Gender and Education in China: Gender Discourses and Women's Schooling in the Early Twentieth Century / Edition 1

by Paul J. Bailey

Overview

Gender and Education in China analyzes the significance, impact and nature of women's public education in China from its beginnings at the turn of the twentieth century. Educational change was an integral aspect of the early twentieth century state-building and modernizing reforms implemented by the Qing dynasty as a means of strengthening the foundations of dynastic rule and reinvigorating China's economy and society to ward off the threat of foreign imperialism. A significant feature of educational change during this period was the emergence of official and non-official schools for girls.

Using primary evidence such as official documents, newspapers and journals, Paul Bailey analyzes the different rationales for women's education provided by officials, educators and reformers, and charts the course and practice of women's education describing how young women responded to the educational opportunities made available to them.

Demonstrating how the representation of women and assumptions concerning their role in the household, society and polity underpinned subsequent gender discourses throughout the rest of the century, Gender and Education in China will appeal to students and scholars of Chinese history, gender studies, women's studies as well as an interest in the history of education.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415402835
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/12/2006
Series:	Routledge Contemporary China Series , #15
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Paul Bailey is Reader in East Asian History at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. From 'Consumer' to 'Producer': The Beginnings of Public Education for Girls 2. The New Schools 1902-1911: Expectations and Misgivings 3. New Images and Representations of Women in the Republican Transition 4. 'Unharnessed Fillies': The Modernising Conservative Discourse Agenda on Women's Education in the Early Republic 5. The 'Women Question' and Education in the May Fourth Period. Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"This book is a serious work of history that demonstrates the author's expertise in the history of the late Qing and the early Republican era. One of the book's most impressive achievements is the clear historical outline against which Bailey analyzes discourse during the three distinctive periods and places his analysis in the contex t of China's pursuit of modernization...[T]his is a well-written and beautifully presented book, and it will be of great interest to students of Chinese history, education in China, and gender studies." - Limin Bai, American Historical Review, December 2007

From the Publisher