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Woman Revolutionary: Xiang Jingyu

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Andrea McElderry
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Extract

Xiang Jingyu was executed in 1928 at the age of 33 and has since been enshrined as a communist martyr in China. Historically her life is of interest both as the record of an individual woman and of a specific group within a particular generation who embraced Marxism-Leninism as the solution to warlord–imperialist power in China. As a result of her martyrdom, however, it is not easy to separate the actual record of her life from her posthumous persona. This consideration is especially significant with regard to her position in the early Chinese Communist Party, and since she was charged with responsibility for building a communist women's movement, it is equally important in understanding aspects of the woman question in relation to early Party history. Careful examination of Xiang's activities tends to support the conclusion that the women's movement was accorded a low priority and that Xiang's position in the Party reflected this in spite of her posthumous elevation to high status.

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 105 , March 1986 , pp. 95 - 122
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1986

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