| |
Foreword
Historically, few women have been recorded
in the annals of Chinese history, even though it is one of
countries with the most ancient books in the world. Only "vestal
virgins" and "paragons of chastity", who did
not remarry or committed suicide at the death of their husbands,
could be written in China's official history. Women were overlooked
as individuals, their voices were not heard and their wisdom
was neglected. In the feudal society, which lasted several
millennia, women experienced a bitter history of prolonged
oppression by the regime, clan power, divine power and the
authority of the husband. They were forced to follow the feudal
ethical code of obedience to father before marriage, to husband
after marriage and to son after the husband's death.
The sinister
custom of feet binding, started from the Nantang Dynasty (AD
937-975), not only devastated women's bodies but also their
minds. They were kept in a limited living space and taught
with a credo that declared "the absence of literary attainment
in a women is indeed a virtue." The cry of women's emancipation
in China started from the prohibition of feet binding and
the call for women's education.
After the
Opium War (1839-1842) Western imperialist powers invaded China.
The "self-sufficient" and natural economy in which
"men plough the fields and women weave" began to
gradually collapse. China fell into a half-colonial and half-feudal
society. Patriots stood up to seek ways to save the country.
At the end of
|
|
