華人與英人對香港妹仔的影響（1841-1936）

本文以華人與英人對香港妹仔的影響為研究領域，以1841年至1936年間為研究範圍研究香港妹仔習俗的來源，支持妹仔習俗之華人與英人共同維護妹仔習俗之過程，以及通過反對其習俗之華人與英人的努力，迫使香港政府禁止蓄養妹仔之立法過程。妹仔自秦朝已有記載，到了清朝，多數廣東家庭均有蓄養妹仔，1841年，香港成為英國殖民地，在港英初期，香港有大量廣東移民前來找工作，妹仔習俗便傳入香港。殖民初期，港英政府雖有注意到香港的妹仔習俗，但當時政府對香港實施完全放任政策，並以義律來港時頒布的不干涉華人政策之公告為管理方針，直至1917年因來港英人開始注意香港妹仔習俗，並認為此與奴制相同，不應出現於英國殖民地中，於是在反對蓄婢會與各英議員努力爭取接近20年後，首先在1923年時立法禁止妹仔制度，縱使這時的廢婢只是虛有其表，香港華人依然可以蓄養妹仔，直至1929年，在英人與華人的極力要求下，終於實行妹仔註冊制度，明確規定註冊結束後將不得註冊妹仔，未註冊之妹仔不得出現在香港，才表示港英政府真正廢除香港妹仔制度，在註冊結束的6年內，不少解放妹仔或是違反禁婢制度的案件出現，而妹仔數量在香港逐年減少，最後香港妹仔制度亦不再存在。

關鍵字

港英時期；妹仔；婦女史；禁婢制度；兒童奴隸

並列摘要

This article takes the influence of Chinese and British on Hong Kong Mui Tsai as the research field, and studies the source of Hong Kong Mui Tsai customs from 1841 to 1936, and supports the process of Chinese and British people jointly maintaining Mui Tsai customs. And through the efforts of the HongKonger and the British who opposed their customs, the Hong Kong government was forced to prohibit the legislative process of raising younger sisters. Mui Tsai has been recorded since the Qin Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, most Cantonese families raised Mui Tsai. In 1841, Hong Kong became a British colony. Hongkong. In the early days of colonialism, although the Hong Kong British government paid attention to the customs of Hong Kong Mui Tsai system, the government implemented a completely laissez-faire policy towards Hong Kong at that time, and took the announcement of the non-interference policy issued by Charles Elliot when he came to Hong Kong as the management policy until 1917 because of the coming of Hong Kong. The British in Hong Kong began to pay attention to the custom of Hong Kong Mui Tsai, and believed that it was the same as slavery and should not appear in the British colonies. Therefore, after nearly 20 years of fighting against the Anti-Mui Tsai Society and Member of Parliament, they first legislated to ban it in 1923. The Mui Tsai system, even though the abolition of maidservants at this time was just a sham, the Hongkonger could still raise Mui Tsai. Until 1929, under the strong request of the British and Chinese, the Mui Tsai system was finally implemented, and it was clearly stipulated that no girls could be registered after the registration was over. Aberdeen, unregistered Mui Tsai are not allowed to appear in Hong Kong, which means that the British Hong Kong government has really abolished the Hong Kong Mui Tsai system.