Research On Rural Women's Education In Northern Jiangsu In The Early Period Of New China(1949—1956)

Gender discrimination is a comprehensive issue involving politics,economy,and culture.Gender equality is still a world-wide vision.China,at the forefront of the world in this regard is listed by the World Health Organization as one of the ten countries with high performance in maternal and child health.What's more,China has also made remarkable achievements in eliminating the gender gap in compulsory education,women in employment in the whole society,and number of female entrepreneurs in the Internet field.These are all earth-shaking changes,compared with what it was like in the feudal society more than 200 years ago,or in the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society more than 100 years ago,or the old China 70 years ago.However,building a world where women are free from discrimination and an inclusive and developing society still has a long way to go,and more efforts are needed.Summarizing the great achievements and important experiences of the cause of women's liberation since the founding of the People's Republic of China is an important aspect.The CPC's theory of women's liberation and its early practice are the logical starting point for studying the cause of women in New China.The prerequisite for women's liberation is that women receive education and become the subject of their own liberation.The CPC has paid special attention to women's education in its long-term revolutionary practice.How the party and the country's policies and guidelines on women's education are implemented and effective requires specific investigations.Guided by the methodology of Marxist philosophy and social science research,this paper exams representative local areas and researches on specific individuals,using various methods such as literature research,case studies,oral history research,etc.Combined with relevant archive materials,it is not only conducive to excavating and enriching the historical materials of women's education in the early days of New China,but also conducive to discovering and sorting out the characteristics,experience,historical contributions and contemporary enlightenment of women's liberation and the development of women's education.Taixing is located in northern Jiangsu Province.There were three different types of rural areas in the early liberation period,namely the old liberated areas,recovery areas and new liberated areas.Due to frequent wars,the proportion of men in the population has been lower than women for a long time.Besides,many people are not able to work,including family members and relatives of service man and women and civil servants.Study of women's education in Taixing during this period is representative.The CPC has always attached great importance to women's education.The period of the National Revolution was the period when the CPC's thoughts on women's emancipation were formed.It was basically established that "everyone is equal,educate everyone",and the form of education is not limited to schools.In addition to knowledge and skills,revolutionary ideas should be integrated into education and women's political participation should be improved.During the Agrarian Revolutionary War,the CPC recognized that rural women,who accounted for the vast majority of the female population,were an important force in determining the victory of the Chinese revolution.In the process of establishing rural revolutionary base areas,they formed a distinctive education model,which is integrating the training of women cadres,women's literacy training,girls'school education,and female workers'vocational education.During the War of Resistance against Japan,the women's liberation movement was closely integrated with the national liberation movement.In the democratic base areas,women's power is all manifested in supporting the frontline,production,and political participation.Women's education during the War of Liberation was mainly carried out around serving the War of Liberation and the construction of liberated areas,with the emphasis on training women cadres and raising women's awareness.In the early days of the founding of New China,the party and the government renewed the institutionalization,standardization and popularization of women's education throughout the country,making women's education an important part of the country's education.Therefore,to investigate the issue of rural women's education in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China,four "observation points" can be set up,namely:girls'enrollment education,literacy education,women's social education,and female cadre education.Girls'education is not only the starting point for women's emancipation and women's education,but also an important way to prevent illiteracy and semi-illiteracy among women in rural areas from the source.In the early days of New China,the Taixing local government's policies and measures to strengthen girls' enrollment education met the inherent requirements of rural women,adapted to the specific realities of the local society,and made great achievements.The basic experience of Taixing girls'enrollment education in the early days of New China was to increase the enrollment rate of school-age girls and reduce the dropout rate.Four key points were mainly grasped in specific education practices,namely:overall design,coordinated advancement;overall planning,step-by-step progress;going deep into the targeted grassroots;innovative teaching methods to ensure quality.Taixing's rural literacy work started relatively early,as early as the winter of 1941,when the Taixing Anti-Japanese Democratic Base had launched a large-scale winter study movement.After the founding of the People's Republic of China,Taixing Party organizations and people's governments at all levels actively mobilized farmers to continue to participate in the Winter School Movement,and set up special women's literacy classes to eradicate illiteracy.Under the mobilization of women's cadres in district and township women's federations and village women's representatives,women's enthusiasm for participation was much higher than that of men.More women participated than men,and their enthusiasm lasted longer.This trend gradually became a climax in 1956.Taixing women's active participation in the literacy campaign has laid a solid foundation for carrying out disaster relief and preparedness,implementing land reform,and promoting mutual assistance and cooperation.Specifically,it has not only improved the ability and quality of women,but also increased family income,thus also creating an atmosphere for the promotion of women's status.Encouraging women to go to society through social education activities is an important way to promote women's self-liberation.Based on the needs of different stages of the situation and tasks,and based on the adjustment of the regional administrative system,the social education of rural women in Taixing in the early days of New China can be divided into two stages:1949-1952,under the leadership of the Northern Jiangsu Administrative Office,social education is mainly centered on land reform,the war to resist US aggression and aid Korea,production and disaster relief,and implementation of the Marriage Law;1953 to 1956,under the leadership of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and the Yangzhou Special District,it was mainly carried out in conjunction with grassroots general elections,increased production and conservation,agricultural co-operation,and unified purchase and marketing campaigns.But regardless of the stage,the situation and policies,ideological politics,production and labor,and health are all important aspects and main contents of education.Women's social education in northern Jiangsu has promoted rural economic and social development.Rural women's self-awareness has become more awakened and strengthened,their main role has become increasingly apparent,and their social status has significantly improved.However,it also exposed the limitations of the educational objects,the intermittency of the educational process,the abstraction of educational content,and the limited educational forms.The reasons are many.The quality and ability of women cadres themselves,as well as the overall social atmosphere,are all significant influencing factors.Cultivating women cadres and attaching importance to women's participation in politics are the most distinctive and important measures taken by the CPC to promote gender equality and women's development.Taixing belongs to the old revolutionary base area.As early as the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation,many women activists emerged as women cadres and made significant contributions to the economic development and democratic construction of the base and liberated areas.The establishment of women's own organizations and mobilization agencies,the enrichment of women cadres at all levels of party and government agencies,and the promotion of model women cadres and groups are the three fronts of the Taixing women's liberation cause during this period.Based on these three achievements,Taixing's female cadres have developed rapidly,with more diversified training paths,and increasingly enriched educational content.Through cultural education,the working capabilities of women cadres have been greatly improved,and their professional level has also been achieved through learning current policies.More importantly,the steady development of women cadres has effectively guided the direction of public opinion-they not only attract peers to imitate with their successful images,but also influence and educate conservative parents and the "others" around them.Therefore,they not only gain social recognition to a greater extent,but also in turn trigger social and cultural transformation.However,the education of women cadres is also restricted by the traditional way of thinking,the real social environment and even the family.The rural women's education in Taixing in the early days of New China not only had a significant impact on the reconstruction of rural social order,the restoration and development of the agricultural economy,and the cause of women's liberation,but also left historical experience for rural women's education in the new era.Girls' education has built the basis for gender equality between men and women.Literacy education has improved the overall quality of rural women.Social education has improved the dominant position of rural women.Cadre education has promoted the social mobilization of rural women.The improvement of women's abilities promotes the sustainable development of rural society.In turn the sustainable development of rural society promote emancipation of women.Taixing women's education in the early days of New China was a microcosm of the CPC's promotion of rural women's liberation.Its experience has important reference significance for strengthening and improving rural women's education in the new era and for achieving the goals of the Beijing Declaration.