In the old society, women were often the targets of persecution and oppression, and education, employment, social status, political rights and other aspects were suppressed and persecuted to varying degrees, leaving a history of blood and tears that people could not bear to read.
Among them, the most representative is the prostitute group, who often comes from a poor background, suffers from social oppression, and is at the end of the social status, which is a typical representative of the oppression of women in the old society. In a survey of prostitutes in the Republic of China, some of them often had a nervous breakdown and cried bitterly when they talked about their past experiences.
"We are not afraid of beating, we are not afraid of scolding, we are afraid of bayberry sores on our bodies, and if the sores come together, we will basically not survive!" said a prostitute practitioner during the Republic of China during the investigation.
So, what was the bayberry sore, and what was the living condition of prostitutes during the Republic of China?
Blood and tears
Prostitutes have existed since ancient times, dating back to the beginning of human civilization and are one of the earliest professions in the history of human civilization. And this history is also a history of blood and tears that makes people sad to hear and tears to see, flowing with the blood and tears of countless women.
In recent centuries, there have been four most prestigious prostitute gathering areas, namely the Bada Hutong in Beijing, the banks of the Qinhuai River in Nanjing, the Shili Yangchang in Shanghai and the banks of the Pearl River in Guangzhou.
Thousands of years ago, the Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu left a quatrain when visiting the Qinhuai River in Nanjing, "The merchant girl does not know the hatred of the country, and she still sings the flowers in the backyard across the river", and this poem also reflects the prosperity and longevity of the fireworks industry on both sides of the Qinhuai River.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the commodity economy developed rapidly, and the fireworks industry of the Qinhuai River ushered in the golden period of development, and the old society was not only ashamed of the prostitute, but also regarded this as a romance, so every day at dusk, there are often a large number of peddlers and pawns, officials and Confucian scholars walk on the banks of the Qinhuai River with lanterns, sleeping flowers and willows. At that time, there were many green buildings on the banks of the Qinhuai River, the fat powder was fragrant, the nude photos were ten miles, and there were thousands of mobile practitioners every night, so the first time to come to the benefactor, there was a sense of "chaotic flowers gradually wanting to charm the eyes".
And these thousands of prostitutes are divided into different levels. First-class high-level prostitutes who have all kinds of poetry and songs or specialize in one item are often famous, and they are rare to see, and the famous ones are even more famous in history. For example, during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, there was "Qin Huai Bayan", and the talented girl Liu Ru left countless poems, and was married into the house by Qian Qianyi, the head of Donglin, and Chen Yuanyuan and Wu Sangui fell in love at first sight, leaving a beautiful talk of "rushing to the crown and being angry for the red face".
Farther back in the Song Dynasty, Liang Hongyu, a famous prostitute in Beijing, married Han Shizhong, an anti-Jin hero, and personally went to the battlefield to beat the drums, becoming a legend of the anti-Jin female general and the wife of Yang Guo.
In modern times, although "famous prostitutes" emerge in endlessly, they have never appeared in the grand occasion of the Ming and Qing dynasties, but the legends about those romantic characters have never been broken.
Compared with those "famous prostitutes" who have been famous for thousands of years, the second-class prostitutes are much more oppressed, and their misery is also in stark contrast to those "famous prostitutes".
Although most of the first and second class prostitutes came from poor families, they were artificially divided into different levels according to their appearance and temperament at an early age. Those who are good-looking will be focused on training, and they will be given the opportunity to receive education, learn Xi, pipa and other musical instruments, and choose outstanding performance from them in the future to become "top brands", and slightly more advanced prostitutes. Those who were not good-looking, or who were over sixteen years old at the time of their work, were considered inferior, and had no access to education, so they had to sell their bodies day after day under the whips and beatings of the bustards.
In the old society, these women were never treated as human beings, so some of the inferior prostitutes were often beaten to death or died of illness, and when they died, the government would not bother, and the bustard would just throw them into a mass grave with a roll of straw mats, and the end was particularly miserable.
In 1912, the Republic of China was founded, the decaying feudal Qing Dynasty collapsed, and the society was renewed. Soon after the founding of the Republic of China, Provisional President Sun Yat-sen ordered a strict ban on the opening of brothels, and set up relevant social welfare institutions to accommodate some homeless prostitutes, treat their diseases, teach them livelihood skills, and help them find employment, hoping to rescue thousands of oppressed women. However, because the revolutionary party was too weak at that time, the fruits of the Xinhai Revolution were quickly stolen by Yuan Shikai, so the movement to liberate the prostitutes was not even started.
Later, due to the warlord scuffle, people's livelihood withered, many families were on the verge of collapse, and in order to support the family, countless women from good families were forced or deceived into the dust.
In 1913, there were more than 400 prostitutes in Xiaguan in Nanjing alone, most of whom were newly degraded women from good families. But in the land of fireworks, those over the age of sixteen are "old age", so these women of good families, who might have been housewives, can only be reduced to low-class prostitutes, and get a little money in return for the beating and torture of their guests to support their families.
