Reported by Yuting Zeng, class of 2026.
On the evening of April 25, 2025, the “Female+__” reading group sponsored by DKU Humanities Research Center hosted a lecture titled “Beyond the Birthing Chamber: Alternative Public Services of Midwives in the Ming and Qing Dynasties,” delivered by Professor Yue Gu from the History Department at Shanghai University and attended by over 30 students and faculty members. Professor Gu holds a B.S. degree from Northeastern University (NEU) in Boston, as well as MPhil and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on gender history, social medical history, and the history of emotions in Ming-Qing China.
The lecture sought to expand the conventional understanding of midwives in late imperial China. Existing scholarship has primarily framed midwives within the context of childbirth and reproductive care, often overshadowed by male physicians’ writings on women’s health. In contrast, Professor Gu shifted the focus beyond the birthing chamber, revealing the wide array of public services midwives provided, including verifying chastity, determining sex, conducting autopsies, and caring for female criminals.
Professor Gu began by addressing the gendered construction of medical knowledge, noting that despite the dominance of male-authored medical texts, female practitioners occupied crucial spaces of practical authority. She traced the historical record of midwives back to the Yuan dynasty, referencing Nancun chuogenglu 南村辍耕录 (Notes from the Southern Village After Laying Down the Plow), and explained the classification of midwives (wenpo 稳婆 in Chinese) among the so-called sangu liupo 三姑六婆 (lit. three aunties and six mother-in-law), a phrase that reflects their entrenched role in community life.
Moving into specific examples, Professor Gu detailed the procedures midwives performed in legal and forensic contexts. In cases of verifying chastity for deceased women, as recorded in Xiyuan jilu洗冤集录 (Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified) by Song Ci 宋慈 (1186–1249), midwives were entrusted with delicate examinations whose outcomes could significantly affect familial and social reputations. Additionally, midwives served in judicial contexts involving pregnant female criminals; according to The Great Ming Code, if a condemned woman was found pregnant, her execution would be postponed until 100 days after childbirth, a process that necessitated midwives’ expert intervention.
Throughout her lecture, Professor Gu highlighted the paradox inherent in midwives’ societal position: while their authority derived from their intimate knowledge of the female body, their professional legitimacy was often undermined by deeply ingrained gender hierarchies. Their labor straddled the boundary between private and public realms, medical and legal spheres, revealing the complex negotiations of gender, expertise, and social trust in late imperial Chinese society.
The lecture concluded with a dynamic and thought-provoking Q&A session. Participants from diverse academic backgrounds engaged in lively discussions that expanded the lecture’s core themes. Questions explored issues such as the intersection of gendered labor and professional recognition, comparisons between midwifery practices in China and other cultural contexts, and the broader implications of bodily authority in historical and contemporary frameworks. Professor Gu offered incisive responses, further deepening the audience’s understanding of the material.
The event not only illuminated the alternative roles midwives played in history, but also opened a vibrant interdisciplinary dialogue about how bodily knowledge, gendered professions, and public service intersect and evolve across time. Through her insightful lecture and engaged conversation, Professor Gu invited the audience to reconsider the boundaries between medicine, law, and society in the Ming and Qing dynasties—and beyond.
