4. DISEÑO DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN
4.8 Población, marco muestral y muestra
Left: Nü duo (June 1917): 47; Right: Nü qingnian yuekan女青年月刊 Vol.13 No.8 (1934). Coming from a low social background, Li Guanfang was born in 1896 as the eldest of nine siblings and grew-up in Lujiang 瀘江, Sichuan. Her father Li Chunfan 李春蕃 had taught Chinese to the British Bishop Thomas James, who introduced him to the gospel and baptised him. He named his first daughter “Guanfang” (冠芳) to send a two-fold message: Li’s father wanted to express his preference for daughters in contrast to the feudal patriarchal view which favoured sons, and hoped she would be a leader among his daughters and girls in general (he referred to his daughter as qunfang zhi guan群 芳 之 冠, meaning “queen of flowers”). As this chapter will show, throughout Li’s life, she was determined to take the lead to transform Chinese society, a spirit of leadership that echoed her father’s expectation as bestowed in her name. Unfortunately, her father’s involvement in a lawsuit forced him to abandon his family (date unknown). The family received no news until 1906 when they received a letter informing them that he had met the Rev. Spencer Lewis of the American Presbyterian
151 Mission North and was currently co-translating the New Testament in Nanjing. He asked Li and her younger sister to enroll in the Nanjing Huiwen Girls’ School which proved instrumental in exposing Li to a Christian environment.
Li’s subsequent involvement with Christian literature can be traced to her relationship with Laura White, who-as noted above-was the principal of the Nanjing Huiwen Girls’ School from 1907 to 1913. From 1912 White, as we have seen, was also the chief editor of Nü duo.486 White’s editorial work opened-up new opportunities for her students, including Li, who was among the several students chosen to help with the magazine’s production. Available accounts show that Li maintained a close relationship with her Western mentor. One of Li’s articles mentioned that she once accompanied White to the popular summer resort of Mount Mogan 莫干山 in Zhejiang Province in 1916.487 In addition, when White moved to her Shanghai dwelling in autumn 1917, Li together with Yuan Yuying (another of White’s students) celebrated their teacher’s birthday and gave her a housewarming party. They later lived with White and worked on the magazine at White’s Shanghai house. A missionary colleague described the girls’ relationship with White as her “devoted friends” and “most capable helpers.”488 Li’s talent, as shown in her later literary work, together with her close relationship with White, led to her continuing involvement with the CLS.
Li’s name first appeared in Nü duo in 1914, the year of her graduation from the Nanjing Huiwen Girls’ School. Her work consisted mainly of translating stories and biographies of famous Christian women. One article that illustrates her religious attitudes at this stage was her graduation essay. Words of gratitude exemplified her humility and willingness to serve God. Li said that God’s grace to her was such that she could not help but kneel down in thanks.489 During her tertiary study at Ginling Women’s
486Official Minutes of the Central China Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church held at Nanking
China, 1907 to 1913, 54 (1907), 68 (1908), 18 (1912), 13 (1913).
487 Li Guanfang, “Xianmu taotai ruren xingzhuang” 先母陶太孺人行狀 (In Memory of My Mother), Nü duo (June
1917): 48.
488 Mary Ninde Gamewell, “A Day at Joyfield,” Woman’s Missionary Friend (June 1918): 193–4.
489 Li Guanfang, “Ni biye xiezhu enwen” 擬畢業謝主恩文 (Essay on Gratitude to the Lord), Nü duo (August
152 College, Li carried on her literary work for themagazine. Li’s work began to feature in editorial columns, indicating a growing recognition and acceptance from her colleagues.
Unlike White’s emphasis on women’s domestic roles, Li showed a social concern in her early writings published in Nü duo. Many of her articles addressed matters of equality, revealing her deep concern for social issues.490 The following extract from an article entitled “Zhongguo shehui ruhe keyi pingdeng”
中國社會如何可以平等 (How Can China Achieve Equality?) illustrates this:
The term “equality” originated in Christianity. Christ says that we are all God’s children regardless of our social status and knowledge. Although undertaking different roles such as father and son, or master and slave, we are all equal in God’s eyes. If equality is a wish that current Chinese society has, the attempt will be far from successful unless everyone accepts Christian education. It is understandable that those who oppress others would refuse to believe in Christ because their status would be lowered by converting to Christianity, which advocates that all human beings are equal. For those who live under the yoke of oppression and have experienced indescribable bitterness, even if that person is not competing with the others or not pursuing power, he or she is still instructed by God and shall not bear any humiliation. If that person is under the control of the authority that abuses power, it is not only disgraceful but also sorrowful. Why not safeguard his or her personhood with Christ? If one believes in Christian education, it should not be difficult for him or her to use Christ’s moral spirit to fight against the violence exerted by people with power. The oppressed will win eventually by holding onto the truth.491
490 Articles written by Li Guanfang published in Nü duo include: “Zhongguo shehui ruhe keyi pingdeng” 中國社
會如何可以平等 (How Can China Achieve Equality?),(September 1920): 4–8; “Shenme jiaozuo shunming” 什麽 叫做順命 (What is Called Obedience?), (October 1920): 10–13; “Shaonian shidai zhi zongjiao jiaoyu” 少年時代 之宗教教育 (Religious Education of Adolescents), (March 1921): 21–5; “Wo duiyu jidujiao quanguo dahui de ganyan” 我对于基督教全國大會的感言 (My Thoughts on the National Christian Conference), (July 1922): 3–7; “Nüzi de zhen jinbu” 女子的眞進步 (The Genuine Progress of Women), (February 1923): 4–12.
