'INVISIBLE DEATHS, SILENT DEATHS': 'BODIES WITHOUT MASTERS' IN REPUBLICAN SHANGHAI.

The article discusses the collection of exposed corpses and abandoned coffins in Shanghai, China during the Republican period and World War II. The author comments on the deaths of poor children in China during that period and notes that many poor people deposited the corpses of the dead on city streets. He comments on how economic conditions and Chinese funerary customs influenced the disposal of corpses in the city and notes attempts by charities and benevolent societies, such as the Shanghai Public Benevolent Cemetery (SPBC) and the Tongren fuyuantang (TRFYT), to hold funerary services for unclaimed corpses and bury them in charity cemeteries. The effect of World War II on the geographic distribution of corpses is discussed.