Sex work in Shanghai in the 19th and 20th centuries
In addition, social turmoil within the mid-19th century, such as the Taiping civil war, shifted the economic and political state of Shanghai.
At the turn of the Maoist period, sex work returned to the spotlight, leading to its persistence into the 21st century.
In addition, between 1851-1864, the Taiping civil war and the following Small Swords Society uprising from 1853 to 1855 forced many people to flee to Shanghai.
[1] Foreign countries, such as the French and British, took advantage of the unrest to dominate large portions of the city.
[1] Between the early to mid 20th century, an increased number of refugees and migrants came to Shanghai to flee violence and Japanese control.
[1] With so many women unemployed and turning to sex work to survive, combined with increased demand for sexual services, Shanghai became known as the "brothel of Asia".
Before that, there had been heated debate about whether prostitution should merely be regulated due to its contribution to Shanghai's economic power in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
[1] The government claimed by 1958 that prostitution had been eradicated, deemed venereal disease clinics unnecessary, and closed them all by 1965.
Rather than brothels, sex workers were found in dance halls, salons, barbershops, coffeehouses, train-stations, theaters, karaoke bars, and even parks.
For example, the 1929 court case was brought against a woman named Zhou née Chen who had tried to trick two young teenage girls into working as servants with the intent to traffick them.
[1][page needed] Clients would commonly pay more for young girls and virgins because the former believed that the latter were free from sexually transmitted infections.
[1] Homosexuality was shunned, especially during the Maoist era, leading to male sex work being suppressed in the 19th and 20th centuries.
[1][page needed] In addition, transgender sex workers have little to no mention in historical documents in Shanghai.
On the other side, higher class sex workers such as "sing-song girls" or "storytellers" would meet as many clients as they pleased typically ranging from one or two per day in high-end prostitute houses.
[8] Even after the 19th and 20th centuries, high-end sex workers continue to live in luxury, especially compared to their counterparts who work in "ten yuan" brothels (about $2 USD).
[1] Sex workers on the lower end of the spectrum that worked in collective houses had to meet a fixed goal of profit made based on their contract.
