Cai Chang (; EFEO: ''Ts'ai Tch'ang''; 14 May 1900 – 11 September 1990) was a Chinese politician and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

activist who was the first chair of the

All-China Women's Federation The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) is a women's rights people's organization established in China on 24 March 1949. It was originally called the All-China Democratic Women's Foundation, and was renamed the All-China Women's Federation in 195 ...

, a Chinese women's rights organization.

Early life

Cai Chang was born in 1900 to a lower middle class family in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Her mother left her husband, and enabled her children to attend school by selling her belongings. Cai believed strongly in women's education, and spurned the idea of marriage in favor of a vow of

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term ''celibacy'' is applied ...

. Her mother aided her in this by avoiding an

arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of Marriage, marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures, a professional matchmaki ...

for Cai. Cai attended the Zhounan Girls' Middle School at

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

until 1916. In the winter of 1917–1918, she became one of the first women to join the New People's Study Society, a work study program put in place by

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

and Cai's brother, Cai Hesen. This group advocated for women to create their own self-help groups and to become active in politics. Cai, her mother, Cai Hesen, and Cai Hesen's future wife Xiang Jingyu went to Europe, where Cai was a factory worker. She studied

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

, and

Leninism Leninism (, ) is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the Dictatorship of the proletariat#Vladimir Lenin, dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary Vangu ...

alongside other Chinese socialist feminist scholars, including at the Communist University of the Toilers of the East in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. In 1922, Cai married Li Fuchun, a prominent communist.

Career

In 1921, Cai returned to China, where she studied to become a

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

teacher. She taught for four years at the Zhounan Girls' School, which she had attended several years earlier. During this time, she joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP). Cai left her teaching job to work for the Central Women's Department in the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

in 1925. Two years later, she joined the Central Women's Committee, leading it in Xiang Jingyu's absence. She helped to create the Marriage Decree of 1930, which declared that "free choice must be the basic principle of every marriage." She also helped write the Provisional Constitution of 1931. From 1934 to 1935, she joined her husband Li Fuchun on the

Long March The Long March ( zh, s=长征, p=Chángzhēng, l=Long Expedition) was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934 and ...

. Cai was well known in China after 1949, where she led the

(ACWF) under the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Part of her work in the ACWF included creating a strategy to help privileged women take a leading role in scientific and cultural improvements.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cai, Chang 1900 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Chinese women politicians All-China Women's Federation people Burials at Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery Chinese Communist Party politicians from Hunan Chinese women's rights activists Delegates to the 5th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party Educators from Hunan People's Republic of China politicians from Hunan Politicians from Xiangtan Republic of China politicians from Hunan Vice chairpersons of the National People's Congress Women's International Democratic Federation people Members of the 7th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 8th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

Early life

Career

See also

References