153 Li attributed social problems such as inequality to a lack of Christian education. In her belief, the latter would help bring about an ideal society where equality would prevail. Influenced by her teacher, Dr Pirong 皮榮,492 Li believed that there was an urgent need for education to become more accessible in China. She was willing, like her teacher, to make the task of educating the general public her life’s work and envisioned a Christian-based religious education as the vehicle for this objective. In her view, “The only beautiful education in the world is Christ.”493 The acceptance of this principle was essential for achieving true equality in China.
Although the emphasis in Li’s writing extended beyond White’s household-centred perspective and revealed an impassioned concern for the state of local society, her early writings indicate the impact of Christian education on her view. It is worth noting that Li’s approach to achieving social equality barely echoed republican ideas that discussed “the rise and fall of imperial power, the concept of democracy, and the evolution of people’s rights.”494 The contemporary scholar Wang Fansen notes that after the 1911 Revolution, new textbooks promoting republican ideals such as equality were adopted in schools throughout the nation.495 Furthermore, Li’s perception of equality did not resemble the typical ideas of Chinese feminists in the early twentieth century. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the May Fourth iconoclasts and socialist activists promoted women’s emancipation, which was inspired by Western ideals that featured a non-Christian humanist legacy. By contrast, Christian education greatly shaped Li’s understanding, which advocated for the role of Christianity in creating equality. Empowered with the philosophy promulgated by a modern education while simultaneously believing in the idea of Christianity serving to provide a religious redemption for China, Li focused on the importance of morality. This approach, however, would be seriously challenged by the escalating national calamity in the 1930s.
492 I was unable to find documents describing Dr Pirong’s background. 493 Li, “Zhongguo shehui ruhe keyi pingdeng,” 8.
494 Wang Fan-sen, “Preface,” in Tze-ki Hon and Robert J. Culp (eds.), The Politics of Historical Production in Late
Qing and Republican China (Leiden: Brill, 2007), viii.
154
Li’s Career 1921–1928
Li worked as a co-editor of Nü duo in Shanghai from 1921496 and two years later returned to Ginling College in Nanjing to complete her Bachelor of Arts Degree.497 During her years in Shanghai, she continued to demonstrate her social concern by being associated with the Chinese Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), and was elected as a board member in January 1923.498 After graduating from Ginling College, she travelled to Boston University in 1925, made possible by an award from the McDowell Fellowship of US$1,000. Her goal was to prepare herself for further literary work to which she felt called.499
On 22 August 1925, the 29-year-old Li embarked on the S.S. Empress of Asia in Shanghai,500 landing first in Canada and then transferring to the S.S. Princess Kathleen for the voyage to Seattle, where she landed on 9 September. Her belief in the importance of Christian literature is evident in her speech given to the general executive committee of the WFMS in Illinois in October 1926, where she pleaded “for the preparation in increasing quantities of a Christian literature.” She added:
Literature is spiritual food. The Christian life is just like the physical life, we cannot live without food. The literary productions of philosophers and poets are not for the newborn babe. There is one literature, the like of which the world has never produced, the Gospels [which are] the work of a perfect personality. From that [these] we will produce a new literature of the world that will touch everybody from the little child to the most exalted.501
Li’s overseas study demonstrated her continuous interest in the role of Christian literature in Christian education. She spent two years studying at the School of Religious Education and Social Service for a
496The Thirty-forth Annual Report of the CLS, 1921, xi. 497The Thirty-sixth Annual Report of the CLS, 1923, 5. 498 Shen bao (14 January 1922; 17 January 1923).
499 The Fifty-seventh Annual Report of the WFMS, 1926 (Boston, Mass.: Miss Annie G. Bailey, 1926), 111, 151. 500 Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Passenger Lists, 1865–1935; Series: RG 76-C; Roll: T-
14882.
