The Women's Policy Of The Taiping Rebellion

The Taiping Rebellion broke out in the region that Guangxi Hakka and Chuang inhabited. The feudal ethical code of astricting woman spread snow in the region and had little influence upon the women's society and the family life, because Guangxi located in the hinterland. A kind of free folkway and folk custom had formed in the local society and the local women enjoyed more freedom. This provided support of thought and ideology for the Taiping Rebellion to prompt women joining the revolution.The leaders of Taiping Rebellion were sufficiently aware of women's free folkway and folk custom in the Guangxi region, and utilized it consciously to prompt women joining the revolution. Inevitably the folk custom of Hakka and Chuang had direct or indirect influence upon the women's status of Taiping Rebellion in behavior mode, moral rule, thinking habit, and value criterion etc. because the leaders of Taiping Rebellion and a majority of revolting officers and soldiers took the edification from the Guangxi regional culture in the long-term.Firstly, explores women's actual status and effect in the Taiping army from aspects of military, economy, marriage, education, political decision-making etc. Secondly, the thesis points out that Guangxi female folk custom is the rootstock of the Taiping Rebellion women's policy. Thirdly,the thesis analyzes the theory foundation of the Taiping Rebellion women's policy—women's ideology of Hong Xiuquan. I adopt the dichotomy in the analysis, pointing out the advanced aspects of the Taiping Rebellion in women's liberation movement, at the same time glimpsing at women's actual status in the Taiping army and the limitation and defect of the Taiping Rebellion women's policy. Furthermore, through the researching into contemporary English women's rights movement, it can be educed that evaluating the Taiping Rebellion women's status should be impartial and objective, and the course of female status elevation in human history, in despite of different countries or regional limitation, is far-flung and hard. Though Taiping Rebellion women could not yet get rid of the bondage of feudal ethical morality and ideology, but it cannot be denied that women's status had gotten the unparalleled elevation in Taiping Rebellion movement and Taiping had acquired great development in the women's liberation movement.