May Fourth Women: Pioneers of Modern Chinese Feminism

In the early 20th century, a group of professional women, now little-known, were active in China. They were principals, lawyers, editors-in-chief, educators, and revolutionaries, among others. They advocated for women's self-emancipation and dedicated themselves to integrating women into broader societal spheres. Through a series of groundbreaking practices, they reshaped the socio-cultural landscape of the early Republican era, embedding profound gender footprints within the legacy of the May Fourth New Culture Movement. Unlike the women in male-centric cultural representations, these women were neither backward objects waiting to be saved nor mere instruments for anti-feudalism and national salvation; instead, they were key participants actively involved in the modernization process.

Through a dialogue between oral accounts and historical documents, this book records the life trajectories of five pioneering women and incorporates their experiences into a historical analytical framework, reconstructing the early history of feminism in China, which has long been obscured. For the publication of this Chinese edition, the author rewrote the oral accounts based on original recordings and added autobiographies of the figures and recent research, restoring the vivid expressions and vibrant historical imprints of these five women. The stories of these May Fourth women reveal the historical complexity of the Chinese women's movement and the tension between it and nation-building, further coalescing into an inspiration that transcends time—even when difficulties repeatedly arise, there are always those who rise up to break them.