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China's suicide rates were one of the highest in the world in the 1990s; however, by 2011, China had one of the lowest suicide rates in the world. According to the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
, the suicide rate in China was 9.7 per 100,000 as of 2016. As a comparison, the suicide rate in the U.S. in 2016 was 15.3. Generally speaking, China seems to have a lower suicide rate than neighboring
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
,
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and
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, and it is more common among women than men and more common in the Yangtze Basin than elsewhere. A 2014 overview pointed at the
economic crisis An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the p ...
years (2007–2008) as a period from which suicide rates surged globally. The study was about China's suicide rates which have been declining instead: in the 1990s China was among the countries with the highest suicide rates in the world (above 20 per 100,000), but by the global economic crisis they kept dropping as significantly (as they were by the end of 1990s) with the main force having been migration from rural to urban areas. By 2011, China had one of the lowest suicide rates in the world, even less than the USA. Between 1990 and 2016, suicide rates in China fell by 64%, making China the #1 country in the world in suicide reduction. According to the
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, in 2016, the suicide rate in China was 9.7, while the suicide rate in the U.S. was 15.3. Among men, the suicide rate in the U.S. was more than 2.5 times the suicide rate in China—23.6 for American men versus 9.1 for Chinese men, as of 2016.


Statistics

On the basis of data gathered in 1999, the government estimated an overall rate of 13.9 per 100,000 people,Suicide rates (per 100,000), by gender, China 1987-1999
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
much lower than the rate in other
East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
n countries:
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
(18.5) and
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
(28.9). Family conflicts are the number one cause of suicide in China; other common causes include poverty, and disease of the body and mind. According to a 2016 WHO report, China's suicide rate is 9.7 people out of every 100,000. This rate places the country among the countries with the lowest suicide per capita in the world. For 2009–2011, 44% of all suicides occurred among those aged 65 or above and 79% among rural residents. Moreover, a 2014 study conducted by the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at the
University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
reported that China's suicide rate has dropped significantly, among the lowest levels in the world. An average annual rate of about 9.8 people out of every 100,000 died by suicide as of 2009 to 2011, a 58% drop from average annual rate of 23.2 per 100,000 in 1990 to 1995, largely as a result of population migration from rural areas and urbanization of middle class. Paul Yip, a co-author of the recent study and professor at the University of Hong Kong, said "no country has ever achieved such a rapid decline in suicides".


Demographics

In China, marginally more women than men die by suicide each year. China is one of the few countries in the world that has a higher suicide rate by women over men. It was found that females that attempted suicide were less likely to have been diagnosed with a mental disorder than males who attempted to commit suicide. According to WHO's statistics: in 2016, the suicide rate in China per 100,000 people was 9.1 for men and 10.3 for women, one of the highest female suicide rates
in the world ''In the World'' is an album by jazz saxophonist Clifford Jordan which was recorded in 1969 and released on the Strata-East label in 1972. The album was rereleased on CD as part of ''The Complete Clifford Jordan Strata-East Sessions'' by Mosaic ...
.
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is also among the few countries where the female rate is higher than the male rate. According to official PRC government statistics, the Chinese male rate (9.1 per 100,000 men per year) is lower than in many other countries, including some
Western countries The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.
, such as the
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,
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, and
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. Among men, the suicide rate in China was 60% lower than the suicide rate in the U.S.-- 23.6 for American men versus 9.1 for Chinese men, as of 2016. By 2016, suicide rates among Chinese men and women were almost the same—9.1 for men and 10.3 for women. A 2008 study—which was based on data from the 1990s—found that: female suicides outnumbered male suicides by a 3:1 ratio; rural suicides outnumbered urban suicides by a 3:1 ratio; a large upsurge of young adult and older adult suicides had occurred; a comparatively high national suicide rate two to three times the global average was evident; and a low rate of psychiatric illness, particularly
clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introdu ...
, existed in suicide victims. According to the journal ''Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry'', there were over 300,000 suicides in China annually in the 1990s; however, the suicide rates in China fell by 64% between 1990 and 2016, making China #1 in the world in reduction of suicide. As of 2016, China accounted for about 17% of the world's suicides. The suicide rate in the Yangtze Basin was about 40% higher than in the rest of China in the 1990s.


