User:Rodriaev/He Zhen (anarchist)

Writings
Her essay "On The Question Of Women's Liberation," which appeared in Tianyi in 1907, opens by declaring that "for thousands of years, the world has been dominated by the rule of man. This rule is marked by class distinctions over which men—and men only—exert proprietary rights. To rectify the wrongs, we must first abolish the rule of men and introduce equality among human beings, which means that the world must belong equally to men and women. The goal of equality cannot be achieved except through women's liberation."

"On The Question Of Women's Labor," published in Tianyi in July 1907, traces the exploitation of women's labor from the times starting with the "well field system" of ancient China, especially decrying the tragedies of prostitution, female infanticide, and concubinage of recent times. "Economic Revolution And Women's Revolution" "On The Revenge Of Women," asks the women of her country: "has it occurred to you that men are our archenemy?" "On Feminist Antimilitarism," and "The Feminist Manifesto" were also powerful indictments of male social power.

"On Feminist Antimilitarism", which was originally published in 1907, He Zhen addresses the importance of women protesting against militarism. He- Yin uses the burst of antimilitarism during the early 20th century within Southern Europe and the example of revolutions taking place without antimilitarism to propel it foreword. She advocates that since military men are strongly armed, these revolutions are essentially made to be too difficult as they can be pacified by the army. She even claims that "If we examine the past we see that troops are good for nothing but rape, kidnapping, looting, and murder” in order to defend her views that antimilitarism benefits all since the military is responsible for major atrocities within Chinese culture. Within this essay He Zhen uses a poem written by musician Cai Wenji to depict the ongoing carnage faced by women who were often captured by the invaders. Often times, these women committed suicide. If women are able toescape this fortune, they often have to lose their sons, mourn their husbands and suffer as the household is ruined.Furthermore, the fate of being captured was not avoidable for many Chinese and it did not exclude in its scope; all women were at risk regardless of social class or lineage. He Zhen continues as she claims “Ever since [Japan] began deploying troops in recent years, the number of prostitutes In the country has been growing by the day” He Zhen creates the correlation between militarism and prostitution as wives are faced with the losses of their sons and husbands with little compensation. This leaves the wives to face difficulty with providing for themselves and sustaining their lives; leading them to have to prostitute themselves. He Zhen also addresses the tragedies women face as households are separated and brought together again by news of loss. Particularly using poems to display the sentiments of Chinese writers who face these tragedies

Within "The Feminist Manifesto", which was also published in 1907, He Zhen Zhen tackles the institution of marriage as a route source of the inequalities between man and woman. She goes on to address the fact that marriage was a symbol of strength for men as the more wives he possessed, the more respected he was. So this encouraged man to marry and hold many concubines. He Zhen also addresses the inequality that exists as a “wife” and “husband”. While men are able to serve as many woman’s husband, women are only ever socially expected to have one husband. She powerfully claims that "Once a woman becomes a man’s wide, she remains so for life”. This develops the idea that women must follow their husbands since she is not able to be whole without him and creates the mirage that her husband is her heaven. He Zhen goes on to address what women should strive for in order to begin to be liberated and equal to men: Monogamous marriage, Women should NOT take her husband’s surname, Parents should value sons and daughters equally, Daughters and sons should be raised without discrimination, If couples are not functioning correctly, they should be able to separate, Those who are remarrying should only marry to someone who has been married before. First-time marriages should be kept to people who have not been married. Abolish all the brothels and relieve prostitutes. He Zhen then addresses the objections that may take place against her proposals. Since women give birth, they are by nature different than men in their labor and capabilities. He Zhen responds to this by clarifying that she is not limiting herself to a women’s revolution; but instead a complete social revolution. In result, there would be public child care facilities which would be entrusted with raising the child after birth. She then addresses the argument that there are more women than men, it can not be expected that everyone has only one spouse. To this point, He Zhen responds with the reminder that women do not go to war and since men are dying at war, the numbers are actually skewed. If the social revolution takes place, then the numbers would adjust themselves.

Tein Yee: Anarchist Journal
Tein Yee, which was first published in Tokyo, Japan in 1907, is often considered the first anarchist journal in China. He Zhen partnered with her husband, Chinese anarchist and activist Liu Shipei, to publish the journal .Within it, many anarchists, including He Zhen herself, published articles challenging early 20th century values. He Zhen was an editor for the journal as well. The journal itself was antigovernment and heavily influenced by the question regarding women and their roles in society. Within the journal, many other topics were addressed that particularly encouraged revolution. He Zhen is often considered to be the encourager for the radicalism that occurred post-publication as her writings were interpreted as radicalized. She was also one of the few feminist writers at the time who were writing from a women's perspective. During the early 20th century, many of the feminist writers in Chinese society were men, making He Zhen's perspective that much more radicalized in thought as she advocated for a reform in society through a complete over turn of government and capitalist system. Throughout the years however, He Zhen began publishing fewer articles within the Tein Yee, but these articles (outside of her own published essays) are some of the few accounts that are credibly written on He Zhen's behalf. Underneath He Zhen's guidance and publication, Tein Yee was a journal heavily concerned with feminism but as He Zhen began to publish less, the journal soon became more geared towards anarchism. Tein Yee 's heavy focus on women's roles were contributed to He Zhen, who helped gain attraction within the journal towards the subject. But despite He Zhen's attempt at keeping balance between anarchism and feminism, the journal soon became one mostly focused on anarchism. This was also a demonstration of the overall change in society, who at first were focused on addressing the question of women's roles in society but soon became more interested in anarchy and governmental institutions and preventing Asia from falling into the western Capitalist model.