Ep 13: Chinese Feminist writing: He-Yin Zhen
Welcome back to my podcast. Following our previous episode on Maxine Hong Kingston’s brilliant novel, in this episode we continue our talk on girlhood, womanhood, and feminism. Today I am going to introduce a Chinese feminist that most people (even those from China) have not even heard of. Some say that she is perhaps the first feminist in modern China, and her name is He-Yin Zhen.
He-Yin Zhen is famous not only for developing and organizing a feminist theory that is unique to her time and space, but also for espousing anarchist ideas as one of the first outspoken anti-capitalist, anarchist feminists outside of Europe. Her feminist thinking is different from that proposed by European liberal thinkers since the Enlightenment era. It is also much more radical than the feminism discussed by her contemporaries Chinese male feminist scholars like Liang Qichao, Ma Junwu and Jin Tianhe. In the beginning of the 20th century, woman as an identity was defined and discussed often within the larger conversation of building a new national identity. These male scholars are more keen on debates over what women should be, instead of what women are. When they are envisioning a new generation of women in the future, they are thinking about what kind of women are going to build and represent a stronger China, therefore talking about things like women’s suffrage. But He Yinzhen is different, Throughout her life, she was a feminist, a revolutionary, an anarchist, and a prolific writer, among others. She touches on a wider range of areas in feminism, and co-founded ‘the Society for the Restoration of Women’s Rights’ and its accompanying journal, Natural Justice, which played a crucial role in the discussion of feminism, socialism, Marxism and anarchism among Chinese speakers.
He Yinzhen didn’t live a very long life, but her ideas echoed throughout the century, and are ever so relevant to our global feminist discussions today. She advocated that society could not be free without the liberation of women, and was especially worried about the exploitation of women's labor in the newly capitalised China, and decried the tragedies of prostitution, female infanticide, and concubinage, among other women’s oppressions throughout Chinese history. I think if she were alive today, she would have a lot to say in areas like reproductive rights, equal pay, women’s suffrage, and more. I think she would be disappointed that women today continue to bear the brunt of our society’s failure, but I also think she would remain hopeful that more and more have joined together in creating a better world for women and their future…
For more information on He Yinzhen please check out the following links:
Zoe Baker’s Youtube Episode: The Best Feminist You've Never Heard Of: He-Yin Zhen