Shake Off The Traditional Fetters And Handcuffs Molding The Modern Women Of Guizhou In The Period Of Late Qing Dynasty And Early Republic Of China

In the period of late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, with the further development of the national Women's Liberation and the urgent need of their own transformation at the modern times, women in Guizhou had started to mold the "modern women". As a result, some new phenomena began to appear in the aspects like the anti-foot-binding, the women's education, female occupation, women's life and even woman's participation in government and political affairs.Led by the advanced male, the women in Guizhou were actively involved in the Bound-feet Forbidden Campaign, which had great impacts upon the society and upon some economically-developed towns in particular. The carrying-out of this Bound-feet Forbidden Campaign helped a lot to liberate the body of Guizhou women. The women's education in Guizhou had not only a bigger number, a broader distribution and a larger scale, but also formed certain system, which covered the woman elementary education, the woman normal education and even the woman vocational education. Moreover, the woman's missionary school was also started in Guizhou. Rising of the women's education made some women step out of their boudoirs to participate in studying, which not only enriched their mind but also stimulated them to actively participate in the various fields of social lives. Professions like woman teacher, woman doctor and woman nurse etc gradually became the rising vocations favored by many Guizhou women. In addition to this, there was also breakthrough in women's participation in government and political affairs. They set up the female organization to build a female exchanging platform; they paid attention to state affairs and participated in them. Thus, some women had gradually accomplished the role change from the traditional women to the modern women.Despite this, due to the suppression and attack of the feudal conservative forces, and because most women's self-consciousness were not awakened yet, with a means of self-discipline, the women in Guizhou defended the order and authority of the male society and strived to mold themselves into the so-called "women" who completely accord with the male standard in accordance with the cultural norms and values of the male society to the extent that they totally lose the woman's subjectivity. Consequently, it made molding the modern women of Guizhou in the period of late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China quite difficult.