2024: Suicide in China 中国自杀现象 (via Chinese language 维基百科）

Posted on 06/09/2024 by 高大伟 David Cowhig

During the 1990s, the suicide rate among rural women was the highest in the PRC. I recall vividly a meeting with experts from the section of the PRC Ministry of Agriculture (around 1998 while working in the US Embassy Beijing Science and Technology Section) during which they told me how they regretted approving a particularly potent pesticide that many rural women had used to end their lives. Fortunately suicide rates among rural Chinese women and among Chinese generally have dropped considerably. The greater possibilities rural people have these days to migrate to the cities and considerably higher incomes (on average) likely played a role in changing things.

I worked ten years in the PRC as a US diplomat (1996 – 2001 in Beijing and 2007 – 2012 in Chengdu) and saw great improvements in incomes, the possibilities of rural people to find a different life in the cities and in rural infrastructure. Overall, very good things although also associated with many serious problems. All within the same totalitarian political structure of one Party rule — political reform has always meant restructuring the political framework. So on some measures China changed a great deal, in other ways not so much. I am afraid I always see great continuities with the past when people exclaim to me how much China has changed.

See also, elsewhere on this blog 2010: PRC Anthropologist Wu Fei on Suicide and Chinese Search for the Good Life, as well as Chelsea Follett‘s 2018 article on the Cato Institute website “The Remarkable Fall in China’s Suicide Rate” :Today, urban life affords factory workers – but particularly women – the promise of opportunity, economic mobility and freedom.

DeepL machine translation of Wikipedia Chinese language article. Links go to Chinese language refs; you can use DeepL or Google Translate to follow if you are sino-illiterate. I often find that Chinese language Wiki articles about China are more informative than articles in other languages. Home field advantage I guess! Another sign of the leaps and bounds in machine translation over the past twenty years. The translated text below I didn’t have to correct much except for where it quoted ancient Chinese texts — classical/ancient Chinese (the old written form) is a study in itself.

维基百科 （Wikipedia) Suicide in China 中国自杀现象 [The Phenomenon of Suicide in China]

Studies related to the phenomenon of suicide in China began in the late 1970s, when China’s economy was opened to the West. [The Ministry of Health in China has been providing health-related information (including suicide) to the World Health Organization (WHO) annually since 1987, but because suicide is a politically sensitive issue, few overseas research organizations have access to information from local governments in mainland China, so knowledge of suicide in mainland China is limited to the information provided to the WHO [1]. From the results of those data studies, several characteristics of suicide in China were found: among the suicide population, females were more likely to commit suicide than males, contrary to the phenomenon in the world at that time; the number of suicides in the rural population was higher than that in the urban population, which was different from that in other parts of the world; and there was a bimodal pattern of the suicide rate in China, with the first peak occurring in the age group of 15-24 years old (especially in the rural females), in contrast with other parts of the world where the peak of suicides was in the age group of 15-24 years old. In contrast, in the rest of the world, the peak of suicides occurs in the 25-34 year old cohort. [1] After 2001, the suicide rate in China was lower for women than for men. [2] In the 1990s, China’s suicide rate was among the highest in the world. By 2011, China had one of the lowest suicide rates in the world. [3][4] According to the WHO, as of 2016, China’s suicide rate was 8.2 per 100,000 people [2]. In comparison, the suicide rate in the United States was 15.3 per 100,000 people in the same year [2]. Overall, China’s suicide rate is lower than that of neighboring Japan and South Korea, and higher in the Yangtze River Basin than in other regions.

