Types of fences[edit]

Most fences were not individuals who only bought and sold stolen goods to make a living. The majority of fences had a variety of legitimate occupations, including labourers and peddlers.^[20]: 175 Such individuals encountered criminals, for example in the markets while working, and formed acquaintances and temporary associations for mutual aid and protection.^[20]: 175 In one example, an owner of a teahouse overheard the conversation between Deng Yawen, a criminal, and others planning a robbery and offered to help to sell the loot for a portion of the spoils.^[23]

At times, the robbers themselves filled the role of fences, selling to people they met on the road.^[20]: 177 This may have been preferable for robbers because they would not have to pay the fence a portion of the spoils.

Butchers received stolen animals because owners could no longer recognise their livestock after the animal had been slaughtered.^[20]: 175 Animals were very valuable commodities within Ming China, and a robber could potentially sustain a living from stealing livestock and selling them to butcher-fences.

Although fences usually worked with physical stolen property, fences who also worked as itinerant barbers also sold information as a good. Itinerant barbers often amassed important sources of information and news as they travelled, and sold significant pieces of information to those who offered money.^[20]: 175 Often, such information was sold to criminals in search of places to hide or individuals to rob.^[20]: 175 In this way, itinerant barbers also served the role as a keeper of information that could be sold both to members of the criminal underground and to powerful clients.

Fences not only sold stolen goods but were also occasionally involved in human trafficking hostages that bandits had kidnapped. Women and children were the easiest to sell and among the most common "objects" the fences sold.^[20]: 156 Most female hostages were sold to fences and then sold as prostitutes, wives, or concubines. One example of human trafficking comes from Chen Akuei's gang, who abducted a servant girl and sold her to Lin Baimao, who in turn sold her as a wife for thirty pieces of silver.^[20]: 156 In contrast to women who required beauty to sell for a high price, children were sold regardless of their physical appearance or family background. Young boys were often sold as servants or entertainers, while young girls were often sold as prostitutes.^[24]

HOT DIPPED GALVANIZED STEEL GRATING/BAR GRATING

Network of connections[edit]

As with merchants of honest goods, one of the most significant tools of a fence was their network of connections. As the middlemen between robbers and clients, fences needed to form and maintain widespread connections in both the “polite” society and among criminals. There were cases in which members of “well-respected” society became receivers and harbourers. They not only helped bandits to sell the stolen goods but also acted as agents of the bandits in collecting protection money from local merchants and residents. These "part-time" fences with high social status used their connection with bandits to help themselves gain social capital as well as wealth.^[20]

It was important for fences to maintain a positive relationship with their customers, especially their richer gentry clients. When some members of the local elites joined the ranks of fences, they not only protected bandits to protect their own business interests, but they actively took down any potential threats to their illegal profiting, even government officials. In the Zhejiang Province, local elites not only caused the dismissal of provincial commissioner, Zhu Wan, but also eventually “[drove] him to suicide”.^[25]

It was also essential for fences to maintain a relationship with bandits in order to protect their livelihood. However, it was just as true that bandits needed fences to make a living. As a result, fences often held dominance in their relationship with bandits. Taking advantage of their dominance in their relationships with bandits, fences also cheated bandits by manipulating the prices they paid bandits for stolen property.^[20] This was possible because fences often had an official and legal means of making a living, as well as illegal activities, and could threaten to turn bandits in to the authorities.^[20]

Safe houses[edit]

Aside from simply buying and selling stolen goods, fences often played additional roles in the criminal underground of early China. Inns and teahouses became places for bandits and gangs to gather in order to exchange information and plan for their next crime. Harborers (people who provided safe houses for criminals) often played the role of a fence as well, in receiving stolen goods from their harboured criminals to sell to other customers.^[20] Safe houses also included brothels and opium dens, as well as gambling parlors, and employees or owners of such institutions often functioned as harborers, as well as fences.^[26] These safe houses were located in places where there was a high floating population^{[clarification needed]} and where people from a variety of social backgrounds interacted.

Brothels also helped bandits to hide and sell stolen goods because of the special Ming Law that exempted brothels from being held responsible “for the criminal actions of their clients.”^[27] Although the government required brothel owners to report any suspicious activity, the lack of government enforcement as well as the motivation of owners to make an extra income from fencing led brothels to become safe houses for bandits and gangs.

Pawnshops were also affiliated with fencing stolen goods. The owners or employees of such shops often paid a low sum far below market value for stolen goods to bandits, and resold the goods to earn a profit.^[20]: 177