Gender, Nation, and Nationalism: Late Qing China’s Discourse on Women

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

After China’s defeat by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95, discourse on women’s sexuality, particularly on women’s bodies, emerged prominently in China. The discourse was influenced by Social Darwinism and was closely connected to issues of the Chinese nation and nationalism. Representative late Qing reformers, such as Yan Fu, Kang Youwei, and Liang Qichao, thought that enhancing women’s position socially and in the home was important to strengthen the Chinese nation. Their advocacy of women’s rights was not only for women’s sake, but rather for the sake of the nation, with a focus on the idea of healthy mothers giving birth to healthy offspring for the nation. Dissatisfied with this narrow view of women’s roles, a growing number of educated young women began to raise their opinions on gender issues through women’s journals. Although these women’s views of gender issues were still heavily influenced by political issues, their perspective opened a possibility for a renewed understanding of the relationship between gender and nation, related to women’s own self-searching, awakening, and empowerment.

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