A brief history of modern Chinese feminism: From anti-foot-binding marches, to the viral sexual harassment cases, and the struggle for reproductive rights
In 1931, the whole of China was astounded when Wenxiu, the concubine of China’s last emperor Puyi, declared in major newspapers that she had filed a lawsuit to divorce the emperor. Just months earlier, in December 1930, the government of the Republic of China (1912 – 1949) had enacted a new marriage law which guaranteed freedom of choice in one’s marriage partner for both men and women for the first time in Chinese history. This “consort’s revolution” made a huge stir at the time, and inspired many Chinese women to make their own choices over marriage in the decades to come.