A National Custom
Debating Female Servitude in Late Nineteenth-Century Hong Kong
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3620778 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John M Carroll (0000-0001-9166-2218) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1463-1493 |
| Publication date | 2009-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Modern Asian Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0026749x08003648 |
| OpenAlex | W2011760151 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 5 |
This article frames the debate about mui-tsai (meizai, female bondservants) in late nineteenth-century Hong Kong within changing conceptions of the colony's political, geographical and cultural position. Whereas some colonial officials saw the mui-tsai system as a national shame that challenged Britain's commitment to ending slavery, others argued that it was an archaic custom that would eventually dissolve as China modernized. The debate also showed the rise of a class of Chinese elites who had accumulated enough power to defend the mui-tsai system as a time-honoured Chinese custom, even while acknowledging that in Hong Kong they lived beyond the boundaries of Chinese sovereignty. Challenging notions of the reach of the colonial state and showing how colonial policies often had unintended consequences, this debate also reveals the analytical and explanatory weakness of concepts such as 'colonial discourse' or 'the colonial mind
China · Colonialism · Economic history · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Ruling class · Shame · Sociology · Sovereignty · State (computer science · Gender Studies · History · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy
Shaping Modern Shanghai
The Hong Kong-China Nexus
“To Rescue the Wretched Ones”
A ‘Medieval Menagerie’ in a Progressive Era
Slavery
The rise of local labour legislation campaigns in post-war Hong Kong, 1969–1981
Forming colonial legal order under legal pluralism
Women missionaries, Chinese girls, and Protestant empire-building
Age as a Category of Gender Analysis
Do you own non-Chinese mui tsai?' Re-examining Race and Female Servitude in Malaya and Hong Kong, 1919-1939
Cosmopolitan Visions and Intellectual Passions
Abolitionist parallels
| Citations per year | 0.75 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2010 - 2025 (16) |
| Highly cited | No |