The Effects of the Communists’ Policies Towards Women on the Communists’ Rise to Power in China

When it comes to discussing the manners and customs that dominated in China in the past century, numerous topics appear. Thanks to the numerous written testimonies, we can almost reconstruct the life and experiences of people in ancient China. Of course, many of the practices described are not only interesting, but surprising. In this paper I am going to take a closer look at the status of women in ancient Chinese family.

apt at pushing the campaign for women’s suffrage, many do not even stop to consider supposedly oppressive and impoverished communist regimes as the furnaces in which female rights were first forged. The majority of world history consists of the disputes and bloodshed created by men, perpetrated by men, and for men, all while blatantly disregarding women as trivial and powerless. Pre-Communist Revolution women’s rights comprised of sexist stereotypes that strictly limited the amount of achievements that women could accomplish. Traditional Chinese society was formed through strict social structures that defined daily life in the three obediences: women had

The Tang was a very aristocratic society that is known for being the “Golden Age” in Chinese history, with some of the greatest developments in the society occurring, (CD Benn, 2002). The dynasty made the unheard-of move of allowing women to sit for the Imperial examination and serve as government officials, with women enjoying the unprecedented power in politics (CD Benn, 2002). Charles Benn’s book, “China’s Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang dynasty”, is a secondary source in the form of a book, published in 2002. He is a professor studying Chinese history, in particular, the Tang dynasty, and in his publication, details the lives of Chinese people in this dynasty. Women had much more freedom than seen in any dynasty before it and it gave women a voice and saw women with almost as equal rights in society, with women finally being able to enjoy the privilege of education and marriage

"The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says: 'It's a girl.'"

Immediately after the war ended in 1949, with victory for the Communist Party, new and revolutionary ideas were everywhere. Along with the spread of these new ideas was the spread of better education for women. The new ideals challenged the old ways that women should not be educated as much as men, or even at all. In the Qing dynasty, getting an education and being literate were seen as injuring the chastity and purity of women. If they went to school and got an education, women would find it extremely hard for them to get married, as Chinese society at that time dictated that women who were learned were seen as promiscuous or frivolous women. This all changed after the Communist Party took over the government, promising change and equal rights. Studies found that in the 1950s, the literacy rate of women increased. This change was mainly due to the increasingly available educational opportunities for younger girls at the primary school level, and since then, women have enjoyed the same educational opportunities as men did. This development in women’s education was made possible by the Chinese Civil War and the Communist government take

Document 1 by Wang Xin a Chinese peasant who wrote this document for people interested in Xin’s life to talk about life in China during communist rule. This document shows how Mao helped poor people by giving them better living conditions. Also, he helped the poor people by giving them independence. Document 2 by Chow Qingli who was forced into marriage in China before 1950 wrote this document for people interested in China during the modern times to discuss women’s experiences during that time. This document shows how women got their freedom after the law gave them permission to marry whoever they wanted. Before things were really difficult for women because they couldn’t chose their own husbands. Mao helped them by making the law change and women could have all the freedom they needed. The Communist China notes talks about the reforms Mao did to the society. Mao expanded education for the lower class students. This made the society better because now everything was equal since everyone had education. Many kids got the chance to have a higher level of reading and writing. Children got the chance to have a better life and be able to learn new things. Document 7 by an unknown photographer took a picture for people interested in the Cultural Revolution to show that there was discrimination against Buddhism. Even though, there was discrimination against a

The book is a written as conversational memoir between two women, Ye Weili and Ma Xiaodong about their experience during the first three decades of Mao’s era. The two women had gone through almost similar position and situations in their life, faced equivalent hardships, their approach or attitude towards those experiences in a completely different manner. This book is meticulous in its historical detail, making it a standout among similar memoirs of twentieth-century China. It also tries to add another dimension of the general perspective of historic events. The events are described in a chronological sequence and with the right amount of proper relevant information so the reader can understand the conversation.

As many other countries around the world China has its long history of a struggle for equality and prosperity against tyrants and dictatorships. The establishment of People’s Republic of China in 1949 seemed to have put an end to that struggle for a better life. “The Chinese people have stood up!” declared Mao Tse-tung, the chairman of China’s Communist Party (CPP) – a leading political force in the country for the time. The people were defined as a coalition of four social classes: the workers, the peasants, the petite bourgeoisie and the national-capitalists. The four classes were to be led buy the CPP, as the leader of the working class.

