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Slavery in China

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General history

In Chinese society, slaves were grouped under a category of people known as the jianmin, which means "base" or "mean". Direct equivalents to large scale slavery such as classical Greece and Rome did not exist in ancient China. During the Shang dynasty and Zhou dynasty, slaves generally consisted of war captives or criminals, although peasants lived in a similar condition of perpetual servitude and were unable to leave their land or own it. Some people deliberately became slaves to escape imperial taxation, but they were still considered to be higher in status than traditional slaves, and inhabited a position somewhere between a slave and a commoner. From the Qin dynasty to Tang dynasty, slavery expanded beyond criminals and war captives. The Qin used large scale slave labor for public works such as land reclamation, road construction, and canal building.

Slavery declined during the economic boom of the Song dynasty in the 12th century. Advances in fertilizer, hydraulic, and agricultural technologies enabled the expansion of commercial crops such as medical herbs, mulberry, and cotton. The small land-to-population ratio enticed slaves to run away and seek better employment. During the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty and Manchu-led Qing dynasty, slavery of Chinese increased. These Chinese slaves to Mongols or Manchus were called bondsmen and became personal retainers of their imperial overlords. Some attained high positions and led other Chinese slaves. In the 19th century, due to concerted efforts to end the African slave trade, large numbers of Chinese laborers known as coolies were exported to replace slave labor. They were transported in cargo ships with conditions and practices nearly identical to the former African slave trade. Visitors to late 19th century China found little difference between the poor free and the slaves, both of which were treated as hired laborers.

A handful of emperors and officials throughout Chinese history have made efforts to limit or outlaw slavery. None were successful. In 100 BC, the Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu advised Emperor Wu of Han to limit the amount of land and slaves whom people could own. In 9 AD, Wang Mang ordered the nationalization of large estates and their redistribution to farmers. Part of his reform was changing the institution of slavery so that they would become tax payers, since some impoverished farmers sold themselves or their children into slavery. In the 13th century AD, the jurist Ma Duanlin promulgated a policy limiting the number of slaves owned by officials and commoners to 30. In the 14th century, the Hongwu Emperor ordered an end to all slavery, but in practice slavery continued without heed to his commands. In the 18th century, the Yongzheng Emperor made similar attempts to abolish slavery. In 1909, the Qing officially abolished slavery, but due to internal turmoil and its demise, the institution persisted until 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded.

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