Sing-song girls, also known as flower girls, is an English-language term for the high class prostitutes in China during the 19th century AD.
Origin
In ancient China, concubinage was legal. In Chinese custom, males carry the family name and the family's heritage after marriage. To ensure male heirs were produced, it was a common practice for an upper-class married male to have one or more concubines, provided he could support them.The custom could be invoked without the wife's consent: the husband's actions were protected by law. Concubines would co-exist in the family along with wives and children. A man might choose a courtesan or Gējì to be his concubine. Many of these courtesans would sing songs to attract potential husbands, hoping to become secondary wives.[1]
With the development of the times, in the late Qing Dynasty of China, the "Chinese Geji culture" declined and began to be replaced by high-class prostitutes.Sing-song girl literally means a singing girl, but this is not the case. At that time, high class prostitutes in China called themselves "Xiansheng" or "Xisang" in order to raise prices."Xiansheng(先生)" in Wu dialect is pronounced like "Xisang(西桑)",the British and Americans in Shanghai mistakenly thought it meant "singsong".Because these prostitutes also sing at the banquet,the name "sing song girl" appears, which is not the translation of "singing girl". "Singing girl(歌女)" was a new term from the late 1920s to the 1930s, after there were dancing girls(舞女).The real meaning of Sing-song girl is the translated name for high-class prostitutes from the late Qing Dynasty to 1949 in China.[2]
Terminology
Western observers in China during the nineteenth century witnessed these women singing but had no idea what to call them. Thus the term "Sing-Song Girls" came about.[1]
According to the 1892 fictional masterpiece by Han Bangqing called Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai (later adapted into the 1998 film Flowers of Shanghai), people in Shanghai called the women who prostitution in “Changsan brothel or Changsan apartment” 先生 (pinyin: xiānshēng) in the Wu language. The term was pronounced like "sing-song" in English and the young prostitute always sang to entertain the customers; thus, Westerners called them Sing-Song girls. The word sian sang in this case is a polite term.
The literal meaning of "Sing Song Girl" in English may seem to mean a singing girl or a literal translation of a singing girl, but in reality, it is not. According to Zhang Ailing, "Sing song girl" is a term derived from the Wu language, which also refers to high-end prostitutes as "sir". "sir" can be a polite term for anyone, regardless of gender. In Wu's language, 'sir' is pronounced as' Xisang ', but the English and American people in Shanghai mistakenly thought it was' sing song', and they were required to sing at banquets. Therefore, 'sing song girl' is named after it, not the translated name of a singer girl. Singing girl is a new term from the late 1920s to the 1930s, and it is also after dancing girl.
Classes
Among sing-song girls were actually several subclasses of high-end prostitutes divided by the quality of skill. Over time, these would evolve, beginning with one class, developing into four, and consolidating down to two. It was not until the founding of New China that the profession of prostitutes was abolished.[3]
Shuyu – Highest class were the 書寓 Shuyu. These were skilled in cultured entertainments. Additionally, these were picked for beauty, trained in sophisticated conversation, and known for their extravagant dress. Given time, the Shuyu class of prostitute would become assimilated into the Changsan class of prostitutes. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, traditional book allegories existed in name only. Shuyu is a high-end prostitute who also engages in prostitution.[4]
Changsan – The 長三 Changsan ("long three") were the highest class of prostitutes in later stage. The term originally came from them charging three yuan for company and three more to spend the night. They maintained the class and artistry akin to the Shuyu, while still being distinctly part of the sex trade. For instance, their intimate company would require takes a while. Still, however, such relations were neither permanent nor monogamous.[4]
Yao'er – The 一二 Yao'er ("one two") was the lower tier equivalent of the Changsan. It was named this way because they traditionally charged one yuan for entertainment and two for company. Originally, there was an intermediary class called the 二三 Ersan ("two three"). However, over time, these became considered the same class as the Changsan. While Yao'er prostitutes were lower tier than Changsan, they still focused on entertainment as well as sexual services. However, they charged less than the Changsan, and accordingly their beauty, singing, and performances were not as good.[4]
Classes of other prostitutes
Below these, fell those whose services were purely sexual. The women serving in the lowest tiers of the sex trade were often there as a result of being sold, mortgaged, kidnapped, or otherwise forced into the industry. (These do not address the women in other industries, such as masseuses and taxi dancers, who part-time sold sexual services.)