Overview

In a 2014 study of suicides in China during the Great Rec ession (2007-2008), the global suicide rate soared. China’s declined: in the 1990s, China had one of the highest suicide rates in the world (more than 20 per 100,000 people), but it continued to decline (similar to the decline in the late 1990s) during the Great Recession of 2008, when a large number of people migrated from rural to urban areas.[5] By 2011, China’s suicide rate had declined by more than 20 per 100,000 people, but it had declined by more than 20 per 100,000 people. [5] By 2011, China’s suicide rate was one of the lowest in the world, even lower than that of the United States. [3][4] Between 1990 and 2016, China’s suicide rate declined by 64%, the world’s top-ranked rate of decline. [6][7] By 2016, the suicide rate for men in the United States was more than 2.5 times that of China (23.6 per 100,000 men in the U.S. compared to 9.1 in China). [2] The year 2001 was a turning point, when countries began to provide more reliable data, whereas prior to that, many countries (especially in Africa) had no globally recognized official data. [8]

Statistics

Aggregate data

particular yearUrban (total)Urban (M)Urban (female)Rural (total)Rural (male)Rural (female)source (of information etc)
20106.867.376.3210.0110.619.39[9][10]
20115.285.784.779.289.958.58[11]
20124.825.34.338.589.098.05[12]
20135.296.024.548.779.827.66[13][14]
20145.015.714.298.619.657.51[15][16]
20155.075.854.278.399.587.16[17][18]
20164.905.624.158.129.316.87[19][20]
20174.315.043.567.668.916.36[21][22]
20184.224.853.577.198.395.96[23][24]
20194.165.023.277.048.175.88[25][26]
20204.585.343.807.478.656.25[27][28]
20214.315.113.507.098.185.96[29][30]

Age-specific

5-19 years old

municipalitiescountryside
particular year5-9 years10-14 years15-19 years5-9 years10-14 years15-19 yearssource (of information etc)
20160.020.981.560.030.872.54[19][20]
20170.090.961.400.020.942.49[21][22]
20180.071.001.800.041.072.33[23][24]
20190.021.232.780.041.052.98[25][26]
20200.051.713.060.041.713.30[27][28]
20210.041.73.340.061.663.65[29][30]

Estimates from independent studies often differ significantly from official statistics provided by the government, causing controversy. Based on data collected in 1999, the government estimated the overall suicide rate to be 13.9 per 100,000 people [31], much lower than the rates in other East Asian countries: 18.5 in Japan and 28.9 in South Korea, for example. Family conflict is the number one cause of suicide in China, and other common causes include poverty, and physical and mental illness.[31] The rate of suicide in China is estimated at 13.9 per 100,000 people. [31]

Recent data provided by the Government of China are broadly consistent with external estimates. During the period 2009-2011, 44% of suicides occurred among people aged 65 or older, and 79% among rural residents.[32] However, a 2014 study by the Center for Suicide Research at the University of Hong Kong found that China’s suicide rate has dropped significantly and is among the highest in the world. [32] However, a 2014 study by the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at the University of Hong Kong reported that the suicide rate in China has dropped significantly and is among the lowest in the world [33]. Between 2009 and 2011, the average suicide rate in China was 9.8 per 100,000 people, a 58% drop from 23.2 between 1990 and 1995, mainly due to the migration of people from rural areas to cities, where they have gone through a process of urbanization and become middle class. Paul Yip, a professor at the University of Hong Kong who was recently involved in the study, said, “No other country has reached such a rapid decline in suicide rates as China.” [34]

Demography

The number of women who commit suicide each year in China is slightly higher than that of men. China is one of the few countries in the world where female suicide rates are higher than male. [31] Fewer women who attempt suicide suffer from mental illness compared to men who attempt suicide. [35] According to WHO statistics, in 2016, China had a suicide rate of 9.9 males and 6.3 females per 100,000 people, [2] one of the lowest rates for females in the world (see: List of suicide rates by country ). According to official statistics from the Chinese government, the suicide rate for males in China is lower than in many other countries, including Western countries such as the United States, Australia, and Germany. [2] Among men, as of 2016, China’s suicide rate is 60% lower than that of the United States. [2]

