Where Is The Return Journey: The Study Of The Urban Single Women In The Republic Of China

Marriage is an unavoidable theme for women from ancient times till now.However, since the early 20 th century, urban women that hold the single doctrine have come into existence as a new phenomenon. This paper puts emphasis on two kinds of celibate women. One are intellectual women which devote to revolution,religion, literature, education, medical treatment, business etc., and the other are Modern Girls in the area of the performance and entertainment such as movie, singing,dancing, drama and Chinese opera. They are both groups of special women deriving from the modern urban environment. Then to those celibate women who are against traditional ethics, how should they adjust their self-identity to the mainstream society,and what kind of mentality will they keep? These topics all deserve to be discussed.From the economic condition that the modern urban environment provides, the relatively loose social condition and the new way of thinking brought by the New Culture Movement, we can see the difference between modern celibate women and traditional virgins holding celibacy for chastity. There exists a historical process for establishing the image of celibate women. During the May Forth period, celibate women are often radical and bright in literature, while after the political movement fades away, celibate women gradually turn into “old maids” which are sympathetic or being sneered in all kinds of articles. Often they appear as an unsociable and eccentric stereotypical image. We can see it’s related with the trend of female liberation.Despite the fact that the celibate phenomenon of urban women in the Republic of China doesn’t become the order of the day, it still arouses lots of arguments by ambient people, which means that it exists great disparity between the preach of celibacy and its reality. The view of celibacy can not take roots in the Chinese society because of its resilience and the strong pressure from traditional ethnics. Generally speaking, those who choose celibacy in the ROC firstly stem from their personal willingness, such as religious and revolutionary passions, failures in love affairs,ascetic or leching life styles, following the celibate trend without their own thinking.While the bondage of the traditional family institution, as well as the unreasonable situation of the gender relationship in the society also promotes the quantity of unmarried women. It seems impossible to find a balance between career and family.Of course that not every woman could continue the way of celibacy till the end because life experiences or psychological transitions will easily shake their celibate belief, and even result in mental illness since monotonous and depressive ascetic life. But if adjusting moods well and showing proper sympathy, celibate life can also be colorful. As departing from the traditional ethnic concepts of marriage,celibate women never acquire general understanding and acceptance from the mainstream society. People who oppose to celibacy are much more than those who agree or show their sympathy.This thesis uses the “Gender Theory” and the research method of women’s mental history for reference, trying to establish two kinds of discourse system from the perspective of women themselves and the public views. Through discussing celibate women’s living environments, celibate reasons, living conditions, mental experience, public views etc., the paper finally answers such a question— whether celibacy is a kind of escaping or rebelling behavior, furthermore, whether celibate women can be seen as a part of women’s liberation movement.