The Woman Question in China: Emancipation From a Trap

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For thousands of years, it has been a time-honored practice in China to claim that "the husband is the ruler of his wife," "the male is superior to the female," "the husband is comparable to heaven," and "women should be submissive, meek, and humble." These claims, along with the "Three Obediences and Four Virtues," are the admonitions imposed on Chinese women by their parents and teachers. The moralists tend to preach that "these are the principles of Heaven, which women must obey." But actually they are nothing but tricks used to fool women and traps used to bind them!

The majority of our female compatriots are honestly willing to carry out the most important obligation known to humankind: the bearing of children. Those from middle- and lower-middle-class families work very hard at housework, and those who are very capable can even support the entire family. Yet women have been unfairly denied the right to participate in state affairs or become officials. Of course, the bright side of this is that none of those imbecile congressmen, treasonous bureaucrats, and other kinds of traitors can be a woman. We women only resent the fact that society has been appallingly ungrateful to us despite the important contributions we have made. We 200 million Chinese women have received nothing in return besides the entrapping notions that have poisoned our minds and controlled our lives for thousands of years. We have been completely deprived of a correct worldview and independent character. This has happened to women all across society, ranging from wives and daughters of the rich and famous to sluts and prostitutes. I do not mean to be sensational, but I do want to give my female compatriots a wake-up call to enable them to escape the trap that society has created for them.

Many of the daughters of the rich and famous in China have traditionally received a good education and hence are reasonably progressive in their thinking. But they are still tightly bound by "saintly" admonitions, such as the "Three Obediences and Four Virtues," and other codes of conduct. Often, they follow in the footsteps of their female kin, footsteps that lead right into slavery. Nefarious warnings like "women should be locked inside the inner chambers" and "women should be hidden in a golden house" have become a trap that prevents women from entering society. Thus, many of our promising young women gradually became the pets and playthings of men. Their only compensation consists of silk, jewelry, fancy foods, and smart servants, all of which are there at least partly for the enjoyment of the men themselves. Deprived of the opportunity to receive a good, thorough education, many women lose their willpower and almost willingly fall prey to the gilded cage. They no longer want to resist and, on the contrary, become arrogant mistresses, bullying and bossing the servants around. Subject to the combined forces of sexual desire and external pressure, these women often end up being the "shame of the inner chambers" and "the scandal of Mulberry Patch." You poor women are the victims of an evil society!

Times have changed, and people are more open-minded now. Unfortunately, however, these poor women have only a smattering of education and are still bound by the shackles of those old rules and archaic codes of conduct. Words like "obedience" and "submissiveness" are still flying around our schools. Influenced by society, many women still seek an extravagant lifestyle characterized by diamonds, imported fabrics, cars, gardens, and amusement centers. They often force their husbands to overwork, lose their jobs, or even fall into bankruptcy. This is again the fault of an evil society of traps!

The above describes upper- and middle-class families. Now let us look at the impoverished, who compose the majority of Chinese society. They work extremely hard but have a very limited income. Once a girl is born into a poor family, she is destined to be traded for money. In accordance with old customs, the marriage and wedding ceremony are nothing short of business transactions. A woman's father and brothers are her bosses at home; after marriage, her husband becomes her boss. If the husband's family is impoverished, she is sold to another family. Poor woman, you have sacrificed so much to perpetuate the existence of humankind, only to be sold as a commodity. You can work to support yourself; why should you be willing to accept such a fate? Of course, it is worse if you have a wicked father or an evil husband who would sell you to a brothel for the sake of earning more money. Either because they are manipulated by their social environment or because they are tempted by the fancy food and clothing, some women fall into the trap and become sex machines, concubines, or performers, trampled and violated by men. Although they satisfy their vanity and desire with fancy clothing, delicacies, cars, and servants, and appear to be proud and enviable, they are actually pitiful! I hear that there are thousands of young women in Beijing who admire and envy the lifestyle of some famous female performers and are willing to bring themselves so low as to start learning operas! Alas, what an evil society of traps! We women, young and old, rich and poor, are all compelled to walk on a pitch-dark road, without any light to guide us!

We bear the most essential responsibility known to humankind, and yet we have fallen so low. Some say this is because "women lack their own philosophy of life and therefore cannot claim to have any personal character." How ridiculous! It is, after all, the trap selfishly created by men that has robbed women of their own philosophy of life. We women have been trapped for so long that it looks as if we put the trap on ourselves. Saddest of all, sometimes even women themselves see men as the source of divine guidance and heavenly principles. Worse still, this evil society has indeed forced some of us women to engage in disgraceful affairs. We women, chained and shackled, are tumbling along a dark road, with evil old social customs constantly surrounding us, beating us, and luring us! We are driven forward, unable to escape our trap! Oh, we women are most unfortunate, chained and driven!