A study conducted in 2008 (based on data from the 1990s) found that the ratio of female to male suicides was 3:1; the ratio of rural to urban suicides was 3:1; there was a large increase in suicides among young adults and the elderly during the same period; it was clear that the suicide rate in China at that time was two to three times the global average; and that it was rare to see suicides committed by people with psychiatric disorders, especially those suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD). The suicide rate in China was apparently two to three times the global average at that time. [2] In the 1990s, more than 300,000 people committed suicide in China, according to the quarterly journal Culture Medicine and Psychiatry; [36] however, China’s suicide rate declined rapidly between 1990 and 2016.[6] As of 2016, China’s suicide rate has declined rapidly, and is expected to increase by about 20%. [6] As of 2016, China accounted for about 17% of global suicides. [37] In the 1990s, suicide rates were 40% higher in the Yangtze River Valley than in the rest of China. [38]

According to WHO estimates, after 2001, the suicide rate of men in China was higher than that of women. [2]

The prevalence of pesticide use and the paucity of medical emergency facilities in rural areas of mainland China is one of the reasons why the suicide rate in rural areas of mainland China used to be among the highest in the world, as pointed out in a 2006 letter to Nature: the annual per capita rates of drug use in the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka are not far from each other, but the death rate of Sri Lankan drug users is 15 times higher than that in the United Kingdom because of the two factors mentioned above. The authors speculated that the high suicide rate in rural mainland China may be due to a similar mechanism. [39]China’s traditional cultural preference for sons also puts rural women under greater survival pressure than men. On the other hand, the number and quality of social work and counseling assistants and psychiatrists available in mainland China are far from adequate to meet the needs of a rapidly changing society. There are only about 20,000 psychiatrists in mainland China. [40] The United States, on the other hand, with a population less than a quarter of that of mainland China, has about 28,000 psychiatrists [41] and 106,500 psychologists [42].

In the case of suicide, the motivation of each attempted suicide is different, and the psychological quality of the individual, the microenvironment and the level of social support around him or her play a major role. On the other hand, the high suicide rate at the macro level undoubtedly reflects problems at the social and cultural levels that need to be prevented and solved at the level of public policy. In an increasingly modernized society like mainland China, it is difficult to measure people’s quality of life solely by indicators such as gross domestic product( GDP). How to provide basic health care and social support (including support for people with severe depression and mental illness) for every member of society is a major issue in modern China.

History of Suicide in China

See: Philosophy of suicide

In China, during the Han Dynasty, corporal punishment and self-immolation (suicide) were two of the major punishments for men, which not only penalized the individual, but also implicated the entire family. [43] Certain ritualized suicides have been used for a long time in traditional Chinese culture, with state power imposing guilt-by-association penalties on the families of deposed officials, while Confucian values consider certain acts of corruption to be more serious than death, and thus suicide is morally permissible, and even deeming certain altruistic suicides to be worthy of glorification. [44] In the Analects of Confucius. Wei Linggong, Confucius said: “A man of honor has no desire for life if it does harm to benevolence, but kills his own body for the sake of benevolence. (To wit: a man of ambition will not do anything against benevolence out of greed for life and fear of death; instead, he will sacrifice his life in order to guard the standard of benevolence.)” [45] Mencius said in Mengzi – Suizi Shang (孟子-告子上):

 Fish, something I desire; bear’s paw, also something I desire. If I cannot have both, I would give up the fish and take the bear’s paw. Life is also something I desire; righteousness is also something I desire. If I cannot have both, I would give up life and take righteousness. Life is what I desire, but there are things I desire more than life, so I will not obtain it improperly. Death is what I detest, but there are things I detest more than death, so there are situations I will not avoid. If what people desire most is life, then why not use all means to preserve it? If what people detest most is death, then why not do everything to avoid disaster? Thus, there are ways to preserve life that I do not use, and there are ways to avoid disaster that I do not act upon. Therefore, there are things I desire more than life and things I detest more than death. Not only the wise have this mindset; everyone has it, but the wise can avoid losing it.[46]

Because of the aforementioned inability to accept limb mutilation due to torture (from the Book of Filial Piety: The body’s hair and skin are received by one’s parents, and one does not dare to destroy them, which is the beginning of filial piety. [47]), the preferred method of death – as contained in the Han Shu – was to preserve the whole body, such as hanging from a beam, or hanging.

