Raise the Red Lanterns High, a movie which vividly depicts the tragic, humiliating and inhumane fate of concubines in the dark days of China, was once the rage of the box office in Hong Kong. The movie reveals shocking, morbid and incredible facts. Contemporary young women are for the most part ignorant of the social position of women in old China. My mother provided the following contrasts of the past and present marital status of Chinese women in order to show their improved social status since liberation. Chinese women, relegated to the lowest rungs of society and often deformed by poverty, lived in a virtual abyss of misery prior to liberation. Child brides had an even worse fate than the majority of working women. That was, in fact, the case with my mother. At the age of 13, her family was struggling along on the verge of starvation and she was sold to a landlord as a child bride. She was forced to arise at midnight to begin a long day of work in the fields. She was often severely bruised from merciless beatings inflicted by her mother-in-law. Even though working from dawn till dusk, she ate only chaff and wild herbs, and suffered from habitual cold and hunger. She was virtually skin and bones when the People's Liberation Army liberated her village.
Life has since changed drastically. Inspired by the generosity of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), she joined the army and entered the battle to emancipate woman in every part of China. She and other revolutionaries, defying death and making untold personal sacrifices, succeeded in defeating the forces of feudalism and expelling bureaucratic capitalism from the Chinese mainland. They put an end to the nation's history of dismemberment, oppression and humiliation at the h
ands of foreign aggressors, and helped the people achieve their long-cherished dream of national independence and unification. The Chinese people rose to the occasion and became masters of their own country. My mother and father met while in the army, fell in love and eventually married. My mother fell seriously ill in 1950, and my father devised a thousand schemes to obtain penicillin, which at that time was a precious commodity in China, to save her life. My mother, a one-time child bride who suffered a great deal in old China, is now an official with a major export corporation and enjoys equal rights with men. Her experiences provide amply verification that New China has enabled women to completely change their tragic destiny. The ruling class throughout the feudal ages did their best to shackle women with feudal ethics, i.e. the three obediences (obedience to the father before marriage, to the husband after marriage, and to sons after the death of the husband), and the four virtues (morality, proper speech, modest manner and diligent work). They imposed ideological fetters on women in the feudal society. A wife was considered to be the personal property of the husband. The duty of a wife was quite simply to procreate. Double standards were rife in old China. For example, husbands could marry as many concubines as they liked, and men could freely solicit the services of prostitutes. But great emphasis was placed on the chastity of women. In addition, arranged marriages were commonplace.
A wife who failed to produce a successor would face severe castigation from all sides concerning her sterility. However, a woman who gave birth to more than one son would certainly gain the favor of her husband. Daughters, however, were
looked down on. Once married, a woman could no longer use her surname, but instead would go by that of her husband. Once married, regardless of whether her husband's nature was evil or kind, the wife would serve faithfully until her death. On the other hand, however, a husband dissatisfied with his wife could immediately pursue a divorce.
Women were prohibited from having social contacts on their own, and many simply remained at home throughout their entire lives. The responsibilities of a woman in the men dominated family were to do the family chores and reproduce. Husbands were free to marry upon the death of their wives. However, a woman was destined to the life of a window. The divorce rate was extremely low due to the fact that courts often failed to recognize the rights of women who barely had the courage to sue for divorce.
Monumental changes have taken place since the birth of New China. Women now share equal rights with men terms of political, economic, cultural, social and family life. Women also have the right to vote and enjoy the freedom of choice in marriage.
Marriages are based on mutual affections between husband and wife. Monogamy, rather than polygamy, is the only legal marriage practice in China. The Marriage Law prohibits parents from interfering in the marriage of their children, and mercenary marriages are strictly forbidden.
Former prostitutes have been reformed, and prostitution is against the law. In addition, judicial departments have introduced stringent legal measures to wipe out crimes related to sales of women.
Continued population growth poses sharp contradictions to social and economic development. China has thus followed a family planning policy in order to rigorously control excessive population growth. The policy of one child per family has been institutionalized, with most parents equally welcoming the birth of either a male or female child. Many urban families, in fact, prefer girls to boys, thinking that the former will provide better care when parents grow old. Children can now assume the surname of either parent.
Women, who are no longer forced to stay at home, now account for a considerable percentage of people's deputies and officials at various levels. The state emphasizes the training and promotion of female cadres, with the number of women working in government offices increasing dramatically from only 366,000 in 1951 to 8.7 million at present. Working women enjoy special labor protection and labor insurance, and a woman's right to receive an education is highly respected.
Chinese society has been greatly enhanced since the country adopted its policy of reform and opening to the outside world. In recent years, the divorce rate has risen dramatically. As greater attention is paid to the mutual feelings of both husband and wife, loveless marriages are no longer binding.
China is a civilized country with a history of more than 5,000 years. Feudalism occupied a dominant position for ages, thus eradicating feudalistic concepts from Chinese thinking has been far from an easy task. All things considered, there is still much to be desired, and the Chinese still have a long way to go.