We women should find a way to get away from those evil external forces, as well as from the trap that we have internalized. Both of these result from our economic dependence on men. Men have used their economic power to cheat and oppress us to an extreme. The word "economy" is our Achilles' heel, the origin of our trap and the evil forces that work against us. Why have we women fallen into this trap? There was no such economic relationship between people in those ancient times before fire was discovered, when people were drinking animal blood and eating raw meat. After civil society developed, there were marriages. Weakened by childbirth, women were forced to rely on men for their support. Of course, it was absolutely reasonable for women to be supported by men right after giving birth. This was irrefutably an obligation of men, an obligation necessary to a fair relationship between the sexes. However, what is despicable is that men, ignoring our rights and their obligations, asserted that "women are brought up by men." They cheated and oppressed us and created notions about "heaven and earth," "yin and yang," and "noble and base," openly advocated that "men, being superior, should rule over women," and thus totally negated women's character. Then, fearing that women would resist, men used the carrot-and-stick approach to lure and bind women with food and clothing. Not surprisingly, women had no choice and gradually allowed men to take things for granted and force "saintliness," "morality," and various codes of conduct upon women. As time went by, women got used to these devious devices and also internalized and accepted that pernicious morality. Then, fearing that women would break their trap by working hard outside the home and gaining economic independence, men compelled women to do all the household chores—cooking, sewing, and everything else—and ruined their opportunity to earn money and be independent. At best, women were allowed to raise silkworms and weave cloth, but even then they were still confined to the home. In those days, the land was still rather undercultivated and the population was small, so one man's work was enough to support a whole family, and even produce a surplus. Men became the breadwinners, while women's talents were wasted and allowed to atrophy. Gradually, women were no longer fit for the important jobs in society.

Men's selfishness knows no bounds. In order to prevent women from becoming an important social force, they created devices such as "morality," "saintliness," and "social codes of conduct" to curb women's desire for power. Out of jealousy, men set up barriers between themselves and women, and barred women from any social contact, forcing women to fall eternally into an unbreakable trap.

Although there are now loud cries for women's emancipation, female education specialists and their publications still stick to those cliches. I once studied at Jianxing Women's Normal School, where old

sermons about the "Three Obediences and Four Virtues," "filial piety," and "being a good mother and virtuous wife" constantly reminded me of this dismal reality. Women's magazines published by the Commercial Press are no exception. The Everyday Encyclopedia, published this past summer, even carries Cao's Admonitions for Women with an additional comment that "It is absolutely and eternally necessary for women to bear in mind: 'Annihilate conceit and sloth before they bud, and strengthen rules and restrictions to prevent degradation.'" But do they know that "conceit and sloth" is also the result of keeping women trapped and, furthermore, is caused by the debauchery and decadence of society? Instead of getting rid of the root cause, namely, the traps and evils of society, these moralists coined those senseless maxims to fool and coerce women. Little did I expect that there would be new publications with such antiquated rubbish in this new age, a time when the praises of women's emancipation are being sung. Men's cruelty is so obvious; but I did not realize until recently that women's bamboo trap has turned to iron!

It is said that "the woman question should be resolved by women themselves." Now that we know about this trap, we should break away and depart from this bleak social reality in order to achieve our own independence. First, we should gain our economic independence. United in sisterhood, we should get our own lives and our own jobs. Once we have these, we will never again fear men's oppression. However, the sad but true fact is that the overwhelming majority of Chinese women lack education and are still living in a dream, utterly unaware that they are trapped. As for those few educated women, they are still tempted by wealth, fame, scholarship, and power, and remain unable, or perhaps unwilling, to escape their trap. Not long ago, I met several female students who had returned from studying abroad. Their philosophy in life turned out to be none other than "once abroad, it is easy to find a rich, famous, and influential husband." Oh, iron trap, you are indeed so sharp and tough that even those women who have received higher education cannot free themselves!

Now that we know about the devious devices employed by society, we should do our utmost to spread our beliefs and ideas in order to awaken our sisters. We should take on the responsibility of educating and enlightening those uneducated women and try to enable our 200 million female compatriots to gain economic independence. Only then can we truly gain our own independence! But that iron trap, the evil social environment, and all kinds of knots and cords have bound us tightly. We should struggle with all our strength! Break the iron trap and struggle against this evil society and those cruel men! We have passed the point of no return, and we are all mobilized! As vanguard women on the front line of the battlefield, we should regard our educated but unawakened sisters as comrades-in-arms from the same headquarters. At present, we are certain that a great many more of our countrywomen are getting ready to join us; at the same time, we are aware that there are magazines like Young China that take a neutral position.

The enemy is approaching! Cannons are heard nearby but only serve to enhance our spirits. We should all awaken and dash forward to the front line, and encourage the masses, our fellow soldiers in reserve, to get ready for the fight. At the same time, we also demand that those who have taken a neutral position form an alliance with us. Furthermore, we should reorganize and improve our internal finances, so that we will not be economically troubled and sabotaged by our enemy. In front of us, high above, there flies a large flag with "Emancipation" written on it; step by step and arm in arm, we march forward. Guns, cannons, and military bands are heard all around us. Heroic, solemn, wrathful, firm, and dauntless, we march forward, shouting at the top of our lungs: "Emancipation, emancipation . . . !"

Author's Note

My essay is an answer to the question: Why has the situation of Chinese women become so bad? Quite unexpectedly, as I finished my essay, I heard and envisioned my 200 million fellow countrywomen shouting in unison: "We shall break the trap; we demand emancipation!" That is why I used those words in the title of my essay, though I was not sure about how to articulate my viewpoints and arguments. Having read the advertisement of Young China and having learned that the fourth issue of that magazine will be a special issue devoted to women, I am presenting my essay here in the hope that more and more enlightened women will join me in the study and discussion of women's emancipation in China.