Feminism in modern China

This essay discusses the significances and meanings of the emergence of feminism as a mode of social analysis in the early twentieth century in China. It focuses on a critical examination of some of the more dominant discourses of the time, and seeks to contextualize these in a global perspective. By concentrating in the last part of the essay on He-Yin Zhen (He Zhen), the anarchist-feminist editor of the Tokyo-based journal Natural Justice (Tianyi bao), and in particular on her exposition on female labor, the essay introduces one of the most radical critiques of Chinese and global gender issues written at the time. In so doing, it demonstrates He-Yin Zhen's prescience and the ways in which her analyses can continue to inform feminisms for our day.