The Disturbing Profession Behind Dream of the Red Chamber

Readers of Dream of the Red Chamber may recall a chilling moment in Chapter 80 when Aunt Xue, in a fit of rage, threatens to sell her maid Xiangling, declaring, “I’ll summon a human broker (renyazi) to sell her off at once.” This passing reference unveils a dark yet normalized facet of premodern Chinese society: the legalized trade of human beings. Unlike modern human trafficking—a capital offense today—this practice operated within imperial China’s legal and social frameworks. But how did such a system function? Who were these brokers, and what cultural forces sustained this market?

The Legal Foundations of Human Trade

### The Hierarchy of “Good” and “Base” Citizens

Ancient Chinese society classified people into liangmin (良民, “good citizens”) and jianmin (贱民, “base citizens”). Originally comprising war captives and slaves, the jianmin later included criminals, entertainers, and sex workers. These individuals existed as property—recorded in the Zizhi Tongjian as being traded “in the same pens as cattle and horses” during the Qin dynasty. Their commodification was institutionalized; a Ming dynasty account by scholar Gu Yanwu noted elite households owning 1,000–2,000 servants, mirroring the sprawling servant class in Dream of the Red Chamber.

### Economic and Marital Necessities

Beyond slavery, poverty drove “good citizens” to sell family members. Natural disasters, debt, or sheer desperation led parents to sell children, husbands to sell wives, and even women to sell themselves. Marriage customs further fueled demand: concubines were legally categorized as property, while dowry pressures forced families to sell daughters rather than bear wedding costs. Southern Song official Xu Yuanjie lamented families grooming daughters as entertainers for future sale, condemning the practice as “devoid of parental conscience.”

The Human Broker: A Legal Middleman

### Skills and Social Networks

Unlike modern traffickers, renyazi were licensed intermediaries akin to real estate agents. Success required eloquence (comparable to matchmakers) and vast social connections. A Northern Song anecdote describes broker Lin Sanniang instantly matching a merchant’s maid to a bureaucrat’s household within hours—showcasing the profession’s efficiency.

### Legal Risks and Ethical Boundaries

Brokers walked a tightrope. Tang laws mandated death by hanging for trading free citizens or kidnapping, forcing careful vetting of sellers’ backgrounds. Contracts guaranteed buyers recourse if purchased individuals later proved to be abducted or married—a system relying on brokers’ reputations.

The Transaction: A Three-Step Process

### 1. “Product Inspection”

Buyers specified needs (e.g., beauty for concubines, culinary skills for maids), with brokers sourcing accordingly. Physical inspection was standard, echoing livestock markets.

### 2. Verifying Legitimacy

Brokers confirmed sellers’ legal rights to dispose of the person—critical to avoid future lawsuits. A maid’s resistance or hidden marital status could void deals.

### 3. Contracts and “Cooling-Off Periods”

Transactions concluded with baiqi (white contracts), later stamped as hongqi (red contracts) after government registration and 10% tax payment. A three-day “return policy” allowed refunds for buyer’s remorse—a surprisingly modern consumer protection.

The “Thin Horse” Phenomenon: Beauty as Commodity

In Ming-Qing Jiangnan, a grotesque industry flourished: yangshouma (养瘦马, “raising thin horses”). Brokers acquired impoverished girls with attractive features, training them in arts and etiquette to inflate their value. Zhang Dai’s Yangzhou Thin Horses documents how these teenagers were sold as concubines or to brothels, with Yangzhou becoming the epicenter of this trade. The term “thin horse” derived from the girls’ slender figures, cultivated to elite tastes.

Legacy and Modern Reflections

Though abolished in the 20th century, echoes persist. Contemporary debates on bride trafficking in rural China or global sex tourism reveal uncomfortable continuities in commodifying human lives. The renyazi system, with its contractual formalities and tax revenues, forces us to confront how legally sanctioned oppression operated—and how societies rationalize exploitation under economic or cultural guises.

The next time you revisit Dream of the Red Chamber, remember Xiangling: her near-fate as a traded commodity wasn’t fictional cruelty, but a reflection of systems that once governed millions.