Study On Mao Dun’s Early View Of Women (1919-1929)

From 1919 to 1929,Mao Dun published a large number of articles regarding women’s issues in newspapers and magazines,and created fictions providing the image groups of New Women group portraitsuch as Eclipse,Wild Rose and Rainbow.There was no doubt that the issues of women have been an important filed included in the attention of the young Mao Dun at that time.From the perspective of theoretical articles,his view of women presented three tendencies in absorbing foreign thoughts.At the beginning,it was expressed as the counteraction of Nora trend by Bernard Shaw and August Strindberg,and women’s spiritual independence was emphasized.In the meanwhile,he advocated a new lifestyle of gender harmony with the ideas of Mutual Aid Theory,Great Harmony of the World and Racial Evolution Theory.Then,Mao Dun began to learn Western Feminist Theory when he contributed to The Women’s Journal.,He introduced two theories through Catherine’s teachings,namely,“Suffragist” and“Feminist”,and consciously raised “Feminism” to a high level.Moreover,he set the internal Ellen Kay’s Maternity Theory and Gilman’s Public Facilities Theory as a complement to each other.In the end,Mao Dun was more inclined to the socialist Theory of Women’s Liberation.However,when translating the contents of Kollontai’s speech,he did not serve as a blunt political voice,but was consistent with the previous concept of public production.This also led to Mao Dun,as a party member,was characterized with some indelible personal color when cooperating with the instructions of the Communist International and the women’s movement of the Communist Party of China.The combination of Mao Dun’s views on women and the issues of local women showed the characteristics of emphasizing sexual morality,neglecting economics and participating in politics.Mao Dun advocated new sexual morality with the help of Ellen Key’s Love Sacred Theory of “Union of Mind and Body”.Nevertheless,many emerging problems such as playboys and the abandonment of “old women” would also be induced under the condition of free love.Mao Dun was not completely opposed to the two aspects of economy and politics participation,but proposed that it should not be implemented temporarily based on the practical reasons.However,the contradictory impression of “Novel Doctrine of Good Wife and Virtuous Mother” and women’s participation in politics undoubtedly demonstrated the limitations of Mao Dun’s thinking.In 1927,Mao Dun,who had just experienced the failure of the revolution,continued his thinking on women’s issues in the novel.There were multiple words such as strong bodybuilding and sexual consumption behind the the new female images with plump chest.Both dynamic and static women exhibited his persistence and adjustment in gender differentiation and female responsibilities.The concept of love of “new women”has also transformed from unity to separation of the soul and the body.The sacred words of love have been exhausted in the trap of the male enlightenment.The“reactionary” in the gender war was not only expected by Mao Dun,but also was deeply worried because of his inability to control it.Meanwhile,love and revolution has formed the opposition between the individual and the collective from the previous coincidence to division.Mao Dun raised his personal “legitimacy” to the maximum level with the help of female images,and gave women great power in “sex” with Mrs.Sanger and the Ward’s “The Gynaecocentric Theory”,but he was unable to overcome the disillusionment of revolutionary failure eventually.In contrast,Kollontai’s “A Glass of Water” Theory of Sexuality closely combined the absolute revolutionary beliefs with personal sexual desires,and such a strange harmony was once attracted Mao Dun.Alternatively,Mao Dun stopped at the sudden stop of Rainbow because of doubts and reflection about the future of the revolution,and the attention to individual life.