Famous suicides in ancient China include Wu Zixu (who died to remind King Fu-chai of Wu that he could not trust the state of Yue, see the story of King Goujian of Yue, who restored his country by tasting the guts on a bed of firewood ) and Qu Yuan ( King Haxiang of Chu did not listen to the advice of Qu Yuan and made peace with the state of Qin, and he was driven away from the state of Qin, which later broke through the capital city of Ying in 278 BC, and he was so angry that he threw himself into the Miluo River, which was unsuccessfully saved by people rowing their boats). This is also the origin of the annual Dragon Boat Festival Dragon Boat Race in China.

Female suicide in ancient times

Female suicide had become a common practice by the end of the Ming Dynasty and reached its peak in the early years of the Qing Dynasty. The causes of this spike in female suicide were attributed to many different ideologies and social circumstances. Like the American historian Janet Theiss, [48] it is said that Han Chinese women committed suicide to preserve their chastity, while the Manchus had the practice of wives committing suicide to follow their husbands to their deaths. [49]

The loss of a woman’s virginity is considered to be a disgrace to the family, and therefore the act of committing suicide in order to preserve her virginity is considered to be an act of chastity. Historically, however, the Chinese also considered suicide to be an unfilial act, because the body was born of the parents and they did not dare to destroy it. According to author Liu Meng, it is more important for a woman to preserve her chastity than to survive, so suicide is not considered to be criticized. [31]

Chastity is highly valued, but widowed women, especially those without sons, are likely to be forced by their husbands’ families to remarry. Scholars point out that these women are forced to choose between humiliating their families by losing their virginity or committing suicide. Ultimately, this ideological mindset would lead some women to choose suicide as a way to become a nun. The Qing government passed a law that allowed widows to inherit money and property left by their husbands, allowing them to make a living while maintaining their chastity, which in turn led to husbands seeking to remarry their widowed daughters-in-law in order to preserve their wealth. [50]

Legal Issues

In China, the legality of suicide has not been clarified. The National People’s Congress has considered several proposals to legalize physician-assisted suicide, but as of 2011, they have all been overturned.In 1992, a doctor was charged with murder after injecting a terminal cancer patient with a toxic agent that killed him, and was eventually acquitted.In May 2011, a farmer was sentenced to two years in prison for criminal negligence after assisting a friend in committing suicide, but that case was the result of the farmer mistakenly being buried alive by the farmer after his friend had taken poison before the dose was sufficient to kill him. [51]

In the Qing Dynasty, laws were enacted to minimize female suicides. If a person harassed a woman with obscene words and caused her to commit suicide in anger, it was the same as if the person who had made the obscene words had committed rape.[52] [The Qing dynasty also outlawed suicide, so no one who committed suicide could receive any rewards or special honors. Exceptions were usually made, however, when the court believed that a woman had done so to preserve her chastity. [53]

See also

References

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  53. ^ Theiss, Janet (2001-06-01). “Managing Martyrdom: Female Suicide and Statecraft in Mid-Qing China”. NAN NÜ. 3 (1): 47-76. doi:10.1163/156852601750122991. ISSN 1387-6805. pmid 19484900

External links[edit]