In the 1950’s woman in China didn’t have the right to marry whoever they wanted to since, traditional marriage back then were arranged marriages, blind marriages, and priced brides. Soon after that Mao Zedong changed all of that when he took a stand. He took five-year periods to help elaborate on his plan to make a law where woman and/or men can marry whoever they wish. The way he persuaded the government to compromise with his plan to make a new law was by campaigning to eliminate the current marriage conditions, putting posters up, and hand out newspapers to get the word out through media. The reason he decided to take a stand was to help fix family ties and to decrease divorces. He also took a stand to give people freedom. The laws that were established were that both parties /people are willing to marry without interference from a third person. The next law was that the legal age to

It is clear that Mao’s initial goal was to gain power in China, which is demonstrated by his determination to overthrow Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang (KMT) via his idiosyncratic version of communist revolution. In order to do so, Mao utilised methods he deemed most suitable for the communists and, more broadly, Chinese society. For example, unlike his Marxist predecessors, Mao believed that peasants, not urban workers, were the key to rebellion in China. Subsequently, in 1926, he organised peasant unions

Women’s rights and equality were cornerstones of Chinese modernization, especially of Mao’s vision of an egalitarian socialist state (illustrated by his slogan that “women could hold up half the sky”). Increased female participation in labor seen as essential to the state and party agenda. While there were without a doubt many issues women still faced within this period, many policies of the Chinese Communist Party contributed to women’s equality. However, after Mao’s death and Deng Xiaoping’s rise to power and his vision of the nation as “Socialist with Chinese Characteristics,” and the implementation of China’s Open Door Policy, women have again become subordinated in many spheres of society. Yet instead of relying on male political theorists

After World War I and the rise of Chinese nationalism, a striking problem existed within Chinese society. The image of oppressed Chinese women was a direct parallel to the international image of a weak China. The “emancipation of women”, led primarily by male reformers, attempted to “replace gender awareness with national consciousness, bring about women’s emancipation through national salvation, and supplant gender difference with equal rights in humanity” (Cui 12-13). Despite its intentions of equality, the movement cultivated a master narrative of gender blindness that further perpetuated the idea that Chinese women were of a weaker sex. Such reformers portrayed themselves as heroes, believing to have freed women of gender disparity.

There is no denying that the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party under Chairman Mao Zedong changed the course of the history of China and shaped the China the world sees today. The amount of lives, cultural traditions, and differing intellectual thoughts that were lost and destroyed as he strove to meet his goals for the country can never be recovered or replaced. However, it had been asserted that one of the more positive effects of Chairman Mao on the people of China was his somewhat radical opinion of woman. Prior to the Communist Revolution, women’s role in Chinese society was almost completely limited to life within the home and focused on supporting their family and being submissive to their fathers and husbands. Chairman Mao

Furthermore, the Marxist revolutionary government of Communist China dealt with Confucianism negatively. “In the early 20th century, both before and after the fall of the Qing dynasty, Confucianism was harshly criticized by the New Culture Movement. (Adler 6)” The assumption of this movement was that “virtually everything about China’s traditional culture was holding it back from becoming a modern nation-state.” In fact, Confucianism was high on the list of culprits in this “blanket rejection” of traditional China. “The New Culture Movement criticized Confucianism for its age and gender-based hierarchies, which had become quite rigid during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Communist thinkers also joined this anti-Confucian trend, so by the time of the Communist victory in 1949 Confucianism in mainland China seemed virtually dead. (Adler 7)” “After the Communists took power their anti-Confucian rhetoric only increased. In addition to their professed opposition to social hierarchies, they viewed Confucianism as a feudal ideology. (Adler 8)”

The Coming to Power of the Communists in China in 1949 The leadership of China at the beginning of the 20th Century was very different to how it is today. The Communists did not come to power without a long and bitter struggle against the many foes that came across their path between the time of their creation, in 1921, and their eventual success in 1949. The Double Tenth Revolution of 1911 overthrew the emperor of China, as he was only a child and could not contain the ever-depleting condition of the nation.