Editing Begging (section)

==History==
[[File:Beggars in Rabat.tif|thumb|Two beggars in [[Rabat]] ([[Morocco]]), 1960.]]
Beggars have existed in human society since the dawn of recorded history. Street begging has happened in most societies around the world, though its prevalence and exact form vary.

===Greece===
[[Ancient Greeks]] distinguished between the ''pénēs'' (Greek: πένης, "active poor") and the ''ptōchós'' (Greek: πτωχός, "passive poor"). The ''pénēs'' was somebody with a job, only not enough to make a living, while the ''ptōchós'' depended on others entirely. The [[working poor]] were accorded a higher social status.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cavallo|first=Guglielmo|author-link=Guglielmo Cavallo|title=The Byzantines|page=15|year=1997|location=Chicago|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-09792-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJDRx6FAi0EC}}</ref> The [[New Testament]] contains several references to [[Jesus]]' status as the savior of the ''ptochos'', usually translated as "the poor", considered the most wretched portion of society. In the [[rich man and Lazarus]] parable, Lazarus is called 'ptochos' and presented as living in extreme poverty.
''Agyrtae'' (ἀγύρται) were wandering beggars or alms collectors in ancient Greece, often linked to religious practices and fortune-telling. They were generally seen as disreputable figures, sometimes offering to perform harmful acts for payment or to obtain forgiveness from the gods whom they served for any sins. Their presence extended to Italy with the spread of the cult of Isis, Cybele and other such deities, but Roman law tightly regulated their activities,<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:entry=agyrtae-cn A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), Agyrtae]</ref> Romans called them ''aeruscatores''.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:entry=aeruscatores-harpers Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Aeruscatores]</ref>

===Great Britain===
''A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors, vulgarly called vagabonds'', was first published in 1566 by [[Thomas Harman]]. From early modern England, another example is [[Robert Greene (16th century)|Robert Greene]] in his [[coney-catching]] pamphlets, the titles of which included "The Defence of Conny-catching," in which he argued there were worse crimes to be found among "reputable" people. ''[[The Beggar's Opera]]'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay. ''The Life and Adventures of [[Bampfylde Moore Carew]]'' was first published in 1745. There are similar writers for many European countries in the early modern period.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}

According to [[Jackson J. Spielvogel]], "Poverty was a highly visible problem in the eighteenth century, both in cities and in the countryside... Beggars in Bologna were estimated at 25 percent of the population; in Mainz, figures indicate that 30 percent of the people were beggars or prostitutes... In France and Britain by the end of the century, an estimated 10 percent of the people depended on charity or begging for their food."<ref>Jackson J. Spielvogel (2008). "''[https://books.google.com/books?id=fwxLkRmd-4QC Western Civilization: Since 1500]''". Cengage Learning. p.566. {{ISBN|0-495-50287-1}}</ref>

The British [[Poor Law]]s, dating from the [[Renaissance]], placed various restrictions on begging. At various times, begging was restricted to the [[disability|disabled]]. This system developed into the [[workhouse]], a state-operated institution where those unable to obtain other employment were forced to work in often grim conditions in exchange for a small amount of food. The [[welfare state]] of the 20th century greatly reduced the number of beggars by directly providing for the necessities of the poor from state funds.

===India===
[[File:India - Kolkata street beggar - 3246.jpg|thumb|A street beggar in [[India]] reaches into a car (Calcutta Kolkata)]]
Begging is an age-old social phenomenon in [[India]]. In the medieval and earlier times begging was considered to be an acceptable occupation which was embraced within the traditional [[social structure]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Administration of Beggary Prevention Laws in India: a legal aid viewpoint|last=Pande|first=B.B|publisher=International Journal of the Sociology of Law |volume=11|year=1983 |pages=291–304}}</ref> This system of begging and almsgiving to mendicants and the poor is still widely practiced in India, with over 500,000 beggars in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/over-4-lakh-beggars-in-india-west-bengal-tops-the-list-among-states-1207034|title=Over 5 Lakh Beggars in India, West Bengal Tops the List Among States}}</ref>