"Salt pork" – These prostitutes were housed in brothels which focused entirely on selling sexual services. These houses were colloquially named "salt pork shops" for the similarities between the selling of these women's bodies and of the division and selling of salt pork. Unlike the sing-song girls, these women had almost no say regarding their lives and services, as rather than performing, they were simply having their bodies rented.[4]
"Pheasants" – The next class of prostitutes were streetwalkers. Being in the streets, they had little protection from law enforcement and thugs, leaving them doubly at risk of arrest or assault. An example of this can be found in the 1934 silent film The Goddess (神女).[5] That said, a majority of "pheasants" did belong to brothels and would bring their customers back to service them.[4] They were called "pheasants" for their gaudy dress and habit of scouring the streets for customers.
"Flowers" – Coming from the term "flower-smoke rooms," this and the following were the lowest class of prostitutes. Flower smoke rooms were opium dens where customers could have prostitutes while smoking opium. This class of prostitutes disappeared before the Cultural Revolution Reforms with the ban of opium.[4]
"Nailsheds" – These brothels were targeted towards low class laborers such as rickshaw pullers.[4]
Even the highest class Changsan could not escape the ignominy of the sex trade. Traditional views held that once married, a woman had no need to impress anyone. In conjunction with Confucian ideals of the virtues of modesty, this led to a standard of dress aimed to hide the form of the body within. However, sing-song girls, being unburdened by such virtues. An example of this can be seen in the cheongsam, which not only became more form fitting, but also became sleeveless with a long slit running up each side.[7]
They often decorated their parlors with expensive decor and modern amenities, making them culturally progressive to the point where there are documented cases of women sneaking into the entertainment houses to catch a glimpse of what the latest decorations and fashions were. [8]
Some prostitutes began to use portraits of themselves as a way to attract business, early business cards. [9][8]
After the Chinese Communist Party seized power in 1949, it gradually carried out earth-shaking transformation of Chinese society, including the abolition of the prostitution system that had existed for thousands of years in a relatively short period of time. Hundreds of thousands of prostitutes and related industry personnel such as brothel owners, etc. across the country have been dealt with in various ways.Prostitutes receive human rights assistance and medical attention, and brothel owners face legal penalties.
During the Republic of China, there were a huge number of prostitutes in China.Prostitutes in old China generally suffered from sexually transmitted diseases. Among the prostitutes in Beijing, 96.6% of them suffered from syphilis, gonorrhea, and fourth sexually transmitted diseases. In Shanghai, 89.9% of the first batch of prostitutes admitted had sexually transmitted diseases. Of the more than 5,000 prostitutes admitted from 1951 to 1957, 2,267, accounting for 41.98%, were found to have syphilis. In Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, large sums of money were allocated to purchase penicillin, which could not be produced in China at the time, to treat sexually transmitted diseases for prostitutes. Beijing earmarked 100 million yuan (old currency) for this purpose.After the founding of the People's Republic of China, prostitutes could be taken home by their families, get married, or have jobs arranged by the government.[10]
Fiction
Sing-song girls are popularized in the 1892 novel by Han Bangqing called Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai (later adapted into the 1998 film Flowers of Shanghai).
Sing-song girls play a minor role in Isabel Allende's Daughter of Fortune (Hija de la fortuna). Tao Chi'en dedicates his work to healing sick girls – although most end up dying – because it is when they are sick that he can sneak them out of the house under the pretext of conducting "experiments". He tries to help those girls who manage to recover to improve their lives so that they no longer need to prostitute themselves. Allende also mentions sing-song girls in her book Portrait in Sepia (Retrato en Sepia).
^ abMorris, Peter Thomas. (1992) Cantonese Love Songs: An English Translation of Jiu Ji-Yung's Cantonese Songs of the Early 19th century. Hong Kong University.ISBN962-209-284-5
^NG, S. Gendered by Design: Qipao and Society, 1911–1949. Costume: Journal of The Costume Society. 49, 1, 55–74, Jan. 2015. ISSN0590-8876.
^ abYEH, CV. Shanghai love : courtesans, intellectuals, and entertainment culture, 1850–1910. Seattle : University of Washington Press, c2006. pp. 21–95, 2006. ISBN0295985674
^COCHRAN, S. Chinese medicine men : consumer culture in China and Southeast Asia. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2006. pp. 62–97, 2006. ISBN0674021614.
