The Study Of Women's Life In Modern Shantung Province

Shantung Province was opened to the outside world early in Modern China. Since 1861, Western politics, economy, culture and way of life had great influence on various aspects of the society in Shantung province, followed by large numbers of missionary going into shantung, the Outdated ideas and way of life had been unprecedentedly impacted; and correspondingly, the out-fashioned habits such as foot-binding, early marriage, child bride, which were related to the women marriage, family and labor life, had been discarded and improved; the old thoughts such as "starvation is second to virginity ", "a woman without talent is virtuous", "the traditional ethics that men are superior to women", had been broken up completely. Foot-binding lasts thousands of years in China. According to the idea that "Chastity's superior, bound feet is favored ", a pair of small feet is the standard of measuring whether women are beautiful or ugly. It was commonly spread that it was hard for women to get married with a pair of big feet. This odd aesthetic judgment and marriage attitude caused many women to bind their feet under the double torture physically and mentally. Began with the Bound-feet Forbidden Campaign in the late Qing Dynasty, throughout the highlight of liberation of bound feet in the Republic of China and the Campaign of liberation of bound feet in mighty waves in the periods of base areas, the women of Shantung Province had experienced a profound revolution. Particularly, from the year 1928 to 1934, the central government successively issued laws to forbid the feet bounding, and ordered local government to execute it strictly. Shantung Province, had also issued the law to forbid the feet bounding; from the provincial government to central government, different layers of officials plunge themselves into the campaign to persuade and forbid the feet bounding, going through the course from persuading to forbidding. Through the efforts of various aspects of society, the Campaign of liberation of bound feet and Bound-feet Forbidden had achieved good effects, until the 1930s, the phenomenon of bound feet was almost gone. At the beginning of Modern Times, the marriage life of women in Shantung Province mostly continued the traditional marriage attitudes and customs such as the marriage under the arrangement of parents or by the matchmaker. Those abuses in the marriage like virtuous woman and a woman in defense of her honor chastity, early marriage, child bride and etc., were common in Shantung Province. The traditional marriage system and out-fashioned habits had begun to transform, The marital life of Shantung women had changed greater than before. First, the thought of virginity was weakened; widow's remarriage and divorce increases, and they had the initiative and the right to inherit possessions. Second, some outdated habits such as early marriage, child bride and etc., had been strongly condemned, lashed and outlawed; and protected women's legal rights in marriage. Third, a combination of Chinese and Western wedding ceremony began to appear, new wedding ceremony was gradually to form. In the course of the transformation, women's independent marital ideas started to shape. The idea that a woman without talent is virtuous was popular in Ming and Qing Dynasty, which made girls almost no chance and no right to get education. Recently, from the start of women's education at the end of Qing Dynasty, to the great development of women's education in the Republic of China, and to the literacy campaign in the periods of base areas, women's education in Shantung Province had greatly developed. In the view of school education, no matter it was secondary, college, or vocational education, women began to acquire equal right with men to be educated, and protected legally. The number of girls who were going to school was increasing; the degree of being educated was being promoted. As for social education, public education had been launched in various aspects, women's intelligence had wholly been raised. Despite of inequality in regional development, unbalance in proportion of men to women and obvious differences of teaching conditions, as a newly-born thing, the progress which women's education in Shantung Province had gained was confirmed. With the bankrupt of traditional natural economy and the development of commodity economy, many job opportunities were provided for women. In order to support their livings, more and more women had to go out into the city or factory to work as woman workers, or went in for vulgar recreational jobs. With the progress of the society and the improvement of state of art, women began to enter government, school, and hospital; and worked as civil servants, policewomen, doctors, lawyers and etc., and gradually got professional right to have equal pay for equal work. The development of women's occupations in Shantung Province was significant to social changes and women liberation of Shantung.