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T h e O f f ic ia l C onstruction o f F e m a l e S e x u a l it y a n d G e n d e r i n t h e P e o p l e ’ s R e p u b l ic o f C h in a 1949-1959 H arriet Evans P h D m MODERN CHINESE HISTORY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON ProQuest Number: 11015627 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11015627 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Cfd~ ABSTRACT Issues of sexuality as expounded in the Chinese official press of the 1950s can be taken as an important indicator of the changing perception of female gender in the early People's Republic. This thesis explores the assumptions and attitudes concerning sexuality conveyed in the official media, and places particular emphasis on the projection of female attributes and responsibilities in sexual relationships. It analyses the different biological and social constructions of sexuality, and the means by which biologically determined sexual differences were inscribed with specific gender characteristics. In so doing, it offers a view of female gender not attainable from the study of women in other contexts in the same period. Simultaneously, the focus on the official media permits examination of the nature of the state's interests in sponsoring public discussion about sex-related Issues. Official journals and educational materials on love, marriage and the family projected new norms and expectations of women's sexual behaviour which served both didactic and exhortatory functions. Norms expounded for women as fiancee, wife and mother, as represented in these materials, established a new conjugal relationship in which, ideally, both man and wife contributed in equal measure to marital and family stability and satisfaction. The new norms also suggested that women were attributed with certain biological characteristics which identified them as 'natural' providers of their husbands' needs and as principle mediators of marital harmony. Any female violation of the new sexual norms was interpreted as the generator and slgnlfier of suffering, sickness and moral chaos. Women, therefore, were assigned primary responsibility for maintaining moral and social order. On this basis, it can be argued that female sexual conduct was appropriated by the state as an agent of moral and social order, in which the needs and interests of the male predominated over those of the female. 3 CONTENTS Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 7 Chapter one Introduction 9 The study of sexuality In the social sciences 10 and history Sexuality in Chinese studies 12 The official construction of sexuality in China 17 The official discourse of sexuality in 21 ideological and social context Derivations of the official construction of sexuality 30 Themes and boundaries of the official discourse 37 of sexuality Techniques of the official discourse of sexuality 41 The terms of analysis 47 The scope of the present study 51 Chapter two The Scientific Construction of Sexuality 55 Explanations of sex and sexual development 56 Sex and reproduction 59 Sexuality and desire: male and female differences 64 Sexual moderation and the dangers of excess 69 Sex and 'sexual hygiene* in menstruation and 72 pregnancy Chapter three Attitudes towards Adolescence 82 Adolescence defined 83 The physiological issues of female adolescence 89 The physiological issues of male adolescence 94 The moral and social issues of adolescent 96 sexuality Chapter four Premarital Prescriptions 104 Courtship and the social context of free-choice 105 marriage Friends and marriage partners 109 True socialist love 113 Ideologically unsound love 119 The dangers of passion 127 The language of love 130 Chapter five Women and Sexuality in Marriage 138 Wifehood and sexual harmony 139 Motherhood and reproductive sexuality 143 Monogamy and marital fidelity 146 5 Selflessness and service 151 The moral responsibilities of marriage and motherhood 155 Emotions and mutual responses in marriage 158 Chapter six Gender Boundaries of Vifehood 164 The ideal of companionate marriage 165 Biology and gender in the domestic context 168 Dress and the female body 172 The limits of conjugal companionship 176 The dangers of crossing gender boundaries 182 Chapter seven The Dangers of Sexual Transgressions 185 Ideology and gender in marital conflict 186 Virgins and victims 190 Adultery and the third one The hidden dangers of female sexuality 201 Chapter eight Conclusions 207 The official discourse of sexuality 207 Selfless sexuality 211 Female sexuality and gender 213 Notes 217 Appendix 288 1) Reproduction, Health and Hygiene 289 2) Adolescence and Preparation for Marriage 292 3) Wives and Mothers 295 4) Marital Conflict 298 Abbreviations 301 Bibliography 302 Sources in Chinese 302 Sources in western languages 313 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My research on aspects of sexuality and gender In China began when I was working In the Centre of Aslan and African Studies, El Coleglo de Mexico, Mexico City. While collecting materials for a paper on the construction of love in China in the 1980s, 1 quickly realised that the official press contained much more abundant material on sex-related issues than I had anticipated. Moreover, the representation of women that emerged from these materials contrasted sharply with the general characteristics of female gender constructs in other areas of the official discourse. My first thanks, therefore, go to my colleagues in El Colegio de Mexico, and in particular to Flora Botton Beja, for encouraging me to take this first step in what was to become a major work of research. I also wish to thank Andr6 Qugsnel and Dora Rapold for their inspired suggestions about issues of gender and sexuality, and my student, Asencidn Benitez, for helping me clarify many ideas about women and the family in China. On my return to the UK to take up a post in the Polytechnic of Central London, I decided to investigate further the sources of the 1980s discourse. I spent a long, but fascinating summer looking through the 1950s issues of Zhongguo funU and Zhongguo qlngnlan, in order to gain some idea of the general themes that might have informed the later discourse,. So rich and varied were the materials, however, that it was clear that an analysis of the 1950s alone would be a rewarding exercise in itself. That I have been able to undertake such a study has in large part due to the help and support I have received from friends and colleagues. My initial thanks go to my supervisor, Dr. Elisabeth Croll, of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, whose Initial Interest in the topic encouraged me to register it as a PhD, and whose advice and guidance throughout its different stages have been invaluable. Thanks also go to my colleagues in the Chinese Section of the PCL, to the Research 7 Committee of the School of Languages of the PCL, and to the Dean, Dr. Maud Tyler, for enabling me to take a sabbatical term to complete the writing^the first draft. Charles d'Orban's help in making materials available to me at a moment's notice in the SOAS library is warmly appreciated. I also thank Penny Brooke for her patience, and resilience, in proofing the final draft. Among the many friends who have contributed to the formulation of the ideas contained in this work, I am particularly grateful to Stephan Feuchtwang, Felicity Edholm and Laura Marcus whose intellectual insights, enthusiasm and support have been a source of great inspiration and stimulus throughout this research. I would also like to convey my appreciation to Delia Davin, Stuart Thompson, Michael Palmer and Gao Changfan for their Suggestions and bibliographical advice. I thank my parents, Norman and Rachael Evans for lending me their cottage in Dorset during my sabbatical term. Most of all, however, I wish to thank John Cayley, whose consistent interest, critical imagination, generosity and patience have been indispensable to the completion of this thesis. The Y greatest surpise in completing the work has been my daughter, Rebecca, whose wonderful companionship enlivened the final stages of the research. & ONE INTRODUCTION The publication of articles about sex-related issues in the official media in 1949 marked a new stage in the Chinese Communist Party’s approach to marriage and family reform and women's emancipation. Since its early years, the Communist Party had given consistent attention to the general ideological, social, and economic requirements of women's emancipation. (1) Questions relating to sex, however, were not included within the customary definition of 'woman-work' (fund gongzuo) — the concept developed by the Party to refer to its policies about and work with women. (2) With few exceptions, issues concerning sexuality had been absent from official discussions and publications about women. The degree of attention given sex-related issues after 1949 was, in contrast, striking. Almost every issue of Zhongguo fund and Zhongguo qingnian between the years 1950 and 1956 contained some article, often accompanied by readers' letters, about a particular aspect of sexuality, whether linked to requirements of hygiene and health, or to sexual fears and expectations of married life. (3) Written by doctors, legal specialists, adolescents, young wives and mothers, these articles provided a regular forum for public discussion about a wide range of gender and sex-related questions.

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