{"id":1370,"date":"2018-06-03T02:22:38","date_gmt":"2018-06-02T18:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/2018\/06\/03\/the-10-most-influential-women-in-chinese-history\/"},"modified":"2024-12-24T20:55:57","modified_gmt":"2024-12-24T12:55:57","slug":"the-10-most-influential-women-in-chinese-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/the-10-most-influential-women-in-chinese-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10 Most Influential Women in Chinese History"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chairman Mao famously said that \u201cwomen hold up half the sky.\u201d Nonetheless, it has been difficult for women to break the \u2018glass ceiling\u2019 in China\u2019s central committee, despite a female leader in Hong Kong and Taiwan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The #MeToo Movement Comes to China<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chairman Mao\u00a0famously said that \u201cwomen hold up half the sky.\u201d Nonetheless, it has been difficult for women to break the \u2018glass ceiling\u2019 in China\u2019s central committee<\/a>, despite a female leader in Hong Kong and Taiwan.<\/p>\n

International Women\u2019s Day (\u56fd\u9645\u5987\u5973\u8282 – Gu\u00f3j\u00ec f\u00f9n\u01da\u00a0ji\u00e9) has been celebrated in China since 1922 and was reaffirmed after the founding of the People\u2019s Republic of China<\/a> by the State Council on December 23, 1949.<\/p>\n

The Harvey Weinstein scandal reverberated around the globe with the #MeToo meme and found form in China as #\u6211\u4e5f\u662f (w\u01d2\u00a0y\u011bsh\u00ec). For this year\u2019s International Women\u2019s Day on March 8, we look at the most influential women in China\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

1. Lady Fuhao \u5987\u597d (\uff1f-1200BC\uff09<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Lady<\/p>\n

Lady Fuhao was one of the wives of King Wu Ding (\u6b66\u4e01\u738b) of the Shang Dynasty. According to inscriptions, Lady Fuhao led numerous military battles and defeated enemies\u00a0–\u00a0who fought against the Shang for generations<\/a>. Besides being the most powerful general in her time, she served as\u00a0the high priestess, who conducted special rituals for the dynasty. Lady Fuhao was the first female general that had been recorded in Chinese history.<\/p>\n

2. Empress L\u01da Zhi \u5415\u540e (241BC-180BC)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Empress<\/p>\n

Empress L\u01da\u00a0was the empress consort of Emperor Gaozu (\u6c49\u9ad8\u7956), the founder of the Han Dynasty. After Emperor Gaozu died, she took over the court and strongly encouraged Taoism, laying the solid foundation of \u201cThe Rule of Wen and Jing\u201d (\u6587\u666f\u4e4b\u6cbb), which was then to become one of the golden ages of Chinese history. Empress L\u01da\u00a0was considered as the first woman to assume the title \u201cEmpress\u201d after Qin Shi Huang (the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty) unified China.<\/p>\n

3. Lady Xian \u51bc\u592b\u4eba (512-602AD)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Lady<\/p>\n

Lady Xian was a notable female leader of Li people\u00a0(\u4fda\u4eba). Living through three dynasties of Liang\u00a0(\u6881), Chen\u00a0(\u9648) and Sui\u00a0(\u968b);\u00a0Lady Xian endeavored to maintain national peace and unity in the Lingnan area, what is now the region of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan Provinces. She was admired as the \u201cSaint Mother of Lingnan\u201d (\u5cad\u5357\u5723\u6bcd), and was praised by the former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai as \u201cthe First Heroine of China\u201d.<\/p>\n

4. Princess Wencheng \u6587\u6210\u516c\u4e3b (625-680AD)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Princess<\/p>\n

Princess Wencheng belonged to a minor branch of the royal clan in the Tang Dynasty. In 641, in accordance with Emperor Taizong\u2019s \u201cmarriage alliance\u201d policy, she was sent to Tibet and married to King Songtsen Gampo, the founder of the Tibetan Empire. Princess Wencheng was credited with bringing Han Chinese culture<\/a> and Buddhism to Tibet and promoting harmonious relationships between China and Tibet in her time.<\/p>\n