对于中国自杀现象的相关研究是在1970年代晚期，当时中国经济对西方开放后才开始。[1]中国的卫生部从1987年开始每年提供卫生相关资料（包括自杀）给世界卫生组织（WHO），但由于自杀是个政治上敏感的问题，海外的研究单位少有能从大陆地方政府取得资料的机会，所以对大陆自杀的知识仅限从那些提供给WHO的资料中取得[1]。从那些资料研究的结果，发现中国的自杀有几个特点：在自杀人口中，女性高于男性，和当时世界的现象相反；农村人口自杀的数目高于城市人口，又与世界其他地区不同；另外就是中国自杀率呈现双峰模式，第一个高峰是年纪在15-24岁间的群组（尤其是发生在农村女性），相较之下，世界其他地区的自杀高峰是发生在25-34岁的群组。[1]而在2001年之后，中国女性的自杀率低于男性。[2]在1990年代，中国的自杀率位居世界前茅。到2011年，中国成为全球自杀率最低的国家之一。[3][4]根据WHO的数据，截至2016年，中国的自杀率为每10万人有8.2人[2]。相较之下，同年美国的自杀率为每10万人有15.3人[2]。总体而言，中国的自杀率低于邻国日本和韩国的，而且在长江流域中又高过其他地区。

概论[编辑]

在2014年的一项对在经济大衰退时期（2007-2008年）中，在中国自杀相关的研究，虽说当时全球自杀率飙升。中国的却在下降：在1990年代，中国位居世界自杀率最高国家之列（每10万人中有20多人），但在2008年全球经济大衰退期间，中国的自杀率持续下降（与1990年代末期下降的情况类似），而当时大量的人口从农村地区迁移到城市地区。[5]到2011年，中国的自杀率已是全球最低的国家之一，甚至低于美国。[3][4]从1990年到2016年期间，中国的自杀率下降64％，是世界上自杀率下降速度排名第一的国家。[6][7] 到2016年，美国男性的自杀率是中国的2.5倍以上（美国男性为每10万人有23.6人，而中国为9.1人）。[2]2001年是一个转折点，各国开始提供可靠性较高的数据，而在此之前，许多国家（特别是非洲国家）没有全球认可的官方数据。[8]

统计数据[编辑]

总体数据[编辑]

年份城市（总）城市（男）城市（女）农村（总）农村（男）农村（女）来源
20106.867.376.3210.0110.619.39[9][10]
20115.285.784.779.289.958.58[11]
20124.825.34.338.589.098.05[12]
20135.296.024.548.779.827.66[13][14]
20145.015.714.298.619.657.51[15][16]
20155.075.854.278.399.587.16[17][18]
20164.905.624.158.129.316.87[19][20]
20174.315.043.567.668.916.36[21][22]
20184.224.853.577.198.395.96[23][24]
20194.165.023.277.048.175.88[25][26]
20204.585.343.807.478.656.25[27][28]
20214.315.113.507.098.185.96[29][30]

分年龄段[编辑]

5-19岁[编辑]

城市农村
年份5-9岁10-14岁15-19岁5-9岁10-14岁15-19岁来源
20160.020.981.560.030.872.54[19][20]
20170.090.961.400.020.942.49[21][22]
20180.071.001.800.041.072.33[23][24]
20190.021.232.780.041.052.98[25][26]
20200.051.713.060.041.713.30[27][28]
20210.041.73.340.061.663.65[29][30]

独立研究得出的估计数字经常与政府提供的官方统计数字会相差甚远，引起争议。根据1999年收集的数据，政府估计自杀总比率为每10万人有13.9人[31]，远低于其他东亚国家的比率：譬如日本是18.5人，韩国是28.9人。家庭冲突是导致中国人自杀的第一大原因，其他常见原因包括贫穷，还有身心疾病。[31]

近来中国政府提供的数据与外部的估计大致相符。在2009-2011年期间，自杀事件中有44％发生在65岁或以上的人之中，而79％发生在农村居民之中。[32]然而香港大学防止自杀研究中心在2014年所作的一项研究报告的结果显示，中国的自杀率已大幅下降，处于世界最低水准[33]。在2009年至2011年期间，中国平均自杀率是每10万人有9.8人，较1990年至1995年期间的23.2人下降58％，主要原因是由于农村地区人口迁移到城市，历经城市化过程，成为中产阶级的结果。最近参与研究的香港大学教授Paul Yip说，”没有一个国家像中国达成这样迅速下降的自杀率。” [34]

