The Women's Rights Recovery Association () was a Tokyo-based political movement founded in 1907, by

anti-Qing Anti-Qing sentiment () refers to a sentiment principally held in China against the rule of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1644–1912), which was criticized by opponents as being "barbaric". Already hated by the Han Chinese because of the Manchus' ...

members of the

Chinese diaspora Overseas Chinese people are people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 million people livin ...

. It was an anarcha-feminist group, one of the earliest Chinese organizations adhering to

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 ...

and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

alike. The Association, which opposed the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

and

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...

, advocated the end of male privileges in traditional Chinese culture, and prohibited female submission to men. Its members were forbidden to become

concubines Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar, but mutually exclusive. During the e ...

or secondary wives. In return, it promised to help all members in their fight against individual and societal oppression. Ideologically

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

, unlike others at the time in China, the Women's Rights Recovery Association identified the cause of women's oppression as the economic systems of

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

and

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

, rather than in a perceived weakness in national character and culture. Most of its ideology was formulated by its founder, He-Yin Zhen – a

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

-born anarchist, who had gone into Japanese exile together with her husband

Liu Shipei Liu Shipei ( zh, t= 劉師培; 24 June 1884 – 20 December 1919) was a philologist, Chinese anarchist, and revolutionary activist. While he and his wife, He Zhen were in exile in Japan he became a fervent nationalist. He then saw the doctrin ...

. She also published the newspaper ''Natural Justice'', and contributed to the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

-based ''

Xin Shiji ''Xin Shiji'' (, , – later ''Nouveau Siècle''), translated to English as both New Century and New Era, was a periodical published by the " Paris Group", a movement of radical Chinese intellectuals who subscribed to the ideology of anarchis ...

''. Unusually for her time she focused on the exploitation of the class-based exploitation of women, singling out prostitutes, domestic servants and female factory workers as the most oppressed. She condemned the unequal distribution of wealth, and refused to subordinate this women's class struggle to any other ideological cause. Writing that "the goal of equality cannot be achieved except through women's liberation", He-Yin – and the Association – viewed female freedom as something that women must accomplish on their own, since no one would give them their rights. Revolutionary change, not reform, was seen as the only way forward. While little is known about the exact workings of the Women's Rights Recovery Association, it is probable that the group was dissolved after He-Yin Zhen and her husband left Tokyo in 1909, returning to China.

References

{{Authority control 1907 establishments in the Japanese colonial empire Anarcha-feminism Anarchist organizations in China Anarchist organizations in Japan Defunct anarchist organizations Defunct organizations based in Japan Organizations established in 1907 Socialist feminist organizations Feminist organizations in Japan Women in Tokyo History of women in Japan

See also

References