Research On Women’s Liberation Under The New Type Of Marriage And Family Relations In The Early Years Of The New Nation (1949—1956)

After the founding of New China, land reform, general election, eliminate illiteracy, promoting and carrying out the New Marriage Law and other movements were set off throughout all of the country; those movements had eliminated the dirty things left by the feudal society thousands years ago, abolished the old systems and customs from which women had suffered a lot, so that women were liberated from the aspects of politics, economy, culture, society and family life in this era. The liberation in this period can be considered as an important reform in the modern social development history of China. Naturally, marriage and family relations is only one aspect of women’s liberation, however, it is closely related to individual affairs, what’s more important is that the formation and interaction of marriage and family relations constitutes the main contents of social life, reflects all the social changes, and concerns about social security issue. Marriage and family issue is a significant aspect of research on female problems. The Marriage Law carried out on1May1950was the first law after the establishment of new China; it’s not only the main legal construction, but also an important social reform. It made great changes on women’s marriage and family status, embodying the policy direction of the party and the government on marriage and family, representing the high attention the government had paid to women’s poor condition. This thesis makes marriage and family relations as the entry point to do preliminary research on women’s liberation in early period of new China.This thesis is divided into four parts:The first part is to overview the historical process of Chinese women breaking the bound of marriage and family and pursuing liberation. This part, making the foundation of CPC as a time line, discuses women’s liberating process before and after the founding of CPC, and puts emphasis on women’s liberation and marriage system reform led by the CPC after it was founded.In part two, the thesis analyzes the social and historical conditions for women’s liberation under the new marriage and family relations in the early days of new China into three aspects. Firstly, being issued and carried out, the Marriage Law brought changes into marriage and family, even the whole society, promoting the establishment of marriage and family relations, laying the foundation of women’s liberation. And it is the key content in this part. Secondly, in this era, the land reform, prostitution banning movement, and anti-illiteracy movement and other social reforms led by the party and government created a good social atmosphere for women’s liberation. Finally, women’s federation and women’s organizations of all levels gave assistants to the party and government to implement relevant laws, protecting woman labor force, organizing women to develop cultural, educational and health carrers, providing organizational guarantee for women’s liberation.The third part mainly discusses the women’s liberation brought by the new marriage and family relations in the beginning of the new nation, and this is the main content. In this part, there are four aspects:the improvement for women in family statues, economic status, political positions and mental and physical development, specifically analyzing the women’s liberation brought by the established of new marriage and family relations in the early years of the new nation.The Fourth part discusses the enlightenments brought by women’s liberation under the new marriage and family relations in the early days after foundation of new China, calling for setting up correct view of marriage, guaranteeing women’s economic independence, improving social legal system, developing women’s federations and organizations, promoting women’s further liberation and development continuously.