At that time, there was a girl named "Zhucui", who was thirteen years old, originally a girl from a weaver family, and her father depended on each other. But when she was 13 years old, Zhucui's father died of illness, leaving only an orphan girl, and she didn't have any money left around, not even money to buy a coffin.
In desperation, 13-year-old Zhucui had no choice but to sell herself to bury her father and entrust herself to prostitution.
Because Zhucui was born as a weaver, she received some education since she was a child, and her appearance was good, so she was quickly trained as a "top brand" after entering the prostitution door, not only equipped her with special maids and servants to serve her life, but also arranged for her to be taught by teachers to teach her various manners, etiquette, musical instruments, etc., almost overnight from a poor girl to a noble lady.
From the top card to the boat lady
It didn't take long for Zhucui to become famous in Nanjing's "Chunxiaotang" and became the top brand of "Chunxiaotang", and she was overwhelmed by countless benefactors invited every night. It stands to reason that the money earned by the "top brand" is enough to redeem himself from the brothel overnight, but in fact, Zhu Cui, who signed a "broken account" with the old bustard, never fell into his hand in the welcome and delivery.
At that time, although there were many prostitutes in the world, there were many differences in the "labor relationship" with the bustard. Generally speaking, this relationship is divided into three types, the first is the buyout type, commonly known as "broken account", that is, the prostitutes who are bought by the bustard with money and do not have any personal freedom, they are equivalent to slaves, and all income must be handed over to the brothel, otherwise no one will ask if they are killed. The second is the loan type, that is, the brothel boss lends usury to the outside, and the way to repay the money is to sell his body, when to sell it to the agreed period and when to return it to freedom.
The third is the way that many women from good families choose when they fall into the economic depression, that is, like "nomination", just borrowing brothels to pick up customers and come and go freely, but the money they earn is generally tied to the brothel. However, this kind of commission is often carried with blood and tears, if the customer is brought in by the coachman, the cashier can take 40% of the cash, and the remaining 60% is sold to the brothel, and the remaining 60%, the brothel often has to take most of it.
Even if the customers come to the door themselves, the brothel still has to take most of the money, and the prostitute still does not get much more than the coachman pulls in.
As a result, these prostitutes often earn less money than the coachmen who pull the carts, and they can only provide for their livelihood. Therefore, after enduring humiliation for two years, the top brand of "Chunxiaotang" Zhucui finally found a chance to escape and left the brothel with the help of a beautiful young man.
On the day she left the brothel, Zhucui's heart was full of yearning for a new life in the future, and after the long-awaited freedom was obtained, even the air she breathed on weekdays was a little sweeter. Therefore, she secretly vowed in her heart that after leaving the fireworks field, she would live a good life and never repeat the mistakes of the past.
However, what happened next was not what she expected.
The "beautiful boy" who helped Zhucui leave the brothel was called Guan Cui, known as Guan Sishao, a local trafficker in Nanjing, commonly known as "white ants", who often did some abduction and trafficking of women and children. And Zhucui was anxious to get out of the brothel, and she didn't know anyone for a while, so she was deceived by Guan Cui.
After leaving the city of Nanjing, Zhucui was taken to a remote courtyard in the suburbs, she thought it was her lover's home, but after entering the door, there were five or six men with unkind faces gathered inside, and another young woman was tied to the bed.
When Zhucui saw this scene, her heart was broken, and she knew that she had been fooled, so she turned around and was about to leave. But before she could turn around, the "lover" punched her and knocked her to the ground, which was very different from her gentle appearance before.
"Since you're here, there's no reason to leave, otherwise I'll kill you now and throw you outside to feed the wild dogs!" Guan Cui grabbed Zhucui's collar and lifted her up, and the sandbag's big fist stopped in front of her.
Under duress from the traffickers, Zhu Cui was locked up in the house with the young woman who had been kidnapped. That night, the two were insulted by the gang of traffickers in turn. The next day, Zhu Cui learns the origin of another young woman, who had escaped from marriage and had been abducted while staying at the inn. Listening to the woman's words, Zhu Cui burst into tears, weeping for herself and for her other sisters who were suffering as much as herself.
One day later, the traffickers tied the two to a black market, and then Zhucui was bought by a man in his forties as his wife and taken to a farmhouse near Xuanwu Lake.
Although she was abducted by human traffickers, she was finally able to get out of the land of fireworks, and Zhu Cui was still quite happy. The man who bought him was a simple farmer and treated her well, so Zhucui didn't want to run away after living for a while, so she became a peasant wife near Xuanwu Lake with peace of mind.
Later, Zhucui went back to her home accompanied by her husband, but after her father's death, there was no one at home, and relatives, friends and neighbors all treated her coldly after hearing that she was a prostitute.
After a few years, Zhucui's family bought a small boat, so Zhucui became a "boat lady" on Xuanwu Lake, ferrying tourists for a living, sometimes the boat to the center of the lake, Zhucui will also unfold her singing voice, singing a moving "boat girl song" for tourists.
"The boat girls in Jinling are also different, the boat girls on Xuanwu Lake are just ferries, and they make a little money, but the Qinhuai River is different. The boat lady of the Qinhuai River is either the aunt who helps the brothel to solicit customers and takes a cut from it, or the young girl who picks up the customers herself......