人口学的数据[编辑]

中国每年自杀的女性人数略高于男性。中国是世界上少数女性自杀率高于男性的国家之一。[31]试图自杀的女性中，和试图的自杀男性比较，比较少患有精神疾病。[35]根据WHO的的统计数字：2016年，中国每10万人的自杀者中，男性为9.9人，女性为6.3人，[2]是世界上女性自杀率最低的国家之一（请参考：各国自杀率列表）。根据中国政府的官方统计，中国男性的自杀比率低于许多其他国家，包括美国、澳大利亚、和德国等西方国家。[2]在男性中，截至2016年，中国的自杀率比美国低60％。[2]

一项在2008年所做（基于1990年代数据）的研究发现：当时女性和男性的自杀比率是3：1；农村和城市的自杀比率是3：1；同一时期，年轻成年人和老年人自杀有大量增加的现象；很明显，当时中国的自杀率是全球平均水平的两到三倍；自杀者中，少见患有精神疾患者，尤其是重性抑郁疾患者。[2]根据季刊《文化，医学，和精神病学》杂志的数据，1990年代，中国有超过30万人自杀；[36]然而中国的自杀率在1990年到2016年期间快速下降。[6]截至2016年，中国自杀人数约占全球的17％。[37]1990年代，在长江流域的自杀率比中国其他地区高出40％。[38]

根据WHO的估计，在2001年之后，中国男性自杀率高于女性。[2]

中国大陆农村农药的普遍使用以及农村医疗救急设施的贫瘠，是导致中国大陆农村自杀率曾高居世界之首的原因之一。2006年自然杂志的一篇来信指出：英国和斯里兰卡两国的人均每年服毒率相差不远，但因为前述两个因素，斯里兰卡服毒者的死亡率是前者的15倍。作者猜测中国大陆农村的高自杀率可能出于类似机理。[39]中国传统文化上的重男轻女也使得农村妇女面临较男性更大的生存压力。另一方面，中国大陆现有的社会工作与咨询辅助人员、精神心理医生的数量和质量，也远远不能适应一个急剧变化中的社会的需要。中国大陆仅有大约20,000名心理医生。[40]而美国的人口不足中国大陆的四分之一，却有大约28,000名心理医生[41]和106,500名心理学家[42]。

对于自杀的个案，每一个试图自杀者的动机都不一样，个人心理素质、微环境及周边的社会支持程度起重大作用。而宏观上偏高的自杀率，则无疑反映社会和文化层次上的问题，需要在公共政策的层面去防范和解决。在中国大陆这样一个日趋现代化的社会中，人们的生活质量很难仅仅用国内生产总值（GDP）这样的经济指标来衡量。怎样为社会中每一个成员提供最基本的医疗卫生保障和社会支持（包括对重性忧郁疾患和精神疾患患者的支持），是现代中国大陆面临的一个重大课题。

中国历史[编辑]

参见：自杀哲学

中国在汉朝时，对于男性，肉刑和自尽（自杀）是重大刑罚中的两种，不仅处罚到个人，而且会牵连到整个家族。[43]某些仪式化的自杀在传统中华文化中被长期使用，国家权力对被贬官员的家族实行连坐惩罚，而儒家价值观认为，某些败德行为比死亡更为严重，因此自杀在道德上受到允许，甚至认为某些利他自杀值得颂扬。[44]《论语．卫灵公篇》孔子说：”志士仁人，无求生以害仁，有杀身以成仁。（大意是说：志士仁人不会因为贪生怕死而做出违背仁德的事，反而会为了护卫仁德的标准而牺牲性命。）” [45] 孟子在《孟子·告子上》说：

