User:SkinnyTracy/sandbox

Born in Xiamen, Fujian, China, Qiu spent her childhood in her ancestral home, Shaoxing, Zhejiang. Qiu Jin was born in a wealthy family, her grandfather worked for the official and was in charge of Xiamen city for defence. Zhejiang was a province that was famous for female education. Qiu Jin had the support from her family when she was young. Her mother was well educated and she made sure Qin Jin received good education in the family school. This key factor explained why Qiu Jin could be the female pioneer during the May Fourth Movement.

Life before leaving for Japan:
Qiu Jin got married at the age of 21 which was considered late for a usual girl. Qiu Jin's father arranged the marriage for her and made her marry Wang Tingchun -- youngest son of a wealthy merchant in Hunan province. While in an eight year long marriage, Qiu was exposed to new ideas. She became a member of the Tongmenghui secret society who at the time advocated the overthrow of the Qing and restoration of Han Chinese governance.

Life while studying in Japan:
In 1903, she decided to travel overseas and study in Japan, leaving her two children behind. She initially entered a Japanese language school in Surugadai, but later transferred to the Girls' Practical School in Kōjimachi, run by Shimoda Utako. Qiu was fond of martial arts, and she was known by her acquaintances for wearing Western male dress  and for her nationalist, anti-Manchu ideology. She joined the anti-Qing society Guangfuhui, led by Cai Yuanpei, which in 1905 joined together with a variety of overseas Chinese revolutionary groups to form the Tongmenghui, led by Sun Yat-sen.

Within this Revolutionary Alliance, Qiu was responsible for the Zhejiang Province. Because the Chinese overseas students were divided between those who wanted an immediate return to China to join the ongoing revolution and those who wanted to stay in Japan to prepare for the future, a meeting of Zhejiang students was held to debate the issue. At the meeting, Qiu allied unquestioningly with the former group and thrust a dagger into the podium, declaring, "If I return to the motherland, surrender to the Manchu barbarians, and deceive the Han people, stab me with this dagger!" She subsequently returned to China in 1906 along with about 2,000 students.

Edit summary: copied from Qiu Jin