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A baby tower, also known as an abandoned infant tower or baby girl tower, is an architectural structure found in various places in ancient China. They would typically take the form of a small stone or brick tower with an opening on the top. Dead, disabled, female, and unwanted infants could be thrown inside and abandoned. The baby tower is described as a donation from wealthy people in the countryside, as a more humane alternative to drowning babies in a river, common at the time. The pagoda architectural style is intended to suppress the spirit of the children, to prevent them from being reincarnated.
Gender selection of children in China has been an issue for a long time due to the undesirability of female children in the Chinese patriarchal society, and the perception of male children as being more valuable for work, especially among peasants.
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References
Works cited
- Lee, Bernice J. (1981). "Female Infanticide in China". Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques. 8 (3): 163–177. JSTOR 41298766.
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