In contemporary India, beggars are often stigmatized as undeserving. People often believe that beggars are not destitute and instead call them professional beggars.{{Vague|date=May 2018}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.storypick.com/professional-beggars-in-india/|title=6 Professional Beggars In India Who Are Probably Richer Than You & I|date=2015-07-25}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=May 2018}} There is a wide perception of begging scams.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://goindia.about.com/od/annoyancesinconveniences/p/indiabegging.htm|title=India Beggars and Begging Scams: What You Should Know|access-date=2016-03-22|archive-date=2017-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305094915/http://goindia.about.com/od/annoyancesinconveniences/p/indiabegging.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> This view is refuted by grassroots research organizations such as Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan, which claim that beggars and other homeless people are overwhelmingly destitute and vulnerable. Their studies indicate that 99 percent of men and 97 percent of women resort to beggary due to abject poverty, distress migration from rural villages and the unavailability of employment.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=People Without A Nation: the destituted people; A documented outcome of the national consultation on Urban Poor: Special Focus on Beggary and Vagrancy Laws- the issue of De-custodialisation (De-criminalization)|author=AAA, Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan|year=2006|location=Print-O-Graph, New Delhi|page=8}}</ref>

===China===

====Ming dynasty====
After the establishment of the [[Ming dynasty]], many farmers and unemployed laborers in [[Beijing]] were forced to beg to survive.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Dangerous Women: Warriors, Grannies, and Geishas of the Ming|last=Cass|first=Victoria|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=1999|isbn=0-8476-9395-3|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dangerouswomen00vict/page/7 7]|url=https://archive.org/details/dangerouswomen00vict/page/7}}</ref> Begging was especially difficult during Ming times due to high taxes that limited the disposable income of most individuals.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=China and England: The Preindustrial Struggle for Justice in Word and Image|last=Powers|first=Martin|publisher=Routledge|year=2019|isbn=978-1138504035|location=New York|pages=175}}</ref> Beijing's harsh winters were a difficult challenge for beggars. To avoid freezing to death, some beggars paid porters one copper coin to sleep in their warehouse for the night. Others turned to burying themselves in manure and eating [[arsenic]] to avoid the pain of the cold. Thousands of beggars died of poison and exposure to the elements every year.<ref name=":1" />

Begging was some people's primary occupation. A [[Qing dynasty]] source states that "professional beggars" were not considered to be [[Extreme poverty|destitute]], and as such were not allowed to receive government relief, such as food rations, clothing, and shelter.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Complete Book Concerning Happiness and Benevolence: A Manual for Local Magistrates in Seventeenth-Century China|last=Liu-Hung|first=Huang|publisher=The University of Arizona Press|year=1984|isbn=0-8165-0820-8|location=Arizona|pages=554|translator-last=Djang|translator-first=Chu}}</ref> Beggars would often perform, or train animals to perform, to earn money from passers-by.<ref name=":2" /> Although beggars were of low status in Ming, they were considered to have higher social standing than prostitutes, entertainers, runners, and soldiers.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Feng|last=Feng|first=Menglong|publisher=University of Washington Press|year=2000|isbn=0-295-97843-0|location=Seattle|pages=478–480|translator-last=Shuhui|translator-first=Yang|translator-last2=Yunqin|translator-first2=Yang}}</ref>

Some individuals capitalized on beggars and became "Beggar Chiefs". Beggar chiefs provided security in the form of food for beggars and in return received a portion of beggars' daily earnings as tribute. Beggar chiefs would often lend their surplus income back to beggars and charge interest, furthering their subjects' dependence on them to the point of near slavery. Although beggar chiefs could acquire significant wealth, they were still looked upon as low-class citizens. The title of beggar chief was often passed down family lines and could stick with an individual through occupational changes.<ref name=":3" />