Portraits of Chinese Women in Revolution

Light on China

by Agnes Smedley, Florence Howe (Afterword), Jan MacKinnon (Editor)

Agnes Smedley, author of Daughter of Earth , worked in and wrote about China from 1928 to 1941. These 18 pieces—all out of print and most unavailable even in public libraries—are based on interviews with revolutionary women. They include descriptions of the massacre of feminists in the Canton commune, of the silk workers of Canton whose solidarity earns them the charge of lesbianism, and of Mother Tsai, a 60-year-old peasant who leads village women in smashing an opium den.

Genres: China, History, Nonfiction, Feminism, Biography

208 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1993

About the author

Agnes Smedley (February 23, 1892 – May 6, 1950) was an American journalist and writer. Well known for her semi-autobiographical novel Daughter of Earth, she also known for her sympathetic chronicling of the Communist forces in the Chinese Civil War. During World War I, she worked in the United States for the independence of India from the United Kingdom, receiving financial support from the government of Germany, and for many years worked for or with the Comintern, frequently in an espionage capacity. As the lover of Soviet super spy Richard Sorge in Shanghai in the early 1930s, she helped get him established for his final and greatest work as spymaster in Tokyo. She also worked on behalf of various causes including women's rights, birth control, and children's welfare. Smedley wrote six books, including a novel, reportage, and a biography of the Chinese general Zhu De, reported for newspapers such as New York Call, Frankfurter Zeitung and Manchester Guardian, and wrote for periodicals such as the Modern Review, New Masses, Asia, New Republic, and Nation.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I became fascinated with the Tang dynasty and early Imperial Chinese history I read a lot of books on the civil war period of 20th century Chinese history. (Mostly because these books were very cheap and very easy to come across in Seattle). In these books the writers would occasionally mention Agnes Smedley as reporter who was travelling with the communist army. I also came across her name in connection with Ding Ling. Ding Ling was a Chinese author of the May Fourth era she wrote one of the most beautiful short stories I've ever read. Miss Sophie's Diary was the story of a young girl who was suffering from Tuberculosis, largely confined to her bed, who was being pursued romantically by a man she wasn't really interested in and missing her old girlfriend. It was just so insightful and tragic. I know that Ding Ling and Agnes Smedley spent a lot of time together and I did have to start wondering if Smedley was a bit of a lesbian. (At one point Smedley smuggled her out of Shanghai). This book didn't answer my question, though it did have a wonderful scene where Smedley was tracking down the women's weavers associations in the South of China having heard they were communist lesbians! Portraits of Chinese Women in Revolution was actually not a book that Smedley wrote, rather it is a collection of her work edited and published by the Feminist Press, as many of her works were out of print at the time. There was a great diversity in these stories but they all came across as very frank and honest. They were a collection of character sketches, incidents, and social and political struggle. Some stories read more like fiction than fact. "The White Army" which was by far the most brutal of the stories featuring a gang rape and murder, was told in such a way that the details could not have been known exactly as it happened. However, other stories seem to be actual biographies of people that Smedley met during her years in China. There was the rich girl who left home to become a revolutionary who was then captured and sentenced to death, then rescued by her father and now lives in his home with his 8 concubines smoking opium having lost all hope. There was a traditional Chinese woman who married to a "modern" man who was carrying on an affair with a Russian dancer. There was an old woman who was leading a group of women in attempting to get the opium den closed in their town. In every story you felt you had a glimpse into the lives of these people, and their dreams and their suffering. It was simply amazing and the most moving thing I've read in years. I have one other book by Smedley, Battle Hymn for China, of which several excerpts were taken for this book and I shall have to start reading it very soon. I still don't know if Smedley was a lesbian but she was an excellent writer and a fascinating person. I'm looking forward to finding more out about her, and reading more of her books. -

[Bart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Portraits of Chinese Women in Revolution is part travelogue/memoir and part mini sketches of women's lives in the late 1920's China. Agnes Smedley's stories are interesting, especially Silk Workers, which describes young women who strike for better wages and "were notorious throughout China as Lesbians. They refused to marry, and if their families forced them, they merely bribed their husbands with a part of their wages and induced them to take concubines" (105). The accounts are sketches and not very fulfilling but important for giving voice to various women.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

For anyone who wants to learn more about the Chinese communist revolution, and specifically women's roles in it. Definitely not what you'll find in history class.

[Jeff McLeod · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredible, essential

[Ka Ming Wong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite fragmentary anthology, but it does what the title says. I liked it best when it tended towards reportage and less towards ideological propagandizing. The casual cruelty being depicted is hard to fathom from my sheltered life, though I know that if anything it is relatively downplayed.

[Diego Acosta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The view that Maoism feminism was propaganda is shit to me and this book solidifies it. In the world progression of feminism and empowered women in an empowered work force we need to give Mao and the people’s republic and most importantly the women who started it all their props

[Sofía · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, la verda.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it in the library

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the stories in this collection. It's been a while since I read a book about China. I thought, though, that I was reading non-fiction accounts from women she met in China. Turns out they were fictional stories. With the amount of time she spent in China though I would bet there were a few grains of truth to many of the stories.