Honig, Emily, “Invisible Inequalities: The Status of Subei People in Contemporary Shanghai”, (1990)

Title : “Invisible Inequalities: The Status of Subei People in Contemporary Shanghai”,

Author(s) : Honig, Emily

Year : 1990

Type : Journal article

Subject : History

Keywords : social;

Journal : China Quarterly,

Volume : 122

Start page : 273

End page : 292

Language:Name : English

Support : Print

Abstract : The development of Shanghai in the 19th century drew immigrants from primarily three regions and one of these, known for its poverty, was Subei, an area between the Yangtze and the Huai rivers. People from this region, identified by place of origin rather than race or religion, became Shanghai's underclass. The epithet Subei-ren [Subei person] was an insult whether the target was from Subei or not. Contemporary Subei-ren are mostly Shanghai-born, but assumed non-Shanghai pronunciations serve to brand them as "others." Furthermore, the New 4th Army, which liberated Shanghai in 1949, was drawn largely from Subei and many Party cadre and city officials were from Subei as well. Active participation of Subei-ren in the Cultural Revolution and increased rural-to-urban migration have reinforced the prejudice against these people, which may be a disguised expression of antigovernment sentiment but also keeps these unfortunates in the role of an underclass.