Courtship, sex and money: the economics of courtesan houses in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Shanghai

This article offers a study of the economics of the house of courtesans in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Shanghai. This approach not only highlights the complex financial arrangements to be found in these establishments, but also sheds some light on the nature of the relationship between the women and their customers. The houses of courtesans played a central role in the social life of the members of the male urban elites. While they drew the largest part of their income from non-sexual activities(gambling, dinners), they were also organised in such a way as to avoid an explicit link between money and sexuality in the courtesan/customer relationship.