User:Brittanyli/Slavery in China

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The Chinese term for slave (nubi) can also be roughly translated into 'debtor', 'dependent', or 'subject'. Slaves in China were a very small part of the population and could include war prisoners, kidnap victims or people who had been sold.

Conditions of Becoming a Slave in China
Slaves could either be bought and sold to their masters or inherit their role through birth. The majority of the slave market consisted of adolescents and young adults. Chinese law stated that families could only sell their children under the condition that doing so would save the rest of their family from starvation. Despite this law, the restrictions of human sales were rarely enforced. On some occasions, slaves were born into the family house by an existing slave thereby becoming a slave under that household by birth.

Slave Contracts
If a slave was bought from their birth family and sold, a slave contract was created by the selling agency or agent (more commonly known as "people sellers" or ren fanzi). The contract stated the name of the person offering the slave, the name of the person buying the slave, the name of the selling agent, the name of the guarantor, the age of the slave and how many years the slave was to work for the new family, which was typically around 10-15 years. It also stated how much money was being exchanged for the slave. Most contracts for slave girls had a clause that the master was to choose a mate for the girl following the end of her time working. After the agreement was made, the slave was then transported, cleaned, trained, inspected and brought to their new master's home to start work. These contracts were often known as "white contracts", meaning contracts meant for common goods as opposed to "red contracts" which were reserved for more important matters such as land.

Lives of Slaves in China
Slaves had very poor living conditions with little time to themselves and a small living space often shared with other slaves. They were confined to small mud or brick huts known as uk jai. Punishment and abuse were regular occurrences for slaves in China and could sometimes result in extreme permanent injuries or even death in some cases. Abuse was rarely reported or looked into. The only instances where slave abuse was questioned was if the family or masters were under investigation by the police for another offence. After a master dies, his slaves are distributed evenly among the rest of the family members like all other property.

Male Slaves
Due to the strict patriarchal system in China's history, boys were bought and sold for one of two reasons: to become an heir to a family with no son or to become a slave. Males were always in high demand due to their ability to become heirs and their higher physical capabilities. Therefore they were four to five times more expensive than female slaves and were only owned by the elite families that could afford them; daughters and even land were sold before males of the family. Male slaves (sai man) were given the hardest and most demanding tasks. After their servitude, male slaves were either released from the main house to survive on their own, or they could have marriages arranged for them if their masters considered them to be extremely loyal or hard working. Those who were chosen to be married would be provided with an 'unlucky' woman, usually a person with disabilities or the daughter of another slave. If a male slave had a son, his slave status was inherited and the son remained the property of his father's master.

Female Slaves
Women slaves were distinguished by their marital status rather than what kind of work they did. Married women who were slaves were similar to employees; they were paid wages and were free to leave the family house when they were not working. Unmarried women (called binü or yatou) however were unpaid and forced to remain on duty at all times. Married women were acknowledged by their married surname, while unmarried women were given names by their masters. The children of a woman slave did not necessarily inherit her slave status, but there was a high possibility of becoming a slave themselves to avoid starvation. Often times, women who found work outside of their family found themselves vulnerable to kidnapping, trafficking, and sexual violence.

Concubines
Concubinage in China was a regular part of Chinese history. A slave who had sexual relations willingly or unwillingly with her master was considered to be a second wife rather than a slave, regardless of whether the master himself thought of her as such. A slave could also become a concubine if she was sold or given to another master as a gift. According to Chinese law, a man could have only one legal wife (qie), but could have as many concubines as he desired. On some occasions, the wife would select a concubine for her husband for the goal of getting a son and heir to the family line. Whether a child was born from the wife or a concubine, the wife was considered to be the mother.