![valsira:
The feminist movement in China during the late Qing (c.1890-1911) was overwhelmingly nationalistic. As Peter Zarrow states, “modern Chinese feminism was born in the struggle for national independence” (p.796). For male reformers such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, lifting up the position of Chinese women in society was viewed as a necessary step in strengthening the Chinese nation. Revolutionaries such as Qiu Jin believed that women’s liberation and China’s national liberation necessitated one another, and threw their support behind Sun Yat-sen’s Revolutionary Alliance in the hope that women’s rights could be secured within a democratic republic.
The exception to this link between feminism and nationalism was the anarcho-feminist He Zhen, pictured above. She established the journal Tien Yee [Natural Justice] in Tokyo in 1907 which was to serve as the institutional apparatus for the Society of the Restoration of Women’s Rights. This was intended to be a support network for women in fighting against their oppression by men, though there is no evidence that it ever became active, and the focus of Tien Yee shifted over the course of its publication (and as He Zhen’s husband Liu Shipei and the other male anarchists gained more influence) from women’s issues to anarchism.
He Zhen believed that the relationship between men and women was “the strictest and most fundamental” of class relationships, and that it was necessary to abolish this relationship first before other inequalities could be tackled. From the publication announcement of Tien Yee:
[A]bolishing the existing class relationship will have to begin from abolishing the existing relationship between men and women. Both men and women should be given equal access to education and other equal rights so women will not be inferior to men and men cannot impose their will upon women. How men treat women should be how women treat men. If there are women made inferior to men or men oppress women, then women should all rise up to resist until men and women are equal again. The traditional strict relationship between men and women has been going on strongly for thousands of years. Once this is abolished, then all existing social relations can be dealt with step by step. Then what class relations in the world cannot be abolished? … China today must carry on the revolution of the relationship between men and women together with racial, political, and economic revolutions. Otherwise, there can be no real justice.
While He Zhen had little immediate influence on Chinese feminism, her ideas were echoed in the feminism expressed by the May Fourth movement of the 1920s and communist feminists who were heavily influenced by anarchism.
Sources:
Liu Huiyin, ‘Feminism: An Organic or an Extremist Position? On Tien Yee as Represented by He Zhen’, Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique, Vol. 11, no. 3, Winter 2003, pp.779-800.
Ono Kazuko, Chinese Women in a Century of Revolution, 1850-1950, Joshua A. Fogel,(ed.), Kathryn Bernhardt (trans.), Stanford, 1989.
Peter Zarrow, ‘He Zhen and Anarcho-Feminism in China’, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 47, no. 4, November 1988, pp.796-813.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lt11wcpRCg1r0jo29o1_400.png)
The feminist movement in China during the late Qing (c.1890-1911) was overwhelmingly nationalistic. As Peter Zarrow states, “modern Chinese feminism was born in the struggle for national independence” (p.796). For male reformers such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, lifting up the position of Chinese women in society was viewed as a necessary step in strengthening the Chinese nation. Revolutionaries such as Qiu Jin believed that women’s liberation and China’s national liberation necessitated one another, and threw their support behind Sun Yat-sen’s Revolutionary Alliance in the hope that women’s rights could be secured within a democratic republic.
The exception to this link between feminism and nationalism was the anarcho-feminist He Zhen, pictured above. She established the journal Tien Yee [Natural Justice] in Tokyo in 1907 which was to serve as the institutional apparatus for the Society of the Restoration of Women’s Rights. This was intended to be a support network for women in fighting against their oppression by men, though there is no evidence that it ever became active, and the focus of Tien Yee shifted over the course of its publication (and as He Zhen’s husband Liu Shipei and the other male anarchists gained more influence) from women’s issues to anarchism.
He Zhen believed that the relationship between men and women was “the strictest and most fundamental” of class relationships, and that it was necessary to abolish this relationship first before other inequalities could be tackled. From the publication announcement of Tien Yee:
[A]bolishing the existing class relationship will have to begin from abolishing the existing relationship between men and women. Both men and women should be given equal access to education and other equal rights so women will not be inferior to men and men cannot impose their will upon women. How men treat women should be how women treat men. If there are women made inferior to men or men oppress women, then women should all rise up to resist until men and women are equal again. The traditional strict relationship between men and women has been going on strongly for thousands of years. Once this is abolished, then all existing social relations can be dealt with step by step. Then what class relations in the world cannot be abolished? … China today must carry on the revolution of the relationship between men and women together with racial, political, and economic revolutions. Otherwise, there can be no real justice.
While He Zhen had little immediate influence on Chinese feminism, her ideas were echoed in the feminism expressed by the May Fourth movement of the 1920s and communist feminists who were heavily influenced by anarchism.
Sources:
Liu Huiyin, ‘Feminism: An Organic or an Extremist Position? On Tien Yee as Represented by He Zhen’, Positions: East Asia Cultures Critique, Vol. 11, no. 3, Winter 2003, pp.779-800.
Ono Kazuko, Chinese Women in a Century of Revolution, 1850-1950, Joshua A. Fogel,(ed.), Kathryn Bernhardt (trans.), Stanford, 1989.
Peter Zarrow, ‘He Zhen and Anarcho-Feminism in China’, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 47, no. 4, November 1988, pp.796-813.
![hotelsongs:
thedailywhat:
Read ALL The Words of the Day: After nearly six months of silence, Allie Brosh of Hyperbole and a Half fame returns with a brand new blog post detailing her recent bout of depression, and how she ultimately overcame her sadness by turning its unintended consequence into a superpower.
[h&a1/2.]
#nothing worse than feeling like all the work you’ve spent making yourself a good and interesting person was all for nought](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltr0vvccM11qzpwi0o1_500.png)
Read ALL The Words of the Day: After nearly six months of silence, Allie Brosh of Hyperbole and a Half fame returns with a brand new blog post detailing her recent bout of depression, and how she ultimately overcame her sadness by turning its unintended consequence into a superpower.
[h&a1/2.]
(Source: thedailywhat)
Oh my god, it’s like the bird modeled for it.
