Editing Begging (section)

===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" />