鱼，我所欲也，熊掌，亦我所欲也；二者不可得兼，舍鱼而取熊掌者也。生亦我所欲也，义亦我所欲也；二者不可得兼，舍生而取义者也。生亦我所欲，所欲有甚于生者，故不为苟得也。死亦我所恶，所恶有甚于死者，故患有所不辟也。如使人之所欲莫甚于生，则凡可以得生者何不用也？使人之所恶莫甚于死者，则凡可以辟患者何不为也？由是则生而有不用也，由是则可以辟患而有不为也。是故所欲有甚于生者，所恶有甚于死者。非独贤者有是心也，人皆有之，贤者能勿丧耳。。[46]

由于上述不能接受肢体因受刑而受残（源于《孝经》：身体发肤，受之父母，不敢毁伤，孝之始也。[47]），因此首选的死法-如《汉书》所载的-选择保留全尸的方式，譬如悬梁，或者绞刑。

中国古代著名的自杀事迹包括伍子胥（以死谏来提醒吴王夫差，不可相信越国，详见越王勾践卧薪尝胆复国的故事），和屈原（楚顷襄王不听屈原苦劝，而与秦国媾和，屈原被驱离，而后秦军在公元前278年攻破楚国首都郢都，屈原因此忧愤，投汨罗江，人们划船抢救，未果）这也是中国一年一度的端午节龙舟竞赛的由来。

古代女性自杀[编辑]

在明朝末年，女性自杀已成为一种普遍的做法，并在清朝初年达到高峰。导致这种女性自杀飙升的原因，是由很多不同的意识形态和社会环境所造成。像美国历史学家珍妮特·西斯（Janet Theiss）[48]就说，汉族妇女以自杀来保住贞操，而满族则有妻子自杀以追随丈夫而亡的习俗。[49]

妇女失去贞操被视为是家族的耻辱，因此为维护贞操而自杀的行为被视为贞烈的行为。但是从历史上看，中国人也认为自杀是不孝的举动，因为身体发肤受之父母，不敢毁伤的缘故。根据作者Liu Meng的说法，妇女保住贞操比苟且偷生更重要，因此认为自杀不应受到批评。[31]

贞操备受重视，但丧偶的妇女，特别是那些没生儿子的寡妇，很可能被其夫家逼去改嫁。学者指出，这些妇女被迫在因失去贞操而羞辱自己的家人，或自杀之间做出选择。最终，这种意识形态思维到最后会让有些妇女选择自杀一途，成为节妇。清朝政府通过一项法律，允许寡妇继承丈夫遗留的金钱和财产，让他们得以为生，而守住贞操，这反导致夫家设法把守寡的儿媳妇改嫁，以便保住财富。[50]

合法性[编辑]

在中国，自杀的合法性尚未厘清。全国人民代表大会曾审议几项让医生辅助自杀合法化的提议，但截至2011年，这些提议均被推翻。1992年，一名医生为一名癌症末期病人注射毒剂致死，而被控以谋杀罪，最后被判无罪开释。2011年5月，一名农民在协助一位朋友自杀后，以刑事过失罪而被判处两年徒刑，但那个案子是农民在他朋友服毒之后，剂量尚不足以致死前，却误被农民活埋的缘故。[51]

清朝透过制定法律来减少女性自杀。如果有人用淫秽言辞骚扰妇女，而导致这位妇女羞忿自杀，就等同发不逊之言的人犯下强奸罪。[52]清朝也视自杀为非法，因此自杀的任何人都无法获得任何奖励或特别荣誉。然而朝廷认为妇女这样做是为了维护自己的贞操时，通常会作例外处理。[53]

参见[编辑]

参考文献[编辑]

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About 高大伟 David Cowhig

After retirement translated, with wife Jessie, Liao Yiwu's 2019 "Bullets and Opium", and have been studying things 格物致知. Worked 25 years as a US State Department Foreign Service Officer including ten years at US Embassy Beijing and US Consulate General Chengdu and four years as a China Analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Before State I translated Japanese and Chinese scientific and technical books and articles into English freelance for six years. Before that I taught English at Tunghai University in Taiwan for three years. And before that I worked two summers on Norwegian farms, milking cows and feeding chickens.
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