About The Chinese Women's Education Issues Research: The Perspective Of State Regime Construction

This dissertation studies debates of women’s education issues and their change in modern China. Some issues of women’s education in modern China are the main subjects that this dissertation tries to research, such as "whether the women should accept education","what education the women should accept" and "how to accept education". On this basis, this dissertation tries to discuss the relationship between Chinese modern state-making and debates of women’s education, thus, the dissertation wants to link up the women’s education history and the great transformation history of the state."Whether the women should accept education" is a premise debate issue, which was launched by the reformists in1896. They thought that initiating women’s school can enhance state and conserve race, so, they argued that the women should accept systemic school education. While based on Chinese traditional women’s education idea, the conservatives thought that the women should not receive school education, therefore, they started controversy. The results of this topic controversy was that the reformists won temporarily, and the mark was that "women’s primary school hall constitution" and "women’s normal school rules" were promulgated by the Department of Qing government in March in1907, therefore, the women’s education was concluded in the official education management system."what education the women should accept"(i.e.,"women’s educational aim") is a core issue of women’s education in modern Chinese intellectual circles. Around reform and before new cultural movement, the first great controversy about women’s education aim appeared in modern China, the controversy mainly launched surrounding "a good mother and a good wife" and "female nationals". From the new culture enlightenment movement to the establishment of Nanjing national government, the second major controversy about women’s education aim occurred again. In this period, mainly attributed around the May4th movement and the new cultural enlightenment effect,"a good mother and a good wife" education purpose as the traditional concept of education had been criticized and refuted, which was also replaced by "equality of men and women" as a kind of women’s education aim. The education aim that "equality of men and women" advocated that women should be trained as independent personality like men. The third major arguments appeared after the establishment of Nanjing national government before the founding of new China, which mainly spreaded around the "maternalism" and "equalism" The issue "how to accept education" is divided into two aspects:the first is "how to set the form of women’s education"(i.e., whether the girls should study with boys together), the second is "how to arrange the contents of women’s education"(i.e.,"women’s education contents should be more emphasized on family education or occupation education").About the first issue’s debate, which reached a peak period around May4th movement. The supporters based on "equality" and "feminism" argued that the girls should study with boys together, while the opponents based on "a good mother and a good wife" and "male chauvinism" argued that the girls should not study with boys together. On the second issue that "women’s education contents should be more emphasized on family education or occupation education", the supporters also based on "equality" and "feminism" argued that the women’s education content should more emphasized on occupation education, while the opponents based on "a good mother and a good wife" and "male chauvinism" did not agree with them.From the perspective of the major debates on the history of women’s education, this dissertation argued that both the controversy and change history of women’s education issues and its own are formed by the great history. Due to the particularity of modern China, the women’s education is not a simple problem of education but shows its more political characteristics. This dissertation argues that women’s education as a modern institution system and modern educational phenomenon, which is one of parts of modern China state-making. So, in modern Chinese national and democratic national construction process, women’s education was also formed by its history. To some great extent, women’s education had become one of great tools of state-making. The historical fact of women’s education issues’debates indicated clearly that as one of the modern system the women’s education would face a lot of difficulties and controversy before the completion of state-making," which also indicated that the feudal economic and political foundation cannot support a modern women’s education system’s operation.