Chansan [1] ( Chinese trad. 長 三 , Ex . 三 , Pinyin : chángsān , Chinese. 歌妓 , pinyin : gējì , pal .: Geji , whale. 歌女 , pinyin : gēnǚ , pal .: Guenyu , whale. Пин , pinyin : gējī , pall .: Geji , English sing-song girls , English flower girls ) is a term for Chinese courtesans who existed at the beginning of the XIX century and strongly influenced the development of popular culture of Shanghai [2] [3] .
Content
Title
The concept of Chansan has existed since at least the time of the emperors of the Han dynasty , who have provided women funs to their army [4] . In ancient China, they were called gezi ( Chinese. 歌妓 ) , ( Chinese. 歌姬 ) , Ouje ( Chinese. 者 ) and similar names.
Profession Description
From childhood Chansans learned to entertain rich men with talking, singing and dancing; they may not have engaged in prostitution, but many did, although they called themselves “mistresses” and not “prostitutes.” Chansan didn’t have a special costume or stand-up stage make-up; they often wore qipao , like noble Chinese women. Chansans also put on small performances based on Chinese operas, and opera costumes were often put on for the game. Each had one or several wealthy married or single patrons who provided for the payment of the family debt of Chansan and created the conditions for the luxurious life of their proteges. Many Chansans came out for rich clients to start a free life.
Position in society
Until the creation of the Republic of China in 1911, the institution of concubine was legal. According to the Chinese tradition, men keep their family name and inheritance , and in order for a high-born man to have a male heir, they would make concubine mistresses as much as they could contain [4] . This tradition did not require the consent of the wife, since the law and patriarchal customs protected the husband’s desire to have mistresses. Usually the concubines even lived under the same roof as the owner's wife, performing the duties of a servant, submitting to both her master and his wife. In the case of the birth of the heir, the status of the concubine was significantly increased [5] .
The appointment of concubines-artistes differed from the appointment of concubines-servants, who lived in the family of their owner and consisted mainly in the entertainment of the owner and his guests. To do this, the princes and high-ranking officials had their own troupes, girls trained in dancing and music, who showed their art to the guests during official banquets, meals and private parties. The status of the concubines of both kinds in traditional China can be equated to the status of a slave, they had no rights and were the property of their master. As the Chinese chronicles testify, they often passed from hand to hand, they were sold and resold, or simply presented as a gift. Known fact that in 515 BC. e. one large official involved in the litigation offered a whole troupe of such girls as a bribe to the judge [5] .
Free Chansans did not have their master and therefore did not belong to anyone, their status was close to that of a European courtesan or a Japanese geisha . To lure potential husbands, chansans were often engaged in singing, hence the name that includes the word “sing” - whale 歌 [4] .
The popularity of Chansan can be judged by the following fact: newspapers organized contests, offering readers to send them the name of their favorite Chansan, and in one of the first contests [ when? ] attended by more than 70,000 people [3] .
In popular culture
In works of art of the 1930s (in particular, the works of Hera Era , Xu Xingzhi), the image of Chansan became a manifesto against prostitution and a consumer society [6] . In the 1940s, the Chinese Communist Party began to equate Chansans and for pornography [7] , they were even considered a symbol of the humiliation of China [6] .
The Chansans were popularized in the Han Banqing book “Shanghai Flowers” ( Chinese trad. 上海, ), an English translation called “The Sing-song girls of Shanghai” [8] .
Notes
- ↑ Gail Hershatter. Dangerous Pleasures: Prostitution and Modernity in Twentieth-Century Shanghai. - University of California Press, 1999. - P. 43. - P. 591. - (Philip E.Lilienthal Books). - ISBN 978-0520204393 .
- ↑ Kai-wing Chow, Kevin M. Doak, Poshek Fu. Constructing Nationhood in Modern East Asia. - University of Michigan Press, 2001. - p. 318. - ISBN 978-0472067350 .
- ↑ 1 2 Andrew F Jones. Yellow Music: Media Culture and Colonial Modernity in the Chinese Jazz Age. - Duke University Press, 2001. - ISBN 9780822380436 .
- 2 1 2 3 Morris, Peter Thomas. (1992) Cantonese Songs of the Early 19th century . Hong Kong University. ISBN 962-209-284-5
- ↑ 1 2 O. E. Zewalich The position of women in traditional China . Materials of the First International Youth Scientific-Practical Conference, 2014
- ↑ 1 2 Kai-wing Chow, Kevin M. Doak, Poshek Fu. Constructing Nationhood in Modern East Asia. - University of Michigan Press, 2001. - p. 330. - ISBN 978-0472067350 .
- ↑ Jones. Andrew F. (2001). Yellow Music - CL: Media Culture and Colonial Modern Jazz Age . Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-2694-9
- ↑ Han Bangqing (author), Eileen Chang (translator), Eva Hung (translator). The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai. - Columbia University Press, 2012. - ISBN 9780231529457 .