Speaking of the events of the year, Zhu Cui was particularly excited. In fact, Zhucui didn't stay long on Xuanwu Lake, after a few years of boating, under the introduction of an old acquaintance, Zhucui drove a boat to the Qinhuai River and became an aunt who helped the brothel solicit customers on the Qinhuai River.
Therefore, in the following decades, she saw and heard many tear-jerking things in this "gentle and wealthy town", and "bayberry sores" is one of the representatives.
I'm afraid of bayberry sores
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in an investigation of prostitutes in the old society, Zhu Cui, who had gray temples, recalled everything that had happened, and couldn't help crying: "We are not afraid of beating or scolding, but we are afraid of growing bayberry sores on our bodies, which are incurable and incurable, and most people will not survive!"
The so-called "bayberry sore" is actually syphilis in venereal diseases, which is one of the infectious diseases. At the beginning of the disease, patients often have a high fever that does not go away, accompanied by headache, sore limbs and weakness, and then the affected area will appear red, followed by bayberry erythema. After the erythema ruptures, it may become a "bayberry bean", it may become a "turning bayberry", or it may penetrate deep into the bone marrow to become a "bayberry poison".
However, even when they had bayberry sores, the prostitutes were forced to pick up their customers, and if they did not comply, they would be punched, kicked, or whipped. Under the torture of illness and bustards, these prostitutes suffering from "bayberry sore" had a hard time surviving, and often died in brothels within a few days of picking up customers.
If there are people who are not dead but are too sick to pick up customers, they may also be nailed to a coffin and suffocated to death as if they were dead, or thrown into a mass grave to be eaten by wild dogs.
In addition to "bayberry sores", another common venereal disease is "fish mouth", which is more painful and unbearable than bayberry sores, which makes people worse than death. The official name of "Yukou" is inguinal lymphadenitis, at first there is only a red and swollen area in the groin, and a slight fever does not affect movement, but after a few days, the redness and swelling will hurt to the bone marrow, making people unable to move. When the red and swollen area ulcerates and drains pus, a deep flesh hole will form in the affected area, and it will be difficult to heal, and the flesh hole will open and close like a fish's mouth between actions, so it is called "fish mouth disease".
The mortality rate of this disease is not high, but because it is difficult to move after the disease, and the prostitutes are forced by the bustard to pick up customers, the sick prostitutes will soon be dying and unable to take customers, and if they are unable to take customers, they may be treated as dead.
Therefore, the prostitutes in the old society were not afraid of being beaten by customers, nor were they afraid of being scolded by customers, but they were only afraid of contracting bayberry sores or ichthyosm disease, because once they were infected, they would not only be forced to pick up customers under the torture of illness, but also might be abused and scolded by the old bustard, and eventually die with a whimper.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao personally instructed to ban brothels and liberate prostitutes. Under the instructions of Chairman Mao, on November 21, 1949, the campaign to liberate prostitutes was first started in Beijing's Bada Hutong, and that night hundreds of public security soldiers rode hundreds of motorcycles and jeeps to Bada Hutong, searched for all the brothel bustards at gunpoint, and announced to them the news of closing the brothels and liberating the prostitutes. Then all the old bustards who had committed many crimes were taken away by the public security fighters, and all 224 brothels near Bada Hutong were closed, of which all 1,290 prostitutes were liberated.
After that, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and other places successively launched a campaign to close brothels and liberate prostitutes, and since then, the prostitution system that has lasted for thousands of years in China has been completely eliminated, and a large number of oppressed women have been liberated.
In order to reform the minds of these women, the people's government pulled out those old bustards and turtles who had harmed people to openly criticize and fight, and let the prostitutes come to the stage to complain. Some people talked about the experience of being abused by the bustard with a soldering iron when they got bayberry sore, some people talked about the experience of being forced to eat live tadpoles and beat the fetus when they were pregnant, and some said that the sisters around them were punished to kneel on glass slag and bleed to death...... Those who hear it are sad, and those who see it shed tears.
At that time, the disease rate of liberated women was as high as 97.9%, and there were countless people suffering from venereal diseases, but the only special medicine for treating venereal diseases was artemisinin, which was comparable to gold in that era, and only the seriously wounded on the battlefield to resist US aggression and aid Korea could use a little, and it was far from enough. In order to solve this situation, the central government used foreign exchange to buy artemisinin from Hong Kong, and transferred a part of the artemisinin from the volunteers to treat these prostitutes, thus saving a large number of people.
And after those prostitutes were treated, many of them felt the feeling of being human for the first time in their lives, and they felt that they were living people for the first time, so the liberated prostitutes were all grateful to the new people's government. Later, these prostitutes were properly housed, and many found jobs, became families, and lived ordinary lives.
The old society turned people into ghosts, and the new society turned ghosts into people. From the liberation movement of prostitutes, we can see the tragic situation of women being oppressed in the old society, and we can also feel the warmth exuded by the people's power. Therefore, in order to make social progress and liberate more oppressed groups, we must not forget our original intention, work hard, and continue to spare no effort to carry out the cause of human liberation until the final victory!