosecuresomedegreeofautonomyintheirowndomainsinordertohelpwiththeirmembers'success--orinsomecases,sheersurvival--inanincreasinglycompetitiveurbanworld.MendicancyasanUrbanProfession

Chinesebeggarswereassociatedwithorreferredtoasliumin（"floatingpeople"）oryoumin　（"wanderingpeople"）.Incasualuse,thesewordsoverlappedtomean"vagrants"or"vagabonds."ThesetermsstartedtobeusednolaterthantheHandynasty（206B.C.--A.D.220）.Mostofthepeoplesodescribedhadbeenpeasantsdrivenbycatastrophes（suchasnaturaldisastersandwars）intheirnativeplacestoleavehomeinsearchofricherorsaferareas.6However,thereweresubtledistinctionsbetweenthetwo.Liuminreferstovagrantsbutimpliesatideofrefugeeswhicharisessuddenlyandonalargescale,andtopeoplewhohavenochoicebuttofleetheirhomes.Asquicklyasliumintidearose,whentroublesubsided,thetiderecededandmostofthosewhohadfledreturnedtotheirhomes.Theliumintidecouldalsoincludeseasonalbeggarswhoregularly,almostasifonschedule,pouredintocitiesfrompoorruralareas.7However,forvariousreasons,partoftheliuminchoseorwereforcedtochoosevagrancyasawayoflifeandbecameso-called"wanderingpeople"（youmin）.Thus,whenseriousliuminproblemsevaporated,theyouminphenomenonlingered.8

③　注番号には気をつけてください。

Whilebeggarswererelatedtothesegroups,theyweredistinguishableaswhatcouldbecalledarecognizedurban-basedprofession.Beggars,inparticularprofessionalbeggars,tookupresidenceinanurbansetting,andbecamepartoftheon-goingurbanscene.InhisresearchontheruraleconomyofJiangsuinthelateQing,DavidFaurehasnotedthedifferencebetweenyouminandbeggars:

youminwerea"perpetualphenomenonin19thcenturyChina,"andthetermitselfimpliedthatthepeoplesoreferredto"didnothaveasteadyposition"and"didnotbelongtothecity.""Beggars,likeallprofessions,"ontheotherhand,wererecognizedbythestateaspartofthesettledurbanpopulationand"couldbebandedintopao-chiabaojiaunderabeggarchief."9WilliamRowenotesthesamesortofphenomenoninHankou.10Apparently,bythenineteenthcentury,Chinesebeggarshadlongbeenregardedaspartoftheurbancommunity.AccordingtoaQingadministrativeregulation,professionalbeggarwastoberegisteredunderthebaojiasystemandissuedanidentificationboardbycountyyamen.Beggarswererequiredtocarrytheidentificationboardatalltimes;thepurposeseemedtopreventwanderingpeoplefromotherareasmixingwiththebeggars.11Althoughwedonotknowifthisregulationwasactuallycarriedoutor,ifitwas,howeffectiveitwas,theruleitselfindicatesthatbeggarswereconsideredbytheauthoritiesasapartofthecitypopulation.12

ThebeggarsinRepublicanShanghaiwereviewedbythecity'sChineseauthoritiesnotonlyaspartoftheyouminproblembuttheworsttypeofyouminbecausethesepeoplewerenottemporarilyoutoftheirhomevillagesbuthadbecomepermanentvagabondsinthecity.13Thesevagabondsweremostlyunskilled,illiterate,andatthebeginningfoundthemselvestotalstrangersinthecity.Asurveyon1,471vagabondsconductedbytheShanghaiMunicipalSocialBureauin1929identified818ofthemor60percentofthepeopleunderthesurveyasilliterate.14Aninvestigationconductedin1933of700professional[EndPage8]beggarsinShanghaifoundthatmostofthemwereruralimmigrantsandaboutaquarterofthemweredrivendirectlybynaturaldisastersandothersbywar,banditry,bankruptcy,unemployment,disability,dysfunctionalfamily,andsoon.15Earlier,theWoman'sChristianTemperanceUnionofChina（Zhonghuahunüjiezhixiehui）,aShanghai-basedChristianorganizationthatwasactiveincreatingsocialreliefprograms,reportedthattherewerefivemajorcausesofbegginginChina,allofwhichwerequiteconsistentwiththe1933survey:

naturaldisasters;civilwar;handicapsanddisease;badhabits;familyheritage.16Drivenbyvariousreasons,thesepeoplebecamestreetbeggars.

4注番号には気をつけてください。

Althoughaccordingtoconventionalwisdombecomingastreetbeggarsignalledanobviousfailureinlife,Iwishtoemphasizethatmendicancywasneverthelessajoboptionforthepoor.Thisiswhymanybeggarswerefoundamongfamilymembersofrickshawpullers,unskilledworkers,peddlers,andotherlow-incomeoccupations.Heremendicancywasajobandawaytosupplementfamilyincome.Herebeggarswerenot,astheywerecommonlypresumed,homelesspeopleorpeoplewhohadlostallfamilyties.17ItwasobservedthatChinesebeggarsdidnotresentbeingcalled"poorpeople"（qiongren）,butonehadtobe"verycareful"nottousetheword"beggar"toaddressthem,"formanyofthemresentverymuchbeingcalled'beggar'fortheyclaimthattheyarenotbeggars,butthattheyareonlypoorpeople,usingthismeansofgettingalittleofsomethingtoenablethem...tolive."Thisresentmentwascausedby,accordingtooneexplanation,thegeneralassumptionthat"thebeggarhadnohomeandnofamilyties...whereasthepoormanhadsomeplacetocallhomeandsomefamilyties."18Ofcourse,familyandkinshiptieswereexceedinglyimportantintheChinesetradition,althoughinmodernChina"thelinebetweenextremepovertyandbeggaryisfrequentlysonarrowthatthepassagefromonetotheotherisanexceedinglyeasyone."19

Mendicancywasthusfrequentlyamethodfortheurbanpoortoekeoutanexistenceinthecity.InChina'schaoticmodernperiod,evenskilledworkerssometimesbecamestreetbeggars.Forinstance,duringtheSino-JapaneseWarwhentheJapaneseoccupiedShanghai'sJiangnanShipyard,manyskilledworkerslefttheshipyard,partlybeingforcedout,partlyoutofpatriotism.Theseworkersmadetheirlivinginthecitybyvariousmeans,ofwhichthemostcommonwerestreetpeddlers,garbagegleaners（gleaningtrashforsomethingtosell）,rickshawpullers,andsoon;anumberofthemsimplyearnedalivingbybegging.20Buttherewasmobilityintheotherdirectionalso.Somethriftyandshrewdbeggarswereabletosaveenoughcapitaltoopentheirownbusinessessuchasasesame-cakestoreorabarbershop,ortobecomestreetpeddlerssellingsmallcommoditiessuchassweetpotatoesorfrieddoughsticks.Somebeggarsmanagedtospinyarnormaketoysathometosell.Whenbusinesswasbad,theyreturnedtostreetbegging.21

⑤　注番号には気をつけてください。

Accordingtothe1933surveyoftheprevi