Startseite A sociosemiotic approach to the legal dispute over the crime of whoring with an underage girl in China
Artikel
Lizenziert
Nicht lizenziert Erfordert eine Authentifizierung

A sociosemiotic approach to the legal dispute over the crime of whoring with an underage girl in China

  • Xingcan Meng und Bing Wen EMAIL logo
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 29. Januar 2016

Abstract

Focusing on the legal dispute over the crime of whoring with an underage girl, the present study explores why many Chinese appeal to abolish the legal statute on the crime of whoring with an underage girl from a sociosemiotic perspective. The authors argue that the legislation of this legal statute neglects that the Chinese social system, including social customs and conventions, could also influence Chinese social semiotic systems. This legal dispute originates from the lack of an overview of the Chinese social, legal, and semiotic systems. By situating the dispute in the Chinese historical and cultural settings, the authors reveal why it is unreasonable to promulgate this legal statute. By situating the dispute in the Chinese and world legal settings, the authors further reveal the causal factors of this dispute: (1) labeling underage schoolgirls as prostitutes; (2) classifying statutory rape as crimes in prostitution; (3) the potential legal contradiction between the crime of rape and the crime of whoring with underage girl; (4) aiming to punish the perpetrator more severely and safeguard the underage girl more effectively, but giving rise to more similar crimes and doing more psychological harm to the underage girl by using language violence in reality. Therefore, the authors suggest that it be necessary to amend or modify, and to systematize some relevant legal provisions on sex offences against minors timely according to the social, linguistic, and legal realities.

Funding statement: Funding: The work described in this paper was substantially supported by a grant from the National Social Science Fund of China (Project No.: 12xzx013).

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Le Cheng, Professor and Director of the Center for Legal Discourse and Translation, Zhejiang University, for his insightful comments on the draft of this paper and his kind help with some invaluable resources.

References

Barry, K. 1995. The prostitution of sexuality. New York: New York University Press.Suche in Google Scholar

Chandler, D. 2002. Semiotics: The basics. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203166277Suche in Google Scholar

Che, H. 2010. The relationship between crime of rape and the crime of whoring with a girl under the age of fourteen. Faxue yanjiu [Chinese Journal of Law] 2. 136–155.Suche in Google Scholar

Cheng, Le, Shifeng Ni, King Kui Sin & Winnie Cheng. 2012. A sociosemiotic approach to fundamental rights in China. Semiotica 190(1/4). 41–55.10.1515/sem-2012-0038Suche in Google Scholar

Danesi, M. 2002. Understanding media semiotics. London: Arnold.10.1515/semi.2002.057Suche in Google Scholar

Dong, J. Z. 1995. The chastity idea of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In Zhongguo gudai hunyin yanjiu [Research on ancient Chinese marriages]. 242–258. Guangzhou: Guangdong People’s Press.Suche in Google Scholar

Evans, H. 1997. Women and sexuality in China: Female sexuality and gender since 1949. New York: Continuum.Suche in Google Scholar

Fish, S. 1989. Respecter le sens commun. Paris: LGDJ.Suche in Google Scholar

Fraley, A. 2005. Child sex tourism legislation under the protect act: Does it really protect. St. John’s Law Review 79. 445–484.Suche in Google Scholar

French, H. W. 2006. Letter from China: The sex industry is everywhere but nowhere. New York Times, December 14.Suche in Google Scholar

Gémar, Jean-Claude. 2013. From divergence to convergence. Paper presented at the Third International Conference on Law, 30 May–2 June. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Sci-Tech University.Suche in Google Scholar

Gil, V. E. & A. F. Anderson. 1998. State-sanctioned aggression and the control of prostitution in the People’s Republic of China: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior 3(2). 129–142.10.1016/S1359-1789(97)00008-6Suche in Google Scholar

Goodman, P. S. 2003. Sex trade thrives in China: Localities exploiting a growing business. Washington Post, 4 January. A01.Suche in Google Scholar