History


Male suicide

For male members in the
Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
, physical mutilation and suicide were among the highest crimes, threats not only to the self but to the lineage.
Ritual suicide A suicide method is any means by which a person chooses to end their life. Suicide attempts do not always result in death, and a nonfatal suicide attempt can leave the person with serious physical injuries, long-term health problems, and brai ...
was long practiced in
traditional Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...
, owing both to the power of the state to enforce
collective punishment Collective punishment is a punishment or sanction imposed on a group for acts allegedly perpetrated by a member of that group, which could be an ethnic or political group, or just the family, friends and neighbors of the perpetrator. Because ind ...
against the families of disgraced ministers and to
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
values that held that certain failures of virtue were worse than death, making suicide morally permissible or even praiseworthy in some altruistic contexts.
Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
wrote, "For gentlemen of purpose and men of ren while it is inconceivable that they should seek to stay alive at the expense of ren, it may happen that they have to accept death in order to have ren accomplished."
Mencius Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucianism, Confucian Chinese philosophy, philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confuc ...
wrote:
Fish is what I want; bear's palm is also what I want. If I cannot have both, I would rather take bear's palm than fish. Life is what I want; yi is also what I want. If I cannot have both, I would rather take yi than life. On the one hand, though life is what I want, there is something I want more than life. That is why I do not cling to life at all cost. On the other hand, though death is what I loathe, there is something I loathe more than death. That is why there are dangers I do not avoid ... Yet there are ways of remaining alive and ways of avoiding death to which a person will not resort. In other words, there are things a person wants more than life and there are also things he or she loathes more than death.
Due to the above-mentioned aversion to physical mutilation (originating from the belief that the body was a gift from one's parents and desecrating it therefore an unfilial act), the preferred methods—as recorded in for instance the Book of Han—appear to have been those that did not leave the corpse significantly disfigured, notably hanging/strangulation. Notable suicides include
Wu Zixu :''Note: names are in simplified characters followed by traditional and Pinyin transliteration.'' Wu Yun (died 484 BC), better known by his courtesy name Zixu, was a Chinese military general and politician of the Wu kingdom in the Spring and Aut ...
, whose compelled suicide was regretted by
King Fuchai Fuchai (reigned 495–473BC), sometimes also written Fucha, was the last king of the state of Wu during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. His armies constructed important canals linking the Yellow, Ji, and Huai River systems of ...
of Wu when he was proved right about the danger of Yue, and
Qu Yuan Qu Yuan ( – 278 BCE) was a Chinese poet and politician in the Chu (state), State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to Classical Chinese poetry, classical poetry and verses, ...
, whose despair over his exile by King Qingxiang of Chu and sorrow over the capture of his capital by
Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...
in 278BC is commemorated by China's annual
Dragon Boat Festival The Dragon Boat Festival ( zh, s=端午节, t=端午節) is a traditional Chinese holiday which occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, which corresponds to late May or June in the Gregorian calendar. Names The Engl ...
.


Female suicide

Female suicide became a common practice towards the end of the Ming dynasty and reached a high during the early Qing dynasty. There were many different ideologies and social circumstances which led to this spike. Historians such as Janet Theiss have stated that the Han had a practice of women committing suicide to preserve their chastity, while the Manchus had a practice of wives committing suicide to follow their husbands into death. The loss of a woman's chastity was viewed as shameful to the family so the act of suicide to preserve chastity was seen as a heroic act. Conversely, the Chinese have also historically seen suicide as a great act against filial piety, as bodies are gifts from parents and as such, should not be harmed without their parents' permission. According to Liu Meng, it was decided that the principle of preserving chastity was more important than preserving life and was considered exempt from this criticism. Chastity was greatly valued by widowed women, especially those who had not borne a son—who were very likely to be forced into a new marriage by their in-laws. Scholars have stated that these women were made to choose between losing their chastity and potentially shaming their families or taking their own lives. Eventually, due to this type of ideological thinking, some women felt that their only option to obtain glory was to kill themselves, thus becoming a martyr. The Qing government passed a law attempting to help preserve female chastity by allowing widows to inherit their husbands' wealth and property, which led to families' desire to remarry their widowed daughter-in-laws, so that the fortune would be returned to the clan.


Legality

The legality of suicide in China is unclear. The China's National People's Congress has considered several proposals to legalize
physician-assisted suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...
, but as of 2011, had rejected these proposals. In 1992, a physician was acquitted of the murder of a terminally ill cancer patient who was given a lethal injection. In May 2011, a farmer received a two-year jail term for criminal negligence after assisting a friend in committing suicide, but in that case the farmer had mistakenly buried the friend alive, after the friend took poison, but in an insufficient dose. The Qing dynasty tried to reduce female suicide by creating preventative laws. One of the laws made making lewd comments towards a woman equivalent to rape if she later committed suicide due to these comments. The Qing dynasty also made suicide illegal, so that any person that completed the act would not be able to receive any awards or special honors. The Qing would, however, frequently make exceptions to this when it was believed the act was done to preserve a woman's chastity.


See also

*
List of countries by suicide rate The following are lists of countries by suicide rate as published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other sources. About one person in 5,000–15,000 dies by suicide every year, with an estimated global rate of 10.5 per 100,000 popula ...
*
Shame society Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...
* Self-immolation in China


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suicide In China Demographics of China Chinese culture