Figure 1.--Many Chinese children had to work. Child labor was also a problem in America and Europe, but it was an especally severe problem in China because of the crushing poverty. Relatively few children were able to attend school and a vast paprt of the population was illiterate. Children in China worked as virtual slaves in terrible conditions. Norice how young these children were.

Many Chinese children had to work. Child labor was also a problem in America and Europe, but it was an especally severe problem in China because of the crushing poverty. Relatively few children were able to attend school and a vast part of the population was illiterate. Children in China worked as virtual slaves in terrible conditions. This included very young children. For girls that did not work, there was the horrors of food binding that were inflected upon girls from affluent families that did not have to work. Most of the available images show Chinese child laborers in traditional clothing. Once the Republic was established in 1911, there was increasing interest in launching a national educational system. Many schools were founded, but still most chgildren had to work. The Government energies were focused on first fighting the war lords (1910s-20s) and then the Japanese (1930s and early 40s). Only after the Communists emerged victorious in the Civil War (1945-49) did the Chinese Government begin to address the issue of child labor and education in a comprehensive fashion. HBC hasrelatively little information on the issue of child labor in historical terms. An internet search on Chimese child labor turns up numerous sites addressing the contemporary issue of child labor in China.

Created: September 5, 2002
Last updated: September 5, 2002