Halliday, M.A. K. 1974. A sociosemiotic perspective on language development. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 37(1). 98–118.10.1017/S0041977X0009488XSuche in Google Scholar

He, D. & D. Li. 2009. Language attitudes and linguistic features in the “China English” debate. World Englishes 28(1). 70–89.10.1111/j.1467-971X.2008.01570.xSuche in Google Scholar

Henke, D. 1979. Book note. American Bar Association Journal 65. 1378–1379.Suche in Google Scholar

Hershatter, G. 1997. Dangerous pleasures: Prostitution and modernity in twentieth-century Shanghai. Berkeley: University of California Press.10.1525/9780520917552Suche in Google Scholar

Hu, X. J. 2006. The evolution of female virginity complex. Dang’an Shikong [Archive space] 7. 40–42.Suche in Google Scholar

Huang, X. H. & J. W. Zhang. 2008. Reexploration on “è sǐ shì xiǎo, shī jié shì dà.” Xué shù jiè [Academics in China] 2. 10 RANGE?.Suche in Google Scholar

Jeffreys, E. 2004. China, sex, and prostitution. London: Routledge Curzon.10.4324/9780203493816Suche in Google Scholar

Jackson, S. M. & F. Cram. 2003. Disrupting the sexual double standard: Young women’s talk about heterosexuality. British Journal of Social Psychology 42. 113–127.10.1348/014466603763276153Suche in Google Scholar

Kang, S., C. Liu &K. Zhao. 1988. On female offenders. Lanzhou: Lanzhou University Press.Suche in Google Scholar

Kevelson, R. 1988. Law as a system of signs. New York: Plenum.10.1007/978-1-4613-0911-6Suche in Google Scholar

Korn, A. & S. Efrat. 2004. The coverage of rape in the Israeli popular press. Violence Against Women 10(9). 1056–1074.10.1177/1077801204267378Suche in Google Scholar

Lao, D. Y. 2011. New remarks on the relationship between the crime of rape and the crime of whoring with a girl under the age of fourteen. Qinghua Faxue [Tsinghua law journal] 5(2). 33–47.Suche in Google Scholar

Li, X. D. 2003. Legal transformation from the law in the Great Qing Dynasty to the civil code in the Republic of China. Beijing: Chinese People’s Public Security University Press.Suche in Google Scholar

Liberman, K. 1999. The social praxis of communicating meanings. Text 19. 57–72.10.1515/text.1.1999.19.1.57Suche in Google Scholar

Marinelli, M. 2009. Names and reality in Mao Zedong’s political discourse on intellectuals. Journal of Global Cultural Studies 5. 1–30.10.4000/transtexts.268Suche in Google Scholar

Ren, X. 1993. China. In Nanette J. Davis (ed.), Prostitution: An international handbook on trend, problems, and policies. London: Greenwood Press.Suche in Google Scholar

Ren, X. 1999. Prostitution and economic modernization in China. Violence against Women 5. 1411–1436.10.1177/10778019922183453Suche in Google Scholar

Ruan, F. 1991. Sex in China: Studies in sexology in Chinese culture. New York: Plenum.10.1007/978-1-4899-0609-0Suche in Google Scholar

Šarčević, S. 1985. Translation of cultural-bound terms in law. Multilingua 4(3). 127–133.10.1515/mult.1985.4.3.127Suche in Google Scholar

Smith, Abbe. 2010. Bill to shield child prostitutes touted in senate. New Haven Register, 25 April.http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20100425/bill-to-shield-child-prostitutes-touted-in-senate-video (accessed 30 October 2010).Suche in Google Scholar

Sun, Z. G. & J. W. Ge. 2012. An analysis of the abolishment of the crime of whoring with a girl under the age of fourteen. Fazhi yu shehui [Legal system and society] 30. 288–289.Suche in Google Scholar

Tian, C. 2011. Free will problem behind “è sǐ shì xiǎo, shī jié shì dà.” Morality and Civilization 1. 136–140.Suche in Google Scholar

Wagner, A. 2002. The legal discourse of the common law: A game of chess. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law 15(4). 345–360.10.1023/A:1021251412312Suche in Google Scholar

