A Study Of The Problems Of "Fenghua" And The Governance In Beijing Area During The Republic Of China (1912-1949)

�Fenghua� means codes of conduct and customs,between male and female,which are effected by certain ethical and moral values.Meanwhile,the problems of �Fenghua� refer to the phenomena which offended against intersexual decency,caused harmful effect and received wide attention from the society.According to the different special and subjects' elements,the problems of �Fenghua� can be divided into �public life� and �private life� phenomena in Beijing area during the Republic of China era.For the intersexual phenomena or topics,the publicity did not follow traditional social purists' and moralists' words any longer in that period.At that era,the new intellectuals emancipated their minds,made new remarks and elaborations about bodies and minds of men and women from art and science perspectives.In addition,the newspapers and periodicals published a series of sexy advertisements and pink news.All of these represented the recognition of the problems of �Fenghua� from various aspects,and presented a more multidimensional appearance of these problems beyond the level of ethics and morality.The Governance of �Fenghua�(govern the offence of �Fenghua�)plays an important role in keeping social orders,shaping the image of a city,ensuring the healthy development of a city,stabilizing the rule,etc.What's more,it is a significant part,which can not be neglected,of the authority in the process of social governance.In different historic situations,there will be different emphases on the demands of governance through the Governance of �Fenghua�.Generally,the Governance of �Fenghua� in Beijing area of the Republic of China era can be divided into two kinds: 1.Keeping social order for stabilizing the rule;2.Shaping the image of a city for promoting prosperity.The administrative governance of �Fenghua� problems is for public life and the criminal law governance of �Fenghua� problems is for the criminals of private life.And the enactment of the �Temporary New Criminal Law� and its supplemental rules is effected by the current social situation greatly.The �Criminal Law of the Republic of China�,which was legislated in 1935,provided more details than the �Temporary New Criminal Law� on criminals of �Fenghua� aspect.From 1915 to 1939,the authority reduced the punishments on rape or adultery.�Have sex with feme sole� would not be punished in the �Criminal Law of the Republic of China�.This represented the alienation between the criminal law and the traditional ethics on intersexual decency view.Meanwhile,it was a significant step in the process of Chinese society's modernization and a representation that presented morals and manners were changing from conservation to open-mindedness in the current society.Except the progress in the criminal law,mostly,the governance was in vain.Although few made effects,the duration was short in most cases.Among the reasons,the governance of �Fenghua� is implemented in the changing social context,which decided it is a dynamic,developing and continuous process.So,if the governance of �Fenghua� could have an efficient effect,the policy makers should follow the development trends of the times,initiate concordance,considerate diversification and concern interaction of the society.