Book contents
- Reproductive Realities in Modern China
- Cambridge Studies in the History of the People’s Republic of China
- Reproductive Realities in Modern China
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Introduction
- 1 Building a Fitter Nation: Eugenics, Birth Control, and Abortion in Public Discourse, 1911–1949
- 2 Birth Control in Practice
- 3 Reaping the Fruits of Women’s Labor: Birth Control in the Early PRC, 1949–1958
- 4 “Birth Planning Has Many Benefits”: Weaving Family Planning into the Fabric of Everyday Life, 1959–1965
- 5 Controlling Sex and Reproduction across the Urban–Rural Divide, 1966–1979
- 6 The Rise and Demise of the One Child Policy, 1979–2015
- Epilogue: Birth Control and Abortion in the Longue Durée, 1911–2021
- Appendix: Interviews
- Glossary
- References
- Index
1 - Building a Fitter Nation: Eugenics, Birth Control, and Abortion in Public Discourse, 1911–1949
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2023
- Reproductive Realities in Modern China
- Cambridge Studies in the History of the People’s Republic of China
- Reproductive Realities in Modern China
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Note on the Text
- Introduction
- 1 Building a Fitter Nation: Eugenics, Birth Control, and Abortion in Public Discourse, 1911–1949
- 2 Birth Control in Practice
- 3 Reaping the Fruits of Women’s Labor: Birth Control in the Early PRC, 1949–1958
- 4 “Birth Planning Has Many Benefits”: Weaving Family Planning into the Fabric of Everyday Life, 1959–1965
- 5 Controlling Sex and Reproduction across the Urban–Rural Divide, 1966–1979
- 6 The Rise and Demise of the One Child Policy, 1979–2015
- Epilogue: Birth Control and Abortion in the Longue Durée, 1911–2021
- Appendix: Interviews
- Glossary
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter demonstrates the interplay between domestic and international ideas about birth control and abortion in Republican China (1912–1949). Eugenic discourses linking individual health to national strength and modernity gained currency in the early 1920s. Margaret Sanger’s visit to China in 1922 further fueled elite preoccupation with using contraception to improve the “quality” of the population, while reformers called for an end to social ills, such as abortion, child abandonment, and infanticide. Mirroring the blending of Chinese and foreign eugenic thought, the medical language used to describe birth control merged a primarily traditional Chinese medical discourse with Western and Japanese scientific terminology. Despite their prominence in intellectual circles, many of the high-level arguments for and against birth control had little direct impact on everyday reproductive practices.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Reproductive Realities in Modern ChinaBirth Control and Abortion, 1911–2021, pp. 18 - 43Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023