Wagner, A. 2010. Mapping legal semiotics. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law 23(1). 77–82.10.1007/s11196-009-9132-6Suche in Google Scholar

Wang, L. H. 2011. On commitments in criminal law. Canadian Social Science 7(1). 7–14.Suche in Google Scholar

Wang, X. & S. Y. Ho. 2011. “Female virginity complex” untied: Young Chinese women’s experience of virginity loss and sexual coercion. Smith College Studies in Social Work 81(2–3). 184–200.10.1080/00377317.2011.589336Suche in Google Scholar

Wei, D. 2009. Refute the proposal on abolishment of the Crime of whoring with a girl under the age of fourteen. Guojia jianchaguan xueyuan xuebao [Journal of National Prosecutors College] 4(24). 51–57.Suche in Google Scholar

Wittgenstein, L. 1967. Philosophical investigations, 3rd edn. Anscombe, G. E. M. (trans.), Rhees, R., von Wright, G. H. (eds). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Suche in Google Scholar

Xiao, B. S. & Y. Zhao. 2008. On abolishment of the crime of whoring with a girl under the age of fourteen. Public Administration & Law 1(117). C5.Suche in Google Scholar

Xiao, Z. 1989. Virginity and premarital sex in contemporary China. Feminist Studies 15(2). 279–288.10.2307/3177788Suche in Google Scholar

Ye, L.F. 2009. Abolish it or not: Reexamination of the crime of whoring with a girl under the age of fourteen. Faxue [Legal Science] 6. 119–123.Suche in Google Scholar

Zhang, H. 2006. Female sex sellers and public policy in the People’s Republic of China. In E. Jeffreys (ed.), Sex and sexuality in China, 139–158. New York: Routledge.Suche in Google Scholar

Zhang, M. K. 2009. The relation between Crime of whoring with a girl under the age of fourteen and crime of rape the underage girl. Renmin jiancha [People’s Procuratorial] 17. 8–12.Suche in Google Scholar

Zhou, J. 2006. Chinese prostitution: Consequences and solutions in the post-Mao era. China 4: 238–262.10.1353/chn.2006.0020Suche in Google Scholar

Published Online: 2016-1-29
Published in Print: 2016-3-1

©2016 by De Gruyter Mouton

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Introduction: Hidden meanings in legal discourse
  3. Comparing the incomparable and legal discourse
  4. Two assumptions in legal discourse: To answer for self and to tell the truth
  5. Le sens caché: Refoulement et impensé dans le discours de la loi sémiotique des significations cachées du discours juridique
  6. Multiple historical and social layers of interpretation of marital rape in England
  7. Revisiting judgment translation in Hong Kong
  8. Exemption and exegesis: Judicial interpretation of exemption clauses in England, Australia, and India
  9. Identifying the meanings hidden in legal texts: The three conditions of relevance theory and their sufficiency
  10. The consequences and effects of language transformations in legal discourse
  11. Exploring identities in police interrogations
  12. Rights, responsibilities, and resistance: Legal discourse and intervention legislation in the Northern Territory in Australia
  13. An exploration of the semantic domain of legal language
  14. The hidden meanings in the case law of the European Court for Human Rights
  15. Crimes of the sign: Politics and performatives in the Treason Trials of 1794
  16. Showing what “marriage” is: Law’s civilizing sign
  17. A sociosemiotic approach to the legal dispute over the crime of whoring with an underage girl in China
  18. Uncovering hidden meanings in legal discourse on the elderly: A semioethical perspective
  19. Deontic meaning making in legislative discourse
  20. Hidden meanings of the words “religion” and “religious” in legal discourse
  21. Hidden cultures in law: Metaphor and translation in legal discourse
  22. Negotiating language status in multilingual jurisdictions: Rhetoric and reality
  23. Burying attitudes in words: Linguistic realization of the shift of judges’ court conciliation style
Heruntergeladen am 22.10.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/sem-2016-0015/html?lang=de
Button zum nach oben scrollen