Keywords
He-Yin Zhen
international feminism
early globalization
international women’s space (wanguo nüjie)
How to Cite
Abstract
This paper analyzes a case of international feminism in the age of early globalization by focusing on Tianyi天義 (Natural Justice), a journal edited and published from 1907 to 1908 by Chinese feminist and anarchist He-Yin Zhen 何殷震 in Tokyo. I firstly illustrate the ways in which the translation of texts and images, the interaction between Chinese and Japanese revolutionary groups, and the movements of printed matter contributed to the global circulation of intellectual resources from which Tianyiemerged. I then delve intoTianyi’s visions of the world, world order, and women’s space and how they were shaped by the anarchist framework of equality as well as by the history and politics of internationalism at the time. Ultimately, these visions led to the imagination of international women’s space ( wanguo nüjie 萬國女界). In this space, different countries were allied, yet each one remained independent and equal. Finally, I argue that the entanglement of anarchist, feminist, and socialist internationalist discourses in Tianyican be theorized as an international feminism that enables us to understand this journal’s unique historical significance in the era of early globalization and to reflect on the politics and possibilities of feminist knowledge production and representation.
Keywords
Tianyi, He-Yin Zhen, international feminism, international women’s space (wanguonüjie), early globalization
On the Lunar New Year of 1907, He-YinZhen 何殷震 (aka He Ban何班, He Zhen何震, ca. 1884-1920?) and her husband Liu Shipei 劉師培 (1884-1919), upon the invitation of their friend Zhang Taiyan 章太炎 (1869-1936), traveled to Tokyo, where they became part of a transnational assembly of revolutionaries, including Chinese opponents of the Qing dynasty, Japanese anarchists and socialists, and other Asian radicals. [1] In June of the same year, inspired by anarchist thoughts and Herbert Spencer’s views on the rights of women, He-Yin and four other women intellectuals founded the Society for the Restoration of Women’s Rights 女子復權會, with Tianyi 天義 (Natural Justice, 1907-1908) as their official journal to promote feminism, anarchism, and socialism. [2] He-Yin’s journey from China to Japan exemplifies a broader trend among late Qing Chinese intellectuals in a time of crisis and transformation. Seeking liberation from the confines of the domestic cultural and politicalmilieu, they ventured to Japan, Europe, and the United States in pursuit of expanded intellectual visions and activist spaces. For He-Yin, this mobility also enabled her to enter the emerging field of Chinese feminist journalism. In Tianyi, He-Yin published a series of editorials (sheshuo社說) on women’s liberation, theorizing gender equality as the starting point of anarchist social revolutions that aim to eliminate all forms of hierarchical relationship. He-Yin’s anarcha-feminism diverges from the mainstream view on the issue of women in the late Qing held by many other intellectuals, who attempted to incorporate women’s rights into the agenda of national building and modernization. Her crossing of geographical and cultural boundaries, combined with her radical anarchist stance, offer a compelling case for reevaluating late Qing feminist discourse from beyond a national perspective.
Lydia Liu, Rebecca Karl, and Dorothy Ko’s edited volume introduced and translated He-Yin’s editorials as a case for transnational feminist theory. [3] They elaborate on He-Yin’s term nannü 男女as a critical concept through comparisons with the Western analytical frameworks of “sex-gender” and intersectionality, locating He-Yin within different historical, ideological, and media worlds. [4] Building on their insightful analysis and aiming to provide a more contextualized understanding of the transnational elements of He-Yin’s feminism, this paper turns its focus toward the journal Tianyi as a discursive apace inhabited by a wider spectrum of globally circulated intellectual resources and the visions and imaginations of the globe. I mainly deploy the vertical reading strategyin periodical studies in order to tracethe discursive sedimentationof these resources and imaginations across all of the journal’s nineteen issues. [5]
This paper also draws on global history and gender history to consider the significance of the journal Tianyi within the histories of feminism across nations. Recent humanities studies has undergone a shift in its historical approach from national history to global history with the aim of illuminating “the circulation and exchange of things, people, ideas, and institutions” across national and various other boundaries. [6] Bringing gender issues into the global perspective, scholars note both intersections and tensions between them. [7] As revisionist methods, gender and global history challenge the grand narratives in modern historiography that are either androcentric or serve the nation-state. In contrast to global history, which emphasizes transboundary interactions, connections, and convergence, gender history values difference and diversity. Furthermore, previous scholarship in global history focuses on material and economic exchanges, whereas gender history is more concerned with cultural representation and the production of meaning. This paper reconciles this tension by integrating textual meanings within globalized material practices to understand the complex relationship between feminist discourse, internationalism, and print culture in the age of what Benedict Anderson calls “early globalization,” where the global dissemination of radical political thoughts was closely tied to the development of media and communication technologies at the end of the nineteenth century.[8]
How did Tianyi interact with the global circulation of the cultural, intellectual, and political resources of its time? How did the journal envision the world, world order, and women’s space based on the anarchist idea of equality? In what sense did He-Yin Zhen understand feminist struggles through a global or international lens?To address these questions, Iexamine the global contexts and spatial imaginations reflected in the Tianyi’s anarchist, feminist, and socialist internationalist discourses, thereby situating the journal within the coordinates of global women’s movements at the beginning of the twentieth century. Firstly, I trace the global flow of texts, images, ideas, people, and books across the dynamic interactions between the West, Japan, and late Qing China. I then analyze the way in which Tianyi’s anarchist visions of the world and world order construct an international women’s space ( wanguo nüjie 萬國女界) in which different countries were allied yet each one remained independent and equal. Lastly, I explore the theoretical and historical significance of Tianyi’s international feminism through a review of He-Yin’s editorials on women’s liberation as a global issue.