5. Empress Wu Zetian \u6b66\u5219\u5929 (624-705AD)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Empress<\/p>\n

Empress Wu was the only officially recognized female ruler of China in more than two millennia. During her reign of nearly half a century, Empress Wu showed a brilliant talent for leadership by recruiting intellectuals, engaging foreign<\/a> diplomats and boosting the economy. She not only maintained domestic stability, but also greatly expanded the Chinese empire and international<\/a> trade<\/a>. Because of her contribution, the Tang Dynasty remained prosperous for many generations.<\/p>\n

6. Empress Cixi \u6148\u79a7\u592a\u540e (1835-1905AD)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Empress<\/p>\n

After rising from being an imperial concubine to the power behind the throne of the late Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi faced the internal chaos and foreign incursions. Although she didn\u2019t stop the corruption rife in the dynasty, she supported the Self-Strengthening Movement and military reforms, which opened the gate to modernization. Historians have long held differing opinions of her, making her one of the most controversial figures in Chinese history.<\/p>\n

7. Qiu Jin \u79cb\u747e (1875-1907AD)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Qiu<\/p>\n

Under the nom de plume,\u00a0\u201cThe Women Knight of Mirror Lake\u201d (\u9274\u6e56\u5973\u4fa0), Qiu Jin wrote a number of articles advocating equal rights for women and the abolition of \u201cfoot binding.\u201d She was a member of revolutionary groups devoted to overturning feudalism. Qiu Jin was captured by the Qing authorities and beheaded at the age of thirty-two, dying a heroine and the pioneer of Chinese feminism.<\/p>\n

8. He Xiangning \u4f55\u9999\u51dd (1878-1972AD)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"He<\/p>\n

Born into a wealthy family in Hong Kong, since she was young He Xiangning was determined to become a feminist. She was an outstanding politician after joining the Chinese United League, an underground movement founded by Sun Yat-sen, and was later appointed as the Minister for Women\u2019s Affairs. In 1924, He Xiangning organized China\u2019s first rally for International Women\u2019s Day. She was also well versed in poetry and painting.<\/p>\n

9. Soong Ching-Ling \u5b8b\u5e86\u9f84 (1893-1981AD)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Soong<\/p>\n

In 1911, Soong Ching-ling was one of the leaders of the Xinhai Revolution (\u8f9b\u4ea5\u9769\u547d) and she was also known as the wife of Sun Yat-Sen. Together with her siblings, Soong Ching-Ling played a prominent role in politics, acting as the Vice President of the People\u2019s Republic of China from 1949 to 1975, and taking part in a number of international activities, notably\u00a0with the former USSR. She dedicated herself to ameliorating challenges in women and children\u2019s education and health<\/a>. She is honored as the \u201cMother of Modern China.\u201d<\/p>\n

10. Soong Mei-Ling \u5b8b\u7f8e\u9f84 (1898-2003AD)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Soong<\/p>\n

Being the youngest of the three Soong sisters, Soong Mei-Ling was one of the most influential political figures during the Republican Era (1912-1949). As the wife of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek (\u848b\u4ecb\u77f3) and the First Lady of the Republic of China, Soong Mei-Ling was active in political and international affairs. During the Second Sino-Japanese war (WWII), she conducted several tours to the United States for gaining support. She was highly praised for her intelligence and elegance both at home and abroad.<\/p>\n

Written by Alice L\u01da\u00a0(\u5415\u5c0f\u6d32), a doctor from the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou; plus\u00a0contribution and editing by Pet<\/a>er Fenton\u00a0(\u51af\u5f7c\u5f97), the Foreign Legal Expert at Evertop Law in Guangzhou (E: peter@evertoplaw.com).<\/p>\n

Who is a woman you want to pay tribute to this Women’s Day? What will you do for her? Let us know by commenting below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chairman Mao famously said that \u201cwomen hold up half the sky.\u201d Nonetheless, it has been difficult for women to break the \u2018glass ceiling\u2019 in China\u2019s central committee, despite a female …","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[60,386,353,1972,1874,306,1891,1890,29,34,865,3517,1894],"class_list":["post-1370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-china","tag-chinese-culture","tag-e-china-cities","tag-foreign","tag-health","tag-hiredchina","tag-international","tag-international-trade","tag-jobs","tag-jobs-in-china","tag-pet","tag-the-10-most-influential-women-in-chinese-history","tag-trade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1370"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25322,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370\/revisions\/25322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}