155 Master of Religious Education as well as attending the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Boston, where she graduated with a Master of Arts. Her two masters’ theses exemplified and extended her undergraduate pursuit of Christian education, the ideal society, and the democratic nation.502
Li’s thesis entitled “The Contribution of Religious Education to the Democratization of China”
highlighted the potential contribution of religious education to both the individual and the nation.503 It claimed that religious education was fundamental to the democratisation of China. In Li’s view, religious teaching would help citizens to acquire the qualities and attributes required for a democratic country.504 She concluded with a comment, revealing that she shared the same prayer as Miss Betty Hu,505 who once prayed, “God, give us a leader who can lead like Moses of old and make every Chinese man and woman real working citizens.”506 Echoing Hu’s vision, Li envisioned future leaders like a Calvin, Luther, and Knox emerging in China to educate the people with Christian teachings. She believed that democracy embodied salvation and religious education would facilitate the best functioning of democracy in China. She highlighted how Christianity could contribute primarily to the upbringing of the individual and secondly to the democratisation of China. Such thinking galvanised her editorial policy in the following years.
Becoming the Editor
Encouraged with a vision of a new China guided by Christianity, Li sailed back to China on the SS
Minnesota on 7 May 1928.507 Upon her arrival, Li was keen to initiate social change and became
502 Her first thesis was entitled “Chinese Literature and Christian Religious Education” for the degree of Master
of Arts, in partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, 1926, Boston University, College of Liberal Arts.
503 In partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Religious Education, 1927. 504 Ibid., 128.
505 According to Li, Betty Hu contributed an article “What Can Girls Expect to Contribute toward the
Reconstruction of a New China” to the Chinese Christian Student. Ibid., 133.
506 Ibid., 133.
507 Ancestry.com. UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878–1960 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com
Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA). Series BT26, 1,472 pieces. Class: BT26; Piece: 873; Item: 134.
156 involved in several organisations. She continued to work for the CLS and was introduced as a new member at the forty-first annual meeting of the CLS on 23 November 1928, where she made a “witty and warm-hearted speech.” Li’s comment that she intended to “evolute not revolute”508 provided some context to her new approach, combining her Western experiences with her interpretation of China’s situation, which led her to propose a gradual transformation of the nation’s mindset to meet the needs of the time. Although the CLS expected Li to devote herself to full-time literary work, she also worked part-time at the McTyeire Girls’ High School in 1928.509
When Li returned to Shanghai following the completion of her Masters’ Degree in religious education at Boston University in 1928, White was on furlough due to illness. White returned to Shanghai on 9 December 1929, where her poor physical condition appears to have provided a convenient excuse to shift editorship.510 From 1929, Li became the editor of Nü duo, but she also devoted much of her time to various organisations including the Chinese Home Missionary Society, the WCTU, the NCCC, the Shanghai YWCA, and the National Child Welfare Association of China (Zhonghua Ciyou Xiejihui 中華 慈幼協済會, NCWA).
As the recipient of a Christian education in both China and America, Li was among the group of pioneer Chinese female converts who obtained social mobility and international experience thanks to their relationship with missionaries.511 Her perception of Christianity, albeit distinguished from her Western mentor, Laura White, manifests the legacy of Western Christian education that concentrated on morality. Surrounded by a Christian environment, it would have been difficult for Li to be exposed to
508The Chinese Recorder (January 1929): 60. 509The Forty-first Annual Report of the CLS, 1928, 9.
510 After a period in the hospital, White left Shanghai in 1931 and in the summer of 1934, she sailed to the United
States and died on 24 January 1937. See “Farewell to Local Residents,” The North China Herald (30 June 1928): 569; “Passenger List in Brevities: Local and General,” The China Press (4 December 1929): 21; “List of United States Citizens sailing from Shanghai on 8 April 1931,” Ancestry.com. Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882–1961 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006; The Forty-fourth Annual Report of the CLS, 1931, 16; The Forty-seventh Annual Report of the CLS, 1934, 16; The Forty-eighth Annual Report of the CLS, 1935, 22; “Certificate of Death,” Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906–1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
511 Emily Honig, “Christianity, Feminism, and Communism: The Life and Times of Deng Yuzhi,” in Christianity in
China, 243; Connie A. Shemo, The Chinese Medical Ministries of Kang Cheng and Shi Meiyu, 1872–1937: On a Cross-Cultural Frontier of Gender, Race, and Nation (Bethlehem: Lehigh University Press, 2011).
157 non-Christian ideals. When Li wrote the article on equality in 1920 and her thesis in 1927, the socialist movement in China was in its infancy. However, as the concept of equality was pivotal to socialist ideals, a shared concern for social problems in China later drew Li more into the socialist campaign in the early 1930s, and by 1935, she had joined the Communist Party. The following sections investigate a series of changes in the discussion of family reform included in Nü duo under Li’s supervision.