TheGlobal Journey of Intellectual Resources
Figure 1. “A Portrait of French Heroine Louise Michel,” Tianyi, no. 2 (1907)
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, anarchism spread across different countries in Europe, North America, and Asia, becoming a global political and intellectual force challenging imperialism, colonialism, and capitalism. Within this context, “anarcha-feminism emerged as a distinct, albeit loosely formed, ‘school of thought’ that was reflected in the transnational activism of anarchist women.” [9] Apart from serving as a platform for the activism of local Chinese anarchist women such as He-Yin Zhen, Tianyi introduced many European and American anarchist women, including Louise Michel (1830-1905), Catherine Breshkovsky (1844-1934), Vera Figner (1852-1942), and Emma Goldman (1869-1940). Among them, Louise Michel, the renowned French revolutionary and anarchist, and one of the most influential figures in the Paris Commune, is prominently represented, both through images and biographical texts. The first representation is found in the second issue, with its Pictorial 圖畫 section featuring an image of Louise titled “A Portrait of French HeroineLouise Michel” (“Faguo nüjie Luyisi Misuoer xiang” 法國女傑 露伊斯．米索爾像, Figure. 1) and its Translation 譯叢 section including a brief biography titled “Biography of French Heroine Louise” (“Faguo nüjie Luyisi zhuan” 法國女傑露依斯傳). [10] The biography was translated from the Japanese book Revolutionary Women 革命婦人, compiled by the Commoners’ Society 平民社 (Heimin-sha). The translator, Wang Gongquan 汪公權, used a domestication strategy to render it in the format of the traditional Chinese historical biography or liezhuan 列傳. Situating Michel in the turbulent social and political environment of France in the late nineteenth century, the biography concisely and vividly describes her philanthropic and educational practices , her anarchist spirit of mutual aid, and her identity as a fortitudinous revolutionary against an authoritarian government. Wang also reinforced the biography’s political meaning in the Chinese context by adding his own comment criticizing some Chinese intellectuals and reformers for advocating the French republican form of government, which, according to Wang, could not bring its people true equality and would eventually be subverted by people like Louise. [11]
Tianyi also represents another face of Louise Michel that goes beyond her image as a radical activist, reflecting periodical’s multivocal nature. The Pictorial section in the eighth, ninth, and tenth combined issue reproduces an imaginative sketch of Louise produced by French painter Jules Girardet (Figure. 2). [12] The sketch is followed by a sentimental note written by Su Manshu 蘇曼殊 (1884-1918), who portrays Louise as a compassionate Buddhist revolutionary guiding all beings through a cataclysmic era. [13] The translation choice, as well as the comments, notes, and other paratexts accreted around the representation of foreign heroines, suggest how new meanings can be generated when texts and images move from one place and context to another.
