Library

In the late Qing Dynasty, the human trading market in northern China was very active, including servants, wives and concubines, child brides, prostitutes, apprentices, adopted children, etc. At that time, families from all walks of life relied on human trafficking to meet their family needs. This book examines how this human trade was accomplished, and the social and kinship networks that made it possible. The author's use of police and court files is quite innovative, connecting individual stories with rich details to show how society at the time accepted human trafficking as a common transaction. While examining the legal debates and elite discourses on slavery and human trafficking, it also delves into the world of traffickers and individual victims, presenting readers with a comprehensive and three-dimensional picture of lower-class population mobility in the midst of historical change.