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为大家整理一篇优秀的assignment代写范文- Change of female status in the New Culture Movement，供大家参考学习，这篇论文讨论了中国新文化运动中的女性地位变化。在新文化运动的时候，中国的婚姻自由化将男女平等的理念提升到了前所未有的高度，它动摇了统治中国数千年的封建社会和意识形态基础。从那时起，传统的男女关系和规范逐渐发生变化，女性的角色开始呈现多元化的发展趋势，她们的社会地位也开始发生变化。

Introduction

The New Culture Movement refers to a revolt against the decadent traditional culture and the pursuit of democracy and science in China that occurred in the mid-1910s and 1920s. Women’s liberation was one of the most important aspects of the New Culture Movement. The revolutionists fiercely criticized the oppression and bondage that the society put on women and urged people to fight for women’s rights of education, career, love, and marriage, etc. This assignment focuses on the marriage liberalization during this period of time and argues that it led to a great progress on the changes of women’s social status in China.

History of Arranged Marriage in China

The history of arranged marriage in China could be traced back to the 1600s to 1000s BC (the Shang Dynasty). Back then, the noble families started the arranged marriages out of political and economic purpose. By 1046 to 771 BC, arrange marriages became part of the law among the citizens as well (Ciren et al., 2016). The arranged marriage had been the norms of the Chinese society and women’s rights had been repressed from then on. Women had been seen as the subordinates to men for thousands of years. Men were allowed to have multiple partners and wives were considered in higher positions than concubines, which showed how women were totally materialized. Although there were occasionally some positive and independent female images such as the famous poet Li Qingzhao from the Song Dynasty, they did not represent the comprehensive situation of women.

Until the mid-1800s, the Opium War opened the door of China. As a result, the western thoughts came into China and the women finally began to awake on a larger scale (Xu, 1961).  In the early 1900s, there was an explosion of thriving cultural movements, including women’s movements, and women’s rights were among the most pressing issues.

Marriage Liberalization in the 1910s and 1920s

The New Culture Movement was leading by a group of intellectuals who struggled at saving China from the decaying Confucianism, and one significant aim and method was freeing the women through introducing the ideas of gender equality. It is worth to point out that most of those who promoted the marriage liberalization were males, and their enthusiasm represented the determination to make China a stronger country by creating an equal social environment (Li, 2000). The marriage liberalization at this time could be summarized into three aspects, the freedom to love, to get married, and to get a divorce.

Since the movement was initiated by intellectuals, the main battlefield was literature. Therefore, the changes in social attitude and women’s status could be seen through the literary works during this time. Writers created new images other than female students and revolutionaries and included older prostitutes and matchmakers (Feng, 2004). At the same time, they used western literature to highlight the modern women’s personality and expressed their attitude towards the relationship between women and their families. In June 1918, Hu Shi, a representative figure and current editor of the journal New Youth posted the script of A Doll’s House and roused lots of attention. The story of Nora inspired the Chinese women to demand social openness and self-determined marriage (Yang, 2010). There were also a series of promotional activities full of the voice of calling on personality and freedom. People believed that the feudal views of love and families were the biggest obstacle to the liberation of women. Many women took action in opposition to feudalism and the rejection of the old sale-and-buy style of marriage.

However, this movement was limited by the social and economic situation at that time. Although the marriage liberalization movement had a revolutionary impact on the thoughts and thinking patterns of the intellectuals and emotionally moved some of those who lived in big cities with open minds, it did not make a difference among the lower class who were deeply controlled by the traditional point of views. For example, in most countryside, the farmers still strictly followed the commends of their parents and the advice of the matchmakers when they got married. The feudalism and feudal ethics remained a very powerful residual force affecting the Chinese society, which was far from what the pioneers of the New Culture Movement expected. There are two reasons to consider. First of all, due to the chaotic situation in China and the unstable relationship with foreign countries, the movement had to stop in advance when it had not yet reached the general public, which made it impossible for the lower class or the poor to change their minds. More importantly, China was still an agrarian society and due to the strong feudalistic character at the governmental level, the women’s movements were too extreme to most people. In other words, the concepts of human rights and new morals advocated by the New Culture Movement were far from being adapted to most Chinese people at that time.

Even today, men and women in marriage are not completely equal. Men are in dominant positions in a lot of regions. Unequal status creates inequality in marriage, and the fight for women’s right still has a long way to go.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the marriage liberalization in the early 1900s China had promoted the concept of equal rights for men and women to an unprecedented level. It shook the social and ideological foundations of the chauvinism that had dominated China for thousands of years. The traditional relations and norms of men and women were gradually changed since then, and the role of women began to show a diversified development trend and their social status started to change.

References

Cuomu Ciren et al. (2016). From Arranged Marriage to Autonomous Marriage: Marriage

Liberalization in India, Ancient Rome, United Kingdom and China. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 6, No. 1.

Jin Feng. (2004).  New Woman in Early Twentieth-Century Chinese Fiction. CLCWeb:

Comparative Literature and Culture, Vol. 6, Issue 4.

Jiansheng Xu. (1961). Discussion about modern Chinese marriage and family-change trend.

Modern Chinese History Studies, No. 3.

Liangfen Yang. (2010). The absence of gender in may fourth narratives of woman’s

emancipation: a case study on Hu Shi’s the greatest event in life. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 12 Issue 1.

Yuhui Li. (2000). Women’s Movement and Change of Women’s Status in China. Journal of

International Women's Studies, Vol. 1, Issue 1.

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