This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Across the Geo-political Landscape Chinese Women Intellectuals’ Political Networks in the Wartime Era 1937-1949 Guo, Xiangwei Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). 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Sep. 2021 Across the Geo-political Landscape: Chinese Women Intellectuals’ Political Networks in the Wartime Era 1937-1949 PhD Candidate: Xiangwei GUO Course: PhD in Chinese Studies Research Student Number: 1146081 Department: Lau China Institute, Global Institutes First Supervisor: Anna Boermel Second Supervisor: Jennifer Altehenger (Word Count: 91,591) 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowlegements…………………………………………………………………………….5 Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………….7 List of Abbreviations………………………………………………………………………....8 List of Tables………………………………………………………………………….............9 List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………….10 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………11 Chapter 1: Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuhan: Enlargement of the spaces for women intellectuals’ political participation……..…………………………………………………47 Section 1. Shen Zijiu and the “Women’s Life” reading group in Shanghai Section 2. Cao Mengjun and the “New Women” reading group in Nanjing Section 3. “Tale of Two Cities” Section 4. An uneasy road toward national resistance Section 5. Wuhan 1938: The integration of women intellectuals’ political networks Section 6. The WAC: A national women’s organisation but not a women’s United Front Chapter 2: Resistance, constitutionalism and democracy: Women intellectuals’ political networks across geo-political boundaries………………………………………………....83 Section 1. Big goals and small tasks: Retreating from Wuhan to Chongqing Section 2. Mobilising the locals: The WAC Liaison Committee Section 3. Networking between the KMT and the CCP Section 4. “A thunderbolt out of a clear sky” Section 5. The problem of reaching out to the “lower-class masses” Section 6. Networking across the wartime geo-political boundaries Section 7. A bigger challenge 2 Chapter 3: In the face of a sudden political change: The divisions, departures and dislocations of women intellectuals’ political networks…………………………………119 Section 1. Problems arising from inside Section 2. Coming events cast their shadows before them Section 3. Leaving Chongqing after 1941: The cases of Liu Qingyang and Shen Zijiu Section 4. Staying in Chongqing after 1941: Xie Bingxin at the WAC Section 5. Staying in Chongqing after 1941: Ni Feijun at No. 50 Zengjiayan Section 6. A new version of the “good wife and wise mother” discourse Chapter 4: From the Sino-Soviet Cultural Association to the China Women’s Association: Formation of “left-wing” women’s networks……………………..............151 Section 1. The CCP united-front framework and the establishment of the SSCA Women’s Committee Section 2. Cao Mengjun’s network within the SSCA Women’s Committee Section 3. New focus and new effort under the harsh political conditions Section 4. Local police and secret agents: The KMT’s surveillance on the SSCA Women’s Committee Section 5. For survival also for development: The CCP’s Judian technique Section 6. The China Women’s Association: Forming a left-wing women’s alliance Section 7. From the centre to the periphery: The cases of An E and Bai Wei Chapter 5: Things are different in Kunming: Local women intellectuals’ political engagement in both horizontal and vertical directions………………………………….186 Section 1. The political and intellectual network in Xi’nan Lianda Section 2. Starting from scratch and going without support Section 3. Engagement with local women’s organisations in Kunming Section 4. Seeking independence in the face of financial interdependence Section 5. Political engagement in two directions Section 6. Network development and competition on campus 3 Chapter 6: Not a finished story: The transformation of women intellectuals’ networks during the Civil War and after the communist takeover……………………………….222 Section 1. Returning to east China Section 2. Scattered networks, unclear roles and blurred political boundaries Section 3. Leaning to the CCP: Women intellectuals in Hong Kong in 1947 Section 4. Surviving the Civil War: Women intellectuals in the KMT-occupied cities Section 5. Entering Beijing and preparing for the All-China Women’s Federation Section 6. Confusion and conflicts: The integration of women intellectuals’ networks into the ACWF Section 7. “Vanishing by themselves and disintegrating by themselves” Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………259 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….267 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………...285 4 Acknowledgements This thesis is a result of a long and pleasant intellectual journey which lasted for three years and a half. During this time, I have received generous support and precious advice from my Ph.D. supervisors at King’s College London, scholars in and out of the U.K., my colleagues, friends and family members. I have also received strong institutional support from the Lau China Institute of King’s College London. I was awarded the three-year institute studentship which made my study in London and my archival research in China possible. Foremost, I wish to express my deep gratitude to my first supervisor, Dr. Anna Boermel and my second supervisor, Dr. Jennifer Altehenger, for their intellectual guidance, encouragement and patience. I owe many debts to both of the two excellent China scholars and responsible supervisors who not only enabled me to achieve new stage in my research, but also prepared me, scholarly and professionally, to become an academic. I could not have accomplished successful completion of research and writing in a relatively short period of time without their diligent work and patient advice. I am also deeply grateful to two scholars who read part of my thesis and made valuable criticism and comments. Prof. Odd Arne Westad, who advised on my research at an academic conference in the University of Hong Kong, enlightened me on the meanings of being a historian and encouraged me to develop an academic career. Prof. Hilde de Weerdt, who read the first chapters of my thesis for my upgrade examination, also provided me with precious suggestions which laid a solid foundation for my further research. During my three years of study at King’s, I have also received generous help and strong support from all the staff members of Lau China Institute. I remember proposing my initial research plan to the previous institute director, Prof. Xinzhong Yao, and the assistant director (now the acting director) Dr. Ralph Parfect in the spring of 2011. I was lucky to have their trust and continuous support to establish and develop my research. Ph.D. research can be a lonely job, but I was not alone in this journey. Aleksandra Kubat, Jie Li, Si Qiao and I started Ph.D. research at Lau China Institute about the same time and 5 formed a study group together. I am grateful to their friendship and help through the entire course of my research in London. Many friends I made while attending international conferences, Dr. Daniel Schumacher in particular, also gave me precious advice on writing and publication. My great appreciation is also to Dr. Felix Wemheuer, the chair professor of the Institute of East-Asian Studies at the University of Cologne, who employed me as a teaching fellow in modern Chinese history and generously allowed me to complete the writing-up of my thesis with strong institutional and financial support. Finally, I give my special thanks to my husband, Julien, who gave me unconditional support through the hardest times of this inspiring but also demanding journey. His understanding and encouragement enabled me to conduct several research trips to China and focus on writing in evenings and at weekends. I wish also to thank my parents, Jian Chen and Jian Guo, for encouraging me to continue on the road towards an academic career and for their understanding of my being far away from home. They never stopped supporting me whenever and wherever I needed them. 6 Abstract Examining women intellectuals’ political networks across different political parties, organisations and institutions, my PhD thesis aims to provide an in-depth analysis of women intellectuals’ political engagement, communication and identification during the War of Resistance (1937-1945) and the following Civil War (1946-1949).