1. ‘The role of women in China changed significantly between
1949 and 1976’. How far do you agree with this statement?
(20 marks)
In the tumultuous history of China, women and their role in society has differed slightly from century
to century and dynasty to dynasty; sometimes gaining rights, more often times losing them. But
unarguably, the most fundamental changes for females in Chinese society came from the
establishment of the Communist government in 1949 and its subsequent reforms. The 20 th century
in China was monumental in granting women greater human rights and social autonomy, and it
radically shifted everything from what traditional Confucian values had established for decades:
more cultural representation, more say in decision-making e.g. arranged marriages, and more
importantly a substantial push for women to have a more active role in society away from the
traditional stay-at home caretaker that had been the norm for so long. This push was spearheaded
by Mao himself: whether he had ulterior motives in this decision will be explored, but his
significance in bringing about change for women cannot be understated.
In the traditional Confucian pre-1911 society that existed in China, women were forced into their
place of subservience by harsh rules and values. They had “three obedience’s”: the first to their
father in youth, the second to their husband in marriage, the third to their son in old age. Such was
the life of women in this society- there was no room for negotiation of rights, no chance of
emancipation. Brutal methods were employed to keep them in this stasis such as foot binding (the
process of breaking the toes by bending them back into the feet and permanently damaging
growth), legal beatings and arranged marriages. They also had no political representation, and their
role in society was clear: to be a dutiful wife taking care of domestic issues with no chance for a
professional career. The attitude toward women was summed up by a female Chinese poet Fu
Hsuan, who quoted “How sad it is to be a woman, no one is glad when a girl is born” But all of this
was set to change with the arrival of Mao’s Communist government, and one of his very first
reforms, the 1950 New Marriage Law, was a huge step toward greater gender equality: arranged
marriages were abolished, women could divorce and own property, and child marriage was
outlawed. The practice of foot binding also begun to disappear in the cities. This alone was a huge
indicator that traditional Chinese society was in a dramatic shift, and the role of women was clearly
included in this sweeping change.
As a result of the aforementioned reform, the basic building blocks toward gender equality in China
were placed, and women now had much more representation and power than they previously had
for the last thousand years- that was indication enough that their role was changing. But the changes
did not stop there. During the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, women were
encouraged to assist in the revolutionary effort, and many went to work on communes or become
involved in political activity like protests. More significantly, this encouragement extended to leaving
their traditional domestic role in favour of joining the workforce, and this was a huge development
in changing the conventional image of women within society, and though women were not fully
equal with men in a modern sense, it began the needed transformation to achieve that goal. In
urban areas, women not only became more educated, but also begun to participate in the political
process. By 1975, a quarter of the Congress was women, displaying that more women were getting
involved in the machinations of government. Although they did not often reach senior positions and
men still held the dominant role, it gave representation to younger women who may have wanted to
pursue a career in politics- and despite her controversial image, Jiang Qing also would have done
this.
