In some parts of China, there is a special kind of structure that is shaped like a small tower with a small hole in it in which the ashes of countless babies are buried. This is the Baby Tower, also known as the Abandoned Baby Tower or the Baby Girl Tower. They were a social phenomenon in the late Qing Dynasty, reflecting the patriarchal and human darkness of the time.
Origin and distribution of baby towers.
The origin of the baby tower is closely related to the patriarchal ideology and poor environment of feudal society. In that era, boys were regarded as the heirs and laborers of the family, while girls were considered burdens and outsiders, after all, "married daughters, spilled water", raised for a long time, is a typical loss-making business for people with foreign surnames.
Many families sacrifice their daughters' lives in order to have a boy. Some families abandon their daughter in the wilderness or by the river after she is born, leaving her to fend for herselfFamilies with a little conscience send their daughters to the baby tower, hoping that they will be buried and exceeded.
Baby towers are mainly distributed in Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong and other places, among which Zhejiang is the most common. According to statistics, there are more than 300 baby towers in Zhejiang Province, including more than 100 in Taizhou City, accounting for one-third of the province. Baby pagodas vary in shape, some are individual tower-shaped buildings, some are complexes connected to temples or ancestral halls, and some are small pavilions on hillsides or in fields. The height of the baby tower is generally between 2 meters and 5 meters, the tower body is generally made of bricks or bluestone, and the top of the tower is generally covered with tiles or iron sheets. The most striking feature of the Baby Tower is that it has a small hole in the body of the tower where the baby's corpse or ashes are placed.
The scene of the baby tower is a picture of hell on earth. There was a foul stench around, and it was filled with cries, and it was burned every few days. Some baby towers have special stoves inside to burn the baby's body, and then the ashes are packed in jars and stacked on shelves in the tower.
Most of the baby towers do not have a stove inside, just the corpses of babies are randomly piled together, and when the tower is full, it is lit with torches to turn the whole tower into a stove. Some baby towers don't even have a top, just an open-air pit filled with baby corpses, which are allowed to be eaten by flies, mosquitoes, rats, cats and dogs.
The Baby Tower is a desecration of life and a distortion of humanity. It is a kind of discrimination against women and cruelty to daughters, as well as a kind of helplessness against society and an escape from oneself. The builders of the Baby Tower may have been motivated by compassion and kindness to provide a resting place for abandoned babies, or they may have been motivated by utilitarianism and selfishness to accumulate merit and wealth.
Either way, the existence of the baby tower is a social sorrow.
The Demise and Revelation of the Baby Tower.
With the progress of society and the development of civilization, the baby tower gradually disappeared. With the renewal of ideology, most people have established the concept of equality between men and women, so as to eliminate prejudice and discrimination in favor of sons over women.
The revelation of the Baby Tower is a kind of respect for life and the redemption of humanity. Giving birth to a child is a matter that requires responsibility and love, and you cannot control the fate of a life at will, otherwise it is a sin against life. Every life is unique, has its own value and meaning, and should be respected and cared for, whether it is a boy or a girl, healthy or disabled, biological or adopted. Only in this way can we eliminate social injustice and injustice and achieve harmony and happiness for mankind.