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From Liberation to Sexual Objectification and Violence: Chinese Women and The University of Hawai‘i at Hilo HOHONU 2014 Vol. 12 Prior to Confucianism, Chinese life was From Liberation to Sexual governed widely by prevailing indigenous and animistic Objectification and Violence: spiritual beliefs. The Mosuo people of Southwestern China worshipped a female deity and this image of the Chinese Women and the PRC mother goddess had a direct social impact within the Matthew S. Therrien sexual and social freedom of Mosuo women (Du 254). History 318 Similarly, the divinity of male-female unity established Spring 2013 by indigenous mythology and cosmology of China’s Lahu minority influenced that society to adopt a “world In 1949, twenty eight years after its founding, the view…organized around the principle of gender-unity” Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established the People’s (Du 256). While these examples provide a limited view Republic of China (PRC), officially ending more than 50 of female sex and gender in Ancient China, research years of war, division and tumult with the promise of does demonstrate the importance of religious ideology unity and equality. The formation of the PRC ushered in a in shaping the position of women within the context of historical departure for the Chinese people, who for most any given culture or tradition (Du 253). In pre-Confucian of their modern history had been ruled by an emperor or China, the most widely followed organized religion was other embodiments of centralized and exclusive power, Taoism and examples of societal views on the position of whose rule was divine and unquestionable due to the women can be found within Taoist tradition and thought. prevalence of Confucian hierarchy and ideologies. The In the early 4th and 3rd century B.C., Taoism emerged freedoms and rights promised by the PRC served as a as a formal religion born from an exchange between and refreshing departure from a repetitive historical cycle of unification of localized indigenous religions (Verellen oppression and disempowerment. All of the citizens of 328). In Taoism, like many of the indigenous religions China’s extremely diverse and large population would it assimilated, the union of masculine and feminine is benefit from the proposed Communist ideologies, an important concept in achieving individual balance but perhaps no group was to be more affected by the and harmony. The Tao Te Ching, regarded as Taoism’s implementation of a system of heightened equality essential text, encourages practitioners to “know the and empowerment than Chinese women. In the years masculine, but keep to the feminine.” (Lao-Tzu 27). leading up to the founding of the PRC, the CCP displayed The rise and eventual establishment of a zealous rhetoric aimed at creating greater equality Confucian ideology as the basis for Chinese life in and rights for Chinese women; however, the ineffective the Han Dynasty is the definitive factor in the holistic attempts of the PRC to legislate equality was not effective. transformation of China from a society with a pluralistic The economic reforms of the 1970s have also served to view of sex/gender unity and equality to a pure elevate levels of gender inequality in modern Chinese patriarchy. The establishment of Confucian ideologies, society as evidenced by the objectification of women in combination with an ever-tightening application of through increases in prostitution and sexual violence Confucian morality to the subordination of women, rates. is the basis for the concept of the Chinese patriarchy that we know today. The most indicative of the many Demystifying the Role of Women in Chinese History moral and social nuances that influenced the Chinese In many ways, the history of China can be read perception of women is the expectation of women to as the history and development of Confucian principles; uphold the three subordinates: to her father before however, to apply this thinking to an analysis of the role of marriage, to her husband after marriage, and to her women in Chinese history is a grave oversimplification. son after her husband dies. It was during this period in There is evidence to suggest that in Early China, Chinese history that the importance of women began prior to the Shang Dynasty (1600 BCE), portions of to immediately be minimized in relation to men. The China were matriarchal and even matrilineal. Modern decline in women’s rights and position culminated with examples of matriarchal Chinese ethnic minorities, the establishment of the Tang and Song Dynasties. It was particularly in Southeast China, such as the Mosuo during these dynasties that the practice of foot binding and Lahu people exist as a legacy of an Ancient China became prominent. Thus, the near complete social that was more pluralistic in terms of sex and gender. subjugation of Chinese women was manifested in the Although specific examples exist, they highlight regional physical act of limiting the mobility and independence and local exceptions, not necessarily the rules governing of Chinese women. It