More or Less; Marital Fertility and Physical Management in Late Imperial China

本文之目的在檢視中國生殖文化之哲理，宗教基礎，及其醫藥技術操作，與其所至成的近世中國日常身體之營攝，以之對質近代人口生理學理論上對一般社會男女於婚內有所謂「自然生育率」之概念性預設論文先略視上古厚生傳統，以對性交與生殖的雙向偏重，即一承認食邑需求之自然，與男女交歡之正當性。同時強調適時適性之掌握與平衡上的重要性。其次，則以近世之房內禁忌，與生殖趨避，說明在近代生育革命與計劃生殖之技術出現前，傳統社會如中國，早有種種人為努力，以有效（或無效）地增加或降低交媾與生殖之機率。最後，文章之末，此研究以市井招徠性材料，與民俗信仰及筆記小說之內容，展現無論在概念面，價值面，技術面，及至明清中國，其婚內男女之交媾生育，絕非當今人口學與生理學上習用之「自然生育率」一詞彙概念所能涵蓋。

關鍵字

生育率；生殖文化；醫藥；技術

並列摘要

Whence or whether human reproductive behavior has ever been entirely ”natural” is a topic much debated in modern demography. The presumably ”natural” sex drives, and the procreation that follows, as far back as recorded history may serve as meaningful witness, hardly ever coincide with human wishes to reproduce. Added to these other socio-economic and cultural conditions, we see ample room for intervention and manipulation. The enduring wish to exert some kind of control over the purely biological reproduction generates a variety of beliefs, knowledge, and skills, which influence ways of copulation and conception, as births were accorded more or less frequently as those under ”natural” conditions. Human motivation and the resultant techniques are thus at the very core of the questions to be confronted when we deal with the term natural fertility regime (NFR). In sex and reproduction, the Chinese, like others, never pursued simply the naturalist tendencies. Historically, they are known as preachers and practitioners of particular and well-articulated views on this biological process. The following essay examines the socio-cultural factors as well as the medical technology that may have had either a positive or a negative effect on fertility patterns in late imperial China. The demographic concepts of NFR, and marital fertility rate (MFR) are particularly intriguing given the complexity of reproductive behavior in historical China. On the one hand, socio-cultural considerations had long come into play regarding people's notions and habits of coition, as well as their decisions in child-bearing. More importantly, dating from very early times, medical knowledge and technical devices were available for altering nature's course in the timing and the number of births.