"Flower Vase": The Representation Of Female Clerk In China's 1930s

This paper examines the emergence of female clerks in modern China and the representations of these women in 1930s. Since the National Government opened its position to female(kai nvjin), large quantities of women who received modern education gradually appeared in various fields of vocations. However, these female clerks were labeled "flower vase". How to understand the significance of this phenomenon is up to how it was represented. In every different representation, "flower vase" was embedded in specific context, which reflects different meanings. From the viewpoints of China's journals in 1930s, there existed three different styles of perspectives. The first style is "flower vase in frivolous behavior"(xingwei langman de huaping), attributing "flower vase" to the natures of female. The second style is "flower vase as martyr"(zuowei xundaozhe de huaping), female clerks called "flower vase" were put in the context of feminism and social revolution. In this perspective, "flower vase" embodied defamation of new orders by old power. The third style is "flower vase as live fascia"(zuowei huozhaopai de huaping), which was put in the context of capitalism and was considered as a new problem stemming from a new era. In the mental world of contemporary people in 1930s, China was entering into capital society resulted from the economic invasion by imperialism.In the time of commercialism, "flower vase" reflected that women in public were regarded as a sort of social ornament.