I was thinking of trying to do something on Chinese prostitution for my research paper.  After taking the gender course last semester, I learned that prostitution was prevalent in the Song and Qing dynasty in the form of concubines and courtesans.  I have not done much research on prostitution since 1949 in China, but I am assuming that it is still prevalent.  Chinese prostitution in the past played a prevalent role in the idea of a Confucian society.  A man would have a wife along with concubines and courtesans if they could afford them.  The relationship between the wife and the concubines and courtesans was often mixed depending upon the sex of a child or how much time was spent with each additional woman.    I want to know if it men still have frequent visits with a prostitute and if the wife is still accepting of it or is it a rarity.  Last semester we watched a silent film, the title is now slipping my mind, about a woman who worked as a prostitute to support her son.  Not only her, but her son as well were shunned by society because of her line of work.  Eventually, the son had the opportunity to be adopted by the school headmaster after she killed a man who continually took her money.  I want to know if this was prevalent during the Mao era, or if this was something that occurred only in early times.