淸代松江育嬰堂の經営實態と地方社會

Abstract

Until now, it has been the view that the work of infant relief (yuying 育嬰) in the Qing dynasty was forced upon unwilling civilians by the state. Nevertheless, it was in fact something that was started voluntarily by the people themselves as one of their "philanthropic acts" (shanju 善擧). For instance, at the time of its establishment, the Hall for Infant Relief of Songjiang used private funds and was managed by the local people themselves. However, because of the organization of local society, the greater the number of infants there were who were taken in to be aided, the more onerous the management of the establishment became. Subsequently, the death rate of the infants would increase, and the state (i.e. local officials) would be more likely to intervene. In the case of the Songjiang Hall for Infant Relief, infants were passed up from the "Offices for Receiving Infants" (jieying 接嬰局) and the "Halls for Receiving Infants" (jieying tang 接嬰堂) that were located in the seven counties of the prefecture. According to the statistics for Tongzhi 同治 8 and 9 (1869-70), twenty percent of the babies who were received had been passed up from these local offices. In the case of Qingpu 青浦 county of Songjiang prefecture, after the main "Hall for Infant Relief" had been established in the prefectural seat in the early Qing, a"Hall for Receiving Infants" was established in the county seat in the middle Qing, and an "Office for Receiving Infants" was established in each of the towns in the late Qing. Thus a network was formed whereby babies were sent up from the villages to the towns to the county, and finally to the prefectural seat for the business of infant relief.