Tj Bettineschi

History 395
Dr. Howard
October 11, 2016
“China’s Personal and Political Revolution”

In​ A Woman Soldiers’ Own Story​, Xie Bingying describes the events in her life and her

fight to break free from China. “The Personal is Political” underscores Xie Bingying’s struggles

in her family and makes the connections to the hardships faced in her society. The many

difficulties that Xie encountered when trying to challenge the traditional roles of women in the

family system were a reflection of the obstacles the revolutionaries had to face when trying to

overthrow the old regime.

Throughout ​A Woman Soldier’s Own Story​, Xie Bingying continuously challenged many

of the Chinese traditions that dominated society during the beginning of the 20th century. China

at this time was a “dead nation” surrounded by a world that was modernizing and constantly

changing.1 China was stuck in the past and continued to hold onto its ancient values and views of

the world. Xie Bingying from a young age despite the “ancient society” and the Chinese way of

life.2 Throughout her life, Xie, alongside other Chinese women, made numerous efforts to resist

the “suffocating feudal traditions” of ancient China and change the traditional views on women

in the family and within society as well.3

Xie Bingying had a difficult time accepting her fate as a Chinese women and oftentimes

showed resistance to her oppressive society. Xie refused to conform to the image that society

1
Xie, Bingying. ​A Woman Soldier's Own Story: The Autobiography of Xie Bingying​. New York: Columbia
UP, 2001. Print, 226
2
Xie,Bingying​.​87
3
Xie,Bingying​.​ 63
expected women to uphold. Growing up, Xie was originally unaware of the “inequality between

male and female” that existed in China.4 In every aspect of life, whether it be politics, education,

military, or in the family, men were considered to be superior to women. Xie learned this lesson

at a very young age when she was reprimanded for playing with the boys outside rather than

staying inside and helping with household responsibilities, as young girls were expected to do at

this time. Women’s responsibilities were in the house and to the family. Women were expected

to conform to society's expectations by “binding their feet, piercing their eyes, and marrying”.5

Women who did this, especially those who guided their daughters to do the same, were

considered to be good members of the Chinese society. Xie was not satisfied with this view on

women, and she wanted to challenge this idea and receive the same rights and enjoy the same

benefits that men had.

The personal struggles Xie Bingying faced in her personal life were difficult to overcome

because the issues she faced stemmed from society. In the early 20th century China, it was

customary for women to have an arranged marriage. Women had little to no say in who they

married, it was usually determined by the parents early on in one life. Women, regardless of who

they married, were expected to become a “virtuous wife and a good mother”.6 This view on

women’s role also led to the idea that an education for women was a waste of time because there

was no political or social “rank of female scholar” that could be obtained.7 Xie Bingying,

regardless of her family’s restraints, still wished to receive an education as well as dissolve her

marriage contract in later years resulted in much resentment from her family. Xie’s family,

4
Xie,Bingying​.​22
5
Xie,Bingying​.​17
6
Xie,Bingying​.​22
7
Xie,Bingying​.​17
especially her mother, prevented her from doing such things because doing so would make her

an outcast in society as well as a shame to her family.

Similar to the ways the Xie Bingying rebelled against her family, the revolutionaries

throughout the 1920’s rebelled against China. Many of these ideas and values that were present

in Xie Bingying personal struggles existed throughout all of China as well. The revolutionaries’

goal was to eliminate the “warlords who controlled much of China” and establish a new regime

and rid China of its feudal society.8 The revolutionaries in the National Revolutionary Army, Xie

included, wanted to see a change in the Chinese society. Xie, like many others females, joined

the revolution in hopes of achieving “more fulfilling roles”and to find their freedom from the

family system and arranged marriages.9 The revolutionaries understood that Chinese traditions

and values were formed in response to the repressive government. In order to change the way in

which people thought they needed to “rebel against ancient customs” of China and create a new

system that promoted the equality of all citizens.10

A Woman Soldier’s Own Story​ shows the struggles and sacrifices that both females had to

make in their personal lives as well as in their society. The traditional values were challenged by

both women like Xie Bingying as well as the revolutionaries who both wanted to see a change

from the old China to a new one.

8
Xie,Bingying​.​96
9
Xie,Bingying​.​87
10
Xie,Bingying​.​28