Drowning Girls in China Female Infanticide in China since 1650 [Paperback]

This study represents a milestone in understanding the history of Chinese childhood.In this work, written with compassion, D. E. Mungello aims to tell a 'human story of female infanticide in China. . . . Given the sensitivity of the subject and the relative scarcity of research, in particular in English, Mungello has greatly enriched our knowledge of this topic. Readers will find in it abundantly useful information. Its publication will no doubt pave the way for more inquiries into an important yet difficult topic that has to this date deterred many other historians.In this evocatively titled volume, D. E. Mungello explores the causes, consequences, and multifarious reactions to female infanticide in China. . . . Fascinating.Both [of Mungellos] books very candidly treat themes which, in the general celebration over the friendship and cultural exchange between Europe and China, are commonly neglected, namely, sexual abuse and infanticide. . . . In sum, these are two books that in addition to being worth reading are also thought-provoking.Professor Mungellos important study focuses on the specific and at times widespread phenomenon of female infanticide in nineteenth-century China. He is to be congratulated for having expertly tackled a sensitive issue which has hitherto received scant scholarly attention.Shocking, yet highly informative. Mungello has taken the most difficult and personal of topicsfemale infanticideand with thorough research and thoughtful consideration has given us an historical account of the practice in China.This groundbreaking book offers the first full analysis of the long-neglected and controversial subject of female infanticide in China. Drawing on little-known Chinese documents and illustrations, noted historian D. E. Mungello describes the causes of female infanticide and its persistence for two thousand years.This groundbreaking book offers the first full analysis of the long-neglected and controversial subject of female infanticide inlÃÛ