CHAPTER TEN

TIANYI BAO AND HE ZHEN’S VIEWS ON “WOMEN’S REVOLUTION”1

Xia Xiaohong Translated by Hu Ying

He Zhen and Tianyi bao

On 10 June 1907, a new periodical Tianyi bao 天義報 ( Journal of natural justice) appeared in Tokyo.2 In all nineteen numbers of the journal, except the fi rst one, He Zhen 何震 (1884?–?) was listed as the Chief Editor.3 From the fi rst number onward, numerous articles appear under the name He Yinzhen 何殷震, or as Zhen 震, or Zhenshu 震述 (Zhen’s remarks).4 In these articles there exists a high degree of con- sistency in terms of focus, and that focus is unwaveringly on women’s liberation (fi g. 10.1). Few historical documents survive concerning He Zhen. What we can ascertain is that she was originally named He Ban 何班, courtesy name Zhijian 志劍, from the town of Yizheng 儀征, in Jiangsu 江蘇 Province. “When she was young and living at home, she was given such a strictly sequestered upbringing that she had never even met anyone outside the family.”5 She married Liu Shipei 劉師培 (1884–1919) in 1904, and in

1 A pioneering study of He Zhen in English can be found in Peter Zarrow’s 1988 article “He Zen and Anarcho-Feminism in China,” The Journal of Asian Studies 47.4 (1988): 796–813. This was translated by Ma Xiaoquan and Zhang Jiazhong in Guowai Zhongguo jindaishi yanjiu 國外中國近代史研究 (Studies on modern Chinese history from abroad) 22 (1993): 206–29. The present study presents archival material from nos. 1, 2, and 4 of Tianyi bao, material that is crucial in understanding He Zhen’s thoughts but that was not available for Zarrow’s work. 2 Initially called Tianyi bao ( Journal of natural justice), its name was altered to Tianyi (Natural justice) starting with the third issue. 3 For the fi rst number, Zhen Sheng 震生 is listed as the Chief Editor. In future numbers, He Zhen’s offi cial title appears as Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, which later changed to Editor-in-Chief and Printer. 4 Subsequent references to He Zhen’s publications will be cited by the penname she used for each source, followed by He Zhen in brackets. 5 Mei Hesun 梅鶴孫, Qingxi jiuwu yizheng Liushi wushi xiaoji 青溪舊屋儀征劉氏五世 小記 (Brief genealogical account of fi ve generations of the Liu family in Yizheng), ed. Mei Yingchao 梅英超 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2004), 36. 294 xia xiaohong

Figure 10.1. Cover page of Tianyi bao 2 (25 June 1907).