| In 1855,Lady Kinnaird,a Christian and philanthropist,founded the YWCA in London to help women obtain employment.Because it conformed to social development,the YWCA spread to Germany,France,the United States and other countries within a short period of time.In 1894,the world’s Young Women’s Christian Association was established by the United Kingdom,the United States,Norway,Sweden to organize and coordinate the affairs of various countries.In 1890,Mary Stuart,the mother of John Leighton Stuart(1946-1949),United States Ambassador to China,founded China’s first YWCA in Hangchow Union Girls School.In 1923,the YWCA held the first National Congress of the YWCA in Hangzhou,at which the National Association of the YWCA of China was founded.In order to promote the women’s liberation movement in Shaanxi,in 1938,Cheng Cuixiang,the director general of the Taiyuan YWCA,came to Shaanxi to prepare for the establishment of the Xi’an YWCA.Before the council was formed,,the YWCA started its work in the name of the Xi’an Wartime Work Department.In 1939,the preparatory work was completed and the Xi’an Young Women’s Christian Association(hereinafter referred to as the Xi’an YWCA)was officially established.During the period of Republic of China,the Xi’an YWCA carried out mass education,such as literacy classes,mothers’ clubs,sewing machine classes,nurseries and kindergartens,with the aim of promoting the development of women’s morality,intelligence,sports and collective concept.At the same time,Xi’an YWCA provided services for the War of resistance by collecting donations for the War of resistance against Japan,consoling soldiers and military families,providing relief to students and medical aid,and contributing women’s strength.During that period of time,the Xi’an YWCA was advanced but limited.Its progressiveness lies in carrying forward the spirit of patriotism,spreading the advanced female concept and promoting the awakening of female consciousness.And its limitation lies in the class nature of the leadership since the Board members of the Xi’an YWCA were mostly upper-class and middle-class women,lack of accurate understanding of the underclass.In the early years of the People’s Republic of China,Xi’an Young Women’s Association as the first group to respond to the Three Self Patriotic Movement,not only learning relevant political theories,current affairs and policies,but also devoted itself to socialist construction,starting kindergartens and sewing machine classes to meet the needs of the society.When the “Cultural Revolution”began in 1966,the activities of the Xi’an YWCA stopped.In 1979,under the leadership of the Xi’an Women’ s Federation,the Xi’an YWCA set about preparing for the restoration.After that,the Xi’an YWCA,on the basis of determining the meeting site,focused on social needs,provided social services in children’s services,community services,earthquake relief,and environmental protection in forest.It set up a highly representative volunteer brand “ YWCA College Student Volunteer Alliance.”.After the founding of the People’s Republic of China,the Xi’an YWCA,on the basis of three-self principle,constantly sinicized,continuously integrating into the society,practiced the purpose of serving the society and the people conscientiously,and helped the social development of Shaanxi. |
