A Study Of Qiu Jin And How To Accept Her

Due to its historical complexity and sensitivity,the period from the Opium War to the Warlord Era has always been a hot subject of academia?In the Chinese grade society of patriarchal clan system,women had long been subordinate to men and been excluded from the core values of society?However,under the influence of modern western culture after the Opium War,the self-identity of women was waken up,and a lot of women pioneers began to receive education,learned to read and write,and compose literary works to express their feelings deep inside?They also stepped out of the boudoirs and entered the public space to make their voices heard?In the process of deconstruction and reconstruction of their self-images,they not only paid attention to their own life experience,but also concentrated on the history and development of China?Qiu Jin is one of such female writers that we cannot ignore during this period?Qiu Jin,originally named Qiu Guijin,was born in Shaoxing,Zhejiang Province?She was a famous revolutionist and poet in modern Chinese history?After comparing and contrasting many different versions of Qiu Jin' s collections,this thesis selected the one edited by Guo Yanli and Guo Junxi to make a close reading of Qiu Jin' s literary works,including her poems,ci,proses,tanci,and novels?Seen from her works,she was radical and sensitive,and had always been on the forefront of national and female emancipation?By studying the life and literature of Qiu Jin,this thesis intends to throw an insight into the evolution of female writing in the past century?Chapter One explores the poems and novels of Qiu Jin,which can be divided into three phases,respectively named as Girlhood(before 1896),Married Life in the Wang family(1903-1907),and Life in Beijing(1903-1907)?Her works in girlhood are similar to old female writings expressing sweet dreams for the future by chanting history or objects,but arranged marriage broke her dreams and made her poems of the second phase bitter and depressed?Qiu Jin started to think about giving up the family and devoting herself to revolution,therefore in the third phase,her poems were filled with passions of fighting and hymns of revolution?The tanci named The Stone of Jingwei can be seen as an autobiographical novel of Qiu Jin,and had encouraged the first generation of modern female writers in China?Chapter Two discusses the sources of Qiu Jin' s political ideas and multiple types of women in late Qing dynasty?As Beauvoir suggested in The Second Sex that one becomes a woman instead of being a woman,then what kind of culture nurtured Qiu Jin?The thesis tries to find the answer in the traditional images of outstanding women in Chinese history,and believes that a collective research of female groups in Qiu Jin' s time will help us grasp the clue of Chinese female literature more effectively?Chapter Three analyzes the media reports about Qiu Jin' s death and all kinds of literary figures modeled on her?Since Qiu Jin was executed at Xuan Tingkou in Shaoxing,researches on her deeds and death have never come to an end?To avoid partial observation from the current perspective,this thesis collects news reports and comments of that period,compares different stories and plays about her,and tries to ravel out the truth and historic meaning of Qiu Jin's death,which will in turn help us have a better understanding of her image?Chapter Four mainly discusses the reception history of Qiu Jin' s image since late Qing dynasty?Through a close study of Qiu Jin' s old friends and the responsorial poems between them,the thesis discovers the strong emotional bonds between these women?Besides,the image of Qiu Jin on stage and screen reflects the ideas of later generations on her life and deeds?With more brilliance of humanity dug out from Qiu Jin,the trend of thought in Chinese history and society has also made considerable progress?...