宋代 ‘사회적 약자’로서 姙産婦 지원과 嬰兒 구제

Abstract

In China, there is a long tradition of support and relief for the ‘socially disadvantaged,’ such as elderly people, children, and women. As early as the period before the Qin Dynasty, there was a care and support for widows and the support for pregnant women influenced even preborn children and infants under the age of two. Such support for pregnant women, preborn children, and infants continued without decline well into and after the Han Dynasty and even progressed further in terms of laws and institutions during the Song Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, the Fetus Raising Order (Taiyangling) was promulgated to support pregnant women with fetus raising and childbirth and as part of the support, their husbands were exempted from statute labor and there were material support, such as rice and other grains and money. The Infant Raising Institution (Juzicang), a specialized relief institution, was established to provide support for pregnant women from poor households. The relief institution saved abandoned infants and raised them until they were sent back to their parents. The social relief for the ‘socially disadvantaged,’ which was different from the disaster relief from natural disasters, of the Song Dynasty, played an important role throughout the Chinese history. Related ‘statutes’ were continuously promulgated and different types of relief ‘institutions’ were widely installed, while relief measures taken in previous dynasties were made into policies and institutionally established. Later, the tradition of social relief was inherited as an exemplary model for policies and institutional development related to social relief. It can be said that the Chinese dynasties had the aspect of today’s social ‘welfare,’ which was more than a simple social ‘relief.’