The Feminist Manifesto

by He-Yin Zhen, Rhiza (Composer)

He-Yin Zhen was an early 20th century Chinese feminist and anarchist. Born He Ban in Yizheng, Jiangsu, she married the noted scholar Liu Shipei in 1903 and went with him to Tokyo. She then took the name He Zhen but signed her published writings He-Yin Zhen in order to include her mother's maiden name.

Genres: Feminism, Theory, Nonfiction, Philosophy, History, China

26 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

Reviews

[Amy Appiani · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5: very insightful to understand Chinese feminism. I disagree with He-Yin's view on monogamous marriage (thus I understand where it comes from) and her moral perspective on sex work and female sexual desire, though. The bravest and most interesting idea of the manifesto is the one of bringing children up together regardless of genders and motherhood(s): raising children should be a collective task.

[frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting and helped me understand the origins of chinese feminist movements. it is amazing that such a forward thinking (see child raising and surnames) manifesto was published in 1907!!! i didn’t agree with all of he-yin zhen’s ideas (see polygamy and prostitution), but they are nevertheless important in a historical context. okay i feel too stupid to write anything else …

[anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/libra...

[eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75
informative for understanding the beginnings of the feminist movement and revolution in china.
Zhen is succinct, with a balanced tone of emotion and logic and identifies core ideas on education of children, inequalities between genders and feminism not being a revolution of sexes but a social movement.
contextually considered the manifesto is poignant and expressive of women in early 20th century china. ideas on women's sexuality and the vitality of monogamy weren't ones that i agreed with but they didn't detract from the key messages.

[Gravgabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outdated but still a must. Its very short and concise. Great foundational text.

[Nathan Levin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very outdated and points made aren't that interesting, however very small (but interesting) insight into misogyny in early 20th century China, as well as Chinese society as a whole.

[Uğur · Rating 5 out of 5]

He-Yin Zhen, 20. Chinese feminist thinker who started her life in summer at the beginning of the century. Although he lived in the geography of the "far east", his ideas offer both topicality and action practices at the point of solutions to solve the social problems we are experiencing.

While emphasizing the importance of the social revolution for women's struggle for social equality in very short and clear terms, he emphasizes the importance of fighting for this cause in a place where there is no revolutionary process in terms of ensuring women's legal rights and facilitating their lives.

After suffering quite a reaction in China, Zhen left China through marriage and continued her life in Japan.

So much about the social revolution and social equality at the point of carrying out intensive work such deep work when I had a job that executes years later, Zhen Mao's ideas of social revolution and considered to have even a fraction of a life comes at the beginning of the topic to be discussed.

I would say a manifesto like a manifesto compared to other manifestos written. Zhen has opened a path for feminist thought with this book.

[Ceren Tufan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kendisinin bazı konulardaki düşüncelerine katılmasam da -mesela sex worker olan kadınlar- 1907 yılında Çin hükümetine ve eşitsizliklere karşı böyle bir yazı çıkarılmış olması inanılmaz cesur geldi. Çocuk yetiştirme ve soyadı hakkındaki düşünceleri ve aynı zamanda özellikle militarizmi kadın bakış açısından anlatışı da düşündürücüydü.

[Megan Starses · Rating 5 out of 5]

He-Yin Zhen has informed most of my feelings/opinions about modern feminism. I love her because even though she was alive during a time that the idea of women having equal standing with men was out of the question, she would still be considered a radical extremist if she were alive today.

She’s very anti-choice feminism, and says that women will never be liberated by trying to do the same things as men or trying to become like men (aka taking on multiple husbands or becoming hyper sexual) because although men are not inherently evil, oppressive systems have made and permitted men to engage in injustice and vice. Prostitution is thus an oppressive manifestation of capitalism and patriarchy and not a free choice for women.

She talks about how shallow representation in politics serves no purpose (ie women/members of other marginalized groups will never achieve true liberation simply by having people of those same identities in politics because they will only represent bourgeois interests and disregard the rights of the most downtrodden (there are hierarchies working within hierarchies)).

Her views recognized feminism as a worldwide movement, not just involving women within her own country or class, and she claims that women will actually never be free until the current system of government is destroyed, making her an anarcho-communist. This is just a long explanation of why I love her LOL

[paperdalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The fourth is inequality in the system of rites. When a wife dies, the husband observes mourning for only one year, but a widow must mourn her husband for three years, and in the coarsest attire (unhemmed sackcloth). And she is to extend the same severity in mourning her husband’s parents. But when she mourns her natal parents, she observes rites of the lesser grade (of one year and wearing sackcloth with even edges). [The Confucian classic Great Learning says,] “It never has been the case that what was of great importance has been slightly cared for, and what was of slight importance has been greatly cared for.” But the mourning rites do exactly that! Even worse is that in ancient times, a daughter’s mourning rites for her mother would be downgraded from three years to one if her father was still alive. This was most egregious. This, then, is the fourth aspect of male-female inequality."


"Even from this cursory review it becomes very clear how men oppress and subjugate women. It is not hard to fathom why men would want to bully women; but why, one might ask, are women so willing to submit?"

[michaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

It feels weird to rate an essay over a hundred years old but this is a pretty good insight into the roots of asian feminism. obviously it's super outdated and I disagree with a lot of the stuff in there, but the rest of he-yin zhen's works are honestly more agreeable and go more in depth so i'd recommend those if this seems too surface level

[kennedy clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

i feel like i need to do more background research on the feminist movement in china, so i will probably come back to this at some point :)

[idil dokuz]

Outdated

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting. While I disagree with many of the authors points, the piece provides a lot of insight into historical, chinese feminism as well as raising some points that stand the test of time.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goddamn was she brave writing this when she did.

A vital piece in understanding Chinese feminism and it’s history, along with East Asian feminism on a wider scale.

[Maeby Thuna · Rating 5 out of 5]

for 20 pages, this short book carries a lot of weight and food for thought. it’s beautifully written and the end is my favorite part as the short wrap-up of the book is stunning.

[futchzilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

succinct and well written

[colorgreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

elifece vermişti, annemin doktor randevusunu beklerken okudum. yüzeysel geldi ama kısa bi şey zaten

[emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/libra...

[bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really quick read, only about twenty pages. I enjoyed the principles Zhen shared, and found that many of her concerns still influence society today.