Edexcel China T4 Revision

Theme 4 Social and Cultural Change

Women

Start of twentieth century the talks of equality in the West spread to China as a part of the ‘new culture’ intellectual movement that demanded reforms following the 1911 revolution.

Chinese Women subject to ‘Three Obediences’

-          To their father when young

-          To their husband when married

-          To their son in old age

Many were forced into arranged marriages against their will they could not own property and had no political voice.

Mao was critical of subservient role that Chinese society and politics afforded to women, he said ‘women hold up half the sky’

Foot Binding

-          Many women physically crippled by foot binding; a practise begun by ruling class in the court of the capital

-          A girl would often have this done at age 6

-          Toes would be turned under their feet and held tightly by wound bandages, prevented feet from growing normally and bone structure would be deformed

-          Small feet and swaying gait that it induced was revered as beautiful and sexually appealing

-          Officially banned in 1911, continued especially in northern villages

Traditional attitudes to women

-          Girls often married out of family in early teens and therefore viewed as less highly than her brothers

-          Once left the family, she would be forced to submit to her new husbands authority

-          Sometimes gifts were given to the family of the bride by the bridegroom’s family reinforcing the sense of the bride as property

-          Having paid for the marriage, many husbands treated their wives as private property and expected them to carry out domestic work with a subservient attitude

Attitudes of mothers-in-law

-          New bride subservient to all senior members of his family, particularly the mother-in-law.

-          Sons would be the ones to look after their mothers in old age therefore mothers stayed close to them and were often jealous of the new brides

Educational opportunities

-          No incentive to send girls to school because they would be leaving home, and parents would experience no economic benefit from their education

-          One survey of rural China in 1930s suggested only 1% of females 7+ had acquired a level of literacy to read a simple letter in comparison to 30% of males

-          45.2% males and 2.2% females received schooling

1950s New Marriage Law (NML)

-          For the first time women receive legal equality, could hold property and seek divorce

-          Paying of dowries or bride-prices forbidden as was child marriage, had to be 18

-          Marriages could not result from coercion, free will was required

Mao considered NML to be one of his greatest achievements. Regime also advocated later marriage and childbirth so that ‘people have more time and energy to read and study, to participate in political activity’

Statistics show

1946-49 18.6% of marriages the bride was aged 16-17, 1958-65 2.4%.

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