Kept In Purdah Did Not Know

During the Republican Period, the Chinese traditional arts have gone into a special stage. With the enlightenment of the New Culture Movement in the early 20th century, Chinese women became conscious of their female identity, and consequently gained respect and the chance to show their talents. A number of female artists were nurtured during this period. Some indoor ladies went outside one after another, devoting to the promotion of traditional arts. Great development and improvement were made both in quantity and quality of this artistic field--here we call it female arts--which, without doubt, contributed to the progress of arts in general during the Republican Period.This paper researches on the female arts during the Republican Period, trying to introduce it to more people and get their attention. In our world of art, these indoor arts are reborn into a second life. The first part talks about the New Culture Movement and Women's Liberation, thus revealing the causes behind and the artists' attitudes toward it. The second part analyses the features and locations of two different types of artists and the distribution of their respective works. The third part is mainly about the ways, contents and objects of "teaching-learning", probing into the tradition of female artists and their artistic manners. The last part discusses the styles of female arts.