was not until the Qing Dynasty, society as a whole. Divining information regarding that women began to experience a degree of reprieve ancient practices and traditions—not to mention a and an increased level of freedom, especially in terms singular social perception of gender roles—is a daunting of educational access. The Qing rulers of the 18th anthropological task; however, early religious texts and century sought a revitalization of education (Spence practices offer the most accurate and complete portrait 223). The renewed sense of education’s importance to of the perception of women in Ancient China. the Chinese state, brought about an increasing desire and willingness for women to participate in education 55 University of Hawai‘i at Hilo HOHONU 2014 Vol. 12 and the first official Girl’s School was opened on May of the Chinese People’s PCC, September 9th, 1949: 31st, 1898 (Qian 401). The abolishment of the centuries old practice of foot binding also served to demonstrate “The People's Republic of China shall abolish the a move towards women’s rights. The re-emergence of feudal system which holds women in bondage. concepts of sex/gender equality during the reforms of the Women shall enjoy equal rights with men in mid 1890s gave Chinese women a sense of purpose and political, economic, cultural, educational and possibility and a desire for a voice (Spence). social life. Freedom of marriage for men and women shall be put into effect” (Shanshan). Women in Early Communist China: The Rhetoric of Change The strong declaration of commitment to women, by the The desire of Chinese women for an expanded PRC’s first governing body, was followed by a number societal role and position, fostered during the decline of laws intended to further establish a sense of equality. of the Qing, perfectly set the stage for early inclusion The first of these legal measures was the of women’s issues within the Chinese Communist Party Marriage law of 1950. From a purely pragmatic analysis, (CCP). In 1921, the founding of the CCP provided an the Marriage Law of 1950 was a document composed essential outlet for women to work towards a society of 27 articles that aimed to establish a legal system for and government that zealously defended their rights the contraction and dissolution of marriage. From the (Spence 290-311). The Party’s objective of eliminating CCP promoted social standpoint, the law sought to the existing systems of hierarchical oppression included create measures and equal recourse for women and that of overthrowing the patriarchy. men to dissolve a marriage that was deemed mutually Examples of zealous gender rhetoric were utilized early unsalvageable (Diamant 173). and echoed often. Party leaders—most notably Mao In 1954, the newly ratified Constitution of the Zedong, through his writings on women and Chinese People’s Republic of China emphasized the objectives society in Changsha newspapers in 1911—provided of the First Plenary PCC by restating the principles of individual assertions of CCP’s philosophy concerning the equality and protection of women in Article 96: women (Spence 294). More than individual party “Women in the People’s Republic of China enjoy equal philosophy, the language of sex/gender equality and rights with men in all spheres of political, economic, liberation was actively promoted as a reflection of the cultural, social, and domestic life” (Constitution of the CCP as a whole: People’s Republic of China). Despite the immediacy and the strength of “The misery that Chinese Women have suffered the language injected into these legal statements, for thousands of years has now reached a limit. it is important to understand the de facto reality of The Trammels of a patriarchal social system Western concepts of law in China. Historically, from and oppression by imperialism and its tools… the introduction of Western concepts of law to China have kept women from achieving political and during the Qing dynasty, there has been a preference for economic independence and have literally made “rule by internalized morality to rule by law” (Ruskola them into commodities, playthings, parasites…” 2532). Essentially, the tradition of Confucian morality (Hong 1) has had lingering effects on the way in which law is viewed within Chinese society, relegating it in status The energy and passion with which the CCP supported to “a secondary form of social control.” Such idealistic the issues of women’s rights was instrumental in the presuppositions of law render the concrete social aspect ascension of the CCP as a grassroots movement, with of law as completely ineffectual state apparatus (Ruskola women being actively involved in the establishment of 2532). underground communication and information networks. Beyond the underlying cultural misalignment With the formation of the PRC in 1949, the newly of Western legal conceits within the PRC model, were mandated socialist government of the Chinese people the all-encompassing nature of Maoist reforms and the was tasked with matching the rhetoric of women’s rights agents of the Communist Party.
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