Waitresses And The Society Of Shanghai In The Late Qing Dynasty

1843,Shanghai was forced to open to the Westerners,the people from Britain, France and United States had settled there later. They built settlements, and founded new companies,developing foreign trade. Shanghai is located in the Yangtze River and the Yellow Sea, and depending on this outstanding situation, Shanghai replaced Guangzhou had become China's largest trade port and quickly developed into a regional shipping center. The emergence of foreign concession had made a unique political structure in Shanghai that Chinese authorities and foreign authorities controlled different part of this city separately. The good security environment, strong mercantile atmosphere in concession not only promoted the development of Shanghai's financial and trade, but also led to the emerging of leisure services industry.Until 1870 s,the rampant opium trade,quickly expanding population, which all led to the abnormal prosperity of opium dens. In the fierce competition, some opium dens began to hire waitresses(Nv Tang Guan) in stead of male waiters to service the smokers. Shortly, the appearance of waitress not only triggered a series of social problems, but also attracted fierce criticism from newspaper. The civic groups which was led by merchants also began to display their own political influence and took part in the event. Meanwhile, the authorities of French Concession decided to prohibit wairesses in opium dens. Eventually, through diplomatic consultations between the Shanghai Daotai and foreign authorities, the waitresses were banned completely. The comprehensive ban on hiring nv tang guan in opium dens let the women who tried their best to find a job and got economic independence suffered defeat. But with the development of modern industry, more and more women had found a job in emerging silk reeling factories in Shanghai.The positive action of Shanghai citizens in the event of nv tang guan had heralded the rising of citizen class. In citizen class, the merchant groups not only had huge wealth and social resources, but also showed strong group consciousness while displayed their political influence. Intellectuals usually paid attention to the social problem by publishing articles in the newspapers, and they tried to guide the public to think independently. At the bottom of the society, in order to improve their living standard, the working class worked hard in harsh situations. In the process of modernization, the society of Shanghai just like a magnet, which had attracted different kinds of people coming from the world.