Gender roles have always been a topic of interest in many cultures and nations, including China. There has been a change in the role men and women have been presumed to play over the years. Men have been regarded as the family’s foundation in China since very early times. A Shang or Zhou dynasty ruler offered sacrifices to his patrilineal ancestors or those directly descended from him via males (his father, his father’s father, and so on). Women frequently enter early historical records due to issues they generated for males. When their spouse had boys by other women, some ladies devised plans to promote their sons. Loyalty among women was frequently questioned.
Gender roles have revolutionized in China from ancient to modern times, and each season has set women to be viewed in a certain way. The gender roles in China have influenced women’s decisions, reception, and journey towards studying abroad. This essay will focus on how gender roles have been understood, maintained, and constructed in modern China. The essay will be divided into the 1800-1900 era of the doctors, the 1900-1915 era of modern-day good mothers and virtuous wives, and 1915-the 1920s, “the May Fourth generation.” In addition, women who contributed to the revolution of gender roles in modern China will be discussed in detail.
1880-1900s’ the doctors’
The history of medicine in China can be traced to the early centuries. The image of a Chinese woman doctor that Ms. Li-Hu portrayed contrasted with that of modern missionary doctors and Chinese reformers, with the two most prevalent images being either that of a Christianized subject freed from a heathen Chinese society or that of an ideal citizen of the new modern state. Ms. Li-Hu did not even have a complete name, unlike iconoclastic heroines like Qiu Jin (1875-1907) or Zhang Zhujun (1879-? ), who promoted female employment in the nursing and medical professions on both patriotic and financial grounds. Instead, the job she undertook came to define her as a doctor. She picked up skills and information from missionary educators at school, from seeing and diagnosing patients in the hospital, and from working with the equipment used in births and operations (Lin).
The settings of Ms. Li-Hu’s practice and skill acquisition are incredibly fascinating, given that medicine as a profession for women at the time was novel and unique and that the concept of women as active workers outside the family home was still surprising. How did Chinese women learn about “Western medicine,” whose methods and understanding were probably entirely foreign to these women? Which institutional, societal, and material components comprised women’s training and practice? Western medicine was introduced by missionaries who came to China. Protestant missionaries did not introduce Western medicine to China as their primary medicine (Lin).
The Nestorians arrived in China in the seventh century with their healing abilities. The Jesuits’ presence in China in the late sixteenth century led to a noticeable increase in Chinese acceptance of Western science and medicine. Western medicine started to return to China around the middle of the nineteenth century, in conjunction with Protestant missionaries and traders, whose presence was symbolized by the founding of the Missionary Medical Society in Canton in 1838 and supported mission hospitals in Canton, Hong Kong, Macao, Amoy, Ningpo, and Shanghai that were manned by British and American doctors during their heyday(Lin).
Chinese women hesitated to get medical attention from Western male doctors because of the societal norm forbidding men and women from being close. As a result, there was a demand for female physicians. One of them was Methodist Episcopal Church member Sigourney Trask, who founded a hospital in Fuzhou in the middle of the 19th century. Trask also made arrangements for a local woman named Hü King Eng to attend Ohio Wesleyan Female College and study medicine with the idea that she would later return to Fuzhou and practice Western medicine. Hü taught many female doctors after graduating and taking the position of a resident physician at Fuzhou’s Woolston Memorial Hospital in 1899 (Lin).
1900-1915 Modern-day good mothers and virtuous wives
Women in ancient and imperial China were prohibited from participating in various social activities by social norms that required them to stay indoors while males handled outside the business. The rituals of Zhou even required that women be schooled, particularly in “women’s rites” because of the strong segregation of the sexes, shown in the policy that “men plow, women weave” that divided male and female history. Though they were constrained by laws that forbade them from owning property, sitting for exams, or holding office, their confinement to a distinct women’s world sparked the growth of gender-specific professions and elite literary circles. It endowed some women with political influence unavailable to men (Lee 354).
In the Chinese feudal culture of 1900- 1915s, a wife was expected to place her husband’s family’s needs ahead of hers. More significant than the relationship between the husband and wife was similar to the relationships between the mother and daughter-in-law and the father and son. A woman was not allowed to be disrespectful or envious toward her husband; rather. Instead, she was supposed to be obedient to him. The woman and the husband had responsibilities outside the house, but they did not conflict with one another (Lee 355). The wife had a role of properly educating her children to fulfill the position of “good wife, wise mother.”
Liang added a new dimension to the definition of excellent mothers and virtue-filled wives. He believed that a girl with a good education would better handle her responsibilities as a wife and mother. He also emphasized the shortcomings of the current method of raising girls at home and vehemently supported the establishment of girls’ schools. A change occurred when more girls started to leave their boudoirs and attend school as more women became aware of the need for education. The women’s rights movement took off with the start of the Xin Hai Revolution in 1911, and many women soon found themselves enlisting (Lee 355).
Within a short time after the Xin Hai Revolution, a notable change in a woman’s manner of life was seen. This was demonstrated by the explosion in the number of pro-equal rights organizations, including the Female Alliance, the Militant Women’s Society, the Women’s Organization for Peace, and many others (Lee 356).
1915-1920 The May Fourth Generation
The May Fourth Movement, which took place in China in 1919, is regarded as a pivotal historical moment in China’s modern history. A straightforward student demonstration held in Beijing catalyzed the May Fourth Movement. Following the straightforward student demonstration, numerous marches of a similar nature soon began in other Chinese towns. The year 2019 marks a century since the significant historical event, now recognized for the broader ideological and cultural dimensions that contributed to the nation’s political and social awakening rather than just the event that occurred on a particular day (Xin).
The role of women in Chinese society is one of the social facets that was impacted by the May Fourth Movement. Discourses on women’s freedom in traditional Chinese culture were sparked by the movement. The May Fourth Movement gave rise to the notion of a new everything, including a new political issue, new young, new women, and new literature. It also ushered in a new age (Xin). This led to more women studying abroad.
In conclusion, the evolution of women’s rights and education has been influenced by the gender roles in China. This has, however, evolved from the traditional women to the modern women.
Works Cited
Lee, Wong Yin. “Women’s education in traditional and modern China.” Women’s History Review 4.3 1995: 345–367.
Lin, Shing-Ting. The Female Hand: The Making of Western Medicine for Women in China, the 1880s–1920s. Columbia University, 2015.
Xin, Quan. AN ANALYSIS OF THE EARLY MAY FOURTH INTELLECTUALS’INTERPRETATION OF” UNIVERSAL VALUES”-A Europe-China Cultural Encounter Perspective. MS thesis.
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