SLAVERY WAS OFFICIALLY ENDED ON THIS DAY IN CHINA

Oznell · ‎11-08-2014

The History Channel notes that a law finally abolishing slavery in China, which had initially passed muster in 1906, came into effect on March 10, 1910.

Young children sold as slaves in Fuzhou in 1904. Heart-breaking.

Slavery had existed for thousands of years, as it had around the world, and by the time of the Han dynasty, from 206 B.C. to 220 A.D., approximately 5% of the entire Chinese population were slaves.

Although officially abolished in 1910, slavery persisted in pockets, mostly in remote regions. In 2007, a scandal erupted in Shanxi, where many people of all ages had been enslaved to work in illegal brickyards. Slaves were beaten, kept in unsanitary conditions, and received sparse, sporadic meals.

But at least the law of 1910 made such horrors illegal, and the perpetrators were punished.

piperbay · ‎04-03-2013

Not much better today. The people do not have freedom of speech, religion or how many children they want to bear.

Plus, the thought police has been unleashed there. The Citizen Score is Big Brother tracking and watching you. Not to mention the horrid propaganda and pollution they have to endure.

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

@piperbay wrote:
Not much better today. The people do not have freedom of speech, religion or how many children they want to bear.

Plus, the thought police has been unleashed there. The Citizen Score is Big Brother tracking and watching you. Not to mention the horrid propaganda and pollution they have to endure.

@piperbay I was going to say the same thing...it may be "officially over" but not so in reality.

Oznell · ‎11-08-2014

Only too true, perceptive @piperbay and @haddon9 . The people have had to suffer so much over time, slavery being one horrible abuse. And speaking of "thought police", people we know who are religious believers there are very uneasy, and have been recently subjected to seemingly random, long, intimidating interrogations by local authorities.

Still, in terms of the long, hideous global history of slavery, today is an important date involving at least a public disavowal (of sorts) of that degrading institution.