Rashida (, zh, 拉希達; 1912 – 26 March 1990) was a

Uyghur Uyghur may refer to: * Uyghurs, a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia (West China) ** Uyghur language, a Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uyghurs *** Old Uyghur language, a different Turkic language spoken in the Uyghur K ...

Chinese politician who was one of the first group of women elected to the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan () is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...

of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

in 1948.

Biography

Rashida (sometimes romanised 'La-hsi-ta') was from

Yining County Yining County ( zh, s=伊宁县) as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Gulja County (; zh, s=固勒扎县), is a county within the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

. She attended Tashkent Normal University of Technology in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, graduating in 1933. In 1937 she began working at the Xinjiang Consulate in Zaisan, a border town in the Soviet Union. After returning to China, she worked as a middle school teacher and headteacher. She also became deputy director of the Xinjiang Women's Federation, joined 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 ...

and married

Burhan Shahidi Burhan Shahidi (3 October 1894 – 27 August 1989) was a Chinese Tatar politician who occupied several high-level positions in Xinjiang, in the governments of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the People's Republic of Ch ...

, a prominent Uyghur politician. In the

1948 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1948. Previous: List of elections in 1947 Next: List of elections in 1949 Africa * 1948 Mauritian general election * 1948 South African general election * 1948 Southern Rhodesian general election As ...

to the Legislative Yuan, ten seats were elected by the Education Association, of which two were reserved for women. Rashida was chosen to fill one of the two women's seats, becoming one of the first group of women to enter the Chinese parliament. After the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

, she became deputy head of the Children's Welfare Department 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 ...

, served as a member of the All-China Women's Federation Presidium and was a delegate to the second to seventh National Committee of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

. A member of the standing committee of the

Islamic Association of China The Islamic Association of China ( Uyghur: جۇڭگو ئىسلام دىنى جەمئىيىتى) is the official government supervisory organ for Islam in the People's Republic of China. The association is controlled by the United Front Work De ...

, 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 ...

in 1985.新疆百科知識辭典, Shaanxi People's Publishing House, November 2008, p525 She died in Beijing in March 1990.''People's Daily'', 30 March 1990

References

{{reflist Members of the 1st Legislative Yuan 20th-century Chinese women politicians Uyghur politicians Chinese schoolteachers Members of the Kuomintang 1912 births 1990 deaths People from Yining County Members of the 4th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the 5th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the 6th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the 2nd Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the 3rd Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the 7th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference People's Republic of China politicians from Xinjiang Republic of China politicians from Xinjiang Chinese Communist Party politicians from Xinjiang Uyghur women