Figure 2. “A Portrait of Louise Michel,” Tianyi, no. 8, 9, and 10 (1907)
In addition to representing the figures ofanarchist women, Tianyialso translated a wide range of intellectual resources related to anarchism and feminism. Images relating to anarchism featuring strikes, revolutionary martyrs, assassinations, and even communist villages appear extensively in the Pictorial section. Theoretical texts from Russian anarchists like Mikhail Bakunin, Peter Kropotkin, and Leo Tolstoy were translated and introduced in both the Translation and Theory 學理 sections. Tianyi also translated classic texts such as the first chapter of The Communist Manifesto , which includes a discussion on women’s liberation, and Engels’ views on marriage in The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State , both referenced in He-Yin’s editorials. [14] Some individual feminist texts originally in Japanese and English were translated and complemented by critical commentaries addressing domestic concerns. For example, the third issue features “Women and Politics” (“Furen yu zhengzhi” 婦人與政治), originally written in Japanese by the leading anarchist and socialist Kōtoku Shūsui 幸徳秋水 (1871-1911). [15] Kōtoku urges Japanese women to partake in politics beyond their roles as wives and mothers; the translator Wang Gongquan comments on its relevance to Chinese women as well. The seventh issue includes“On the Questions of Women’s Suffrage” (“Funü xuanjuquan wenti” 婦女選舉權问题), interpreting Mrs. St. Clair Stobart’s “Sex and Suffrage” from the British magazine The Fortnightly Review and arguing that women’s participation in government is not the ultimate goal of anarchist politics as it seeks to abolish all forms of governance. [16]
The translation and circulation of images, texts, and ideas within Tianyi were inseparable from the political and intellectual groups that nurtured the journal. Asiatic Humanitarian Brotherhood 亞洲和親會 was initiated in April 1907 by Chinese intellectuals such as Zhang Taiyan, Su Manshu, Liu Shipei, He-Yin Zhen, and Zhang Ji 張繼 (1882-1947); it also included Japanese members such as the anarchists Sakai Toshihiko 堺利彦 (1871-1933) and Ōsugi Sakae 大杉栄 (1885-1923), and the socialist Yamakawa Hitoshi 山川均 (1880-1958). [17] As an early Asianist association, the Brotherhood provided a forum for networking between anti-imperialist revolutionaries from China, Japan, and other Asian countries such as Vietnam, India, the Philippines, Korea, and Burma. Society for the Study of Socialism, founded in June 1907 by Liu Shipei and Zhang Ji, focused more on the study and discussion of anarchism, socialism, and issues of people’s livelihood (minsheng民生) in China. The attendees were Chinese students and revolutionaries in Tokyo. Japanese socialists and anarchists such as Kōtoku, Sakai, Yamakawa, and Ōsugi were invited as lecturers. [18] The Society organized nine meetings during the active period ofTianyi. At its inaugural gathering, He-Yin delivered a speech, announcing the launch of Tianyi and sharing her views on anarcha-feminism. [19] He-Yinand her fellow revolutionaries associated with Tianyialso regularly attended Kōtoku’s Socialist Friday Lectures 社會主義金曜講演會, which were primarily attended by Japanese participants. When Tianyipublished articles in order to introduce and advertise these study groups, it particularly encouraged audiences to raise questions. [20] Some articles document how participants actively engaged in lively discussions, sharing diverse opinions during the meetings. [21]
Besides these group-based political and intellectual activities, private communication between Chinese and foreign revolutionaries also facilitated the exchange of feminist ideas. The third issue of Tianyi features a letter written by Kōtoku Shūsui to He-Yin, praising her militant feminist essays published in the first issue of Tianyi yet questioning her view on marriage that “A woman entering her first marriage should pair with a man who is also in his first marriage; a widow should remarry only with a widower” (初婚之女，必嫁初婚之男；再婚之婦，必嫁再婚之夫). [22] In the letter, Kōtoku writes that the essential condition for marriage should be mutual affection between a man and a woman, regardless of whether it is their first marriage. At the end of the letter, Kōtoku invites He-Yin to visit his residence and further discuss the issue with him and Sakai Toshihiko, who was also interested in women’s rights. The letter is supplemented by a note written by He-Yin, narrating her visit concisely and explaining how they debated the marriage condition: “Presumably, Kōtoku and Sakai’s purpose is to realize mankind’s absolute liberty, while my intension is to realize mankind’s absolute equality. Our points of view are somewhat different. Kōtoku and Sakai also agreed that we unnecessarily held the same perspectives” (蓋幸德君及堺君之意，在於實行人類完全之自由，而震意則在實行人類完全之平等。立說之點，稍有不同。卽幸德君及堺君，亦以為持論不必強同也). [23] As traditional methods of communication, correspondence and private conversation between He-Yin and Kōtoku were mediated through the modern periodical. More importantly, the negotiation and co-existence of different ideas in both public and private occasions suggests that feminist ideas were not transmitted in a one-directional manner from the Western and Japanese sources to the Chinese recipients. Within the community of Chinese and Japanese intellectuals, diverse perspectives were exchanged and debated, fostering a multiplicity of thoughts and sentiments.
The global journey of the intellectual resources behind Tianyi also relied on the circulation of objects. Printed materials, particularly books, periodicals, and pamphlets, were introduced, translated, and disseminated within the journal’s intellectual and political spheres. Articles recommending original and translated books in Chinese, Japanese, and English as well as periodicals from different countries were frequently published. Some examples of this type of article list more than one publication, introducing brief information on the language and source country of each one, showcasing the latest developments in the global flow of ideas. [24] Articles introducing a single book or periodical tend to include more details. For example, when recommending the translated book The Living Underworld( Huo diyu 活地獄), Tianyi reviews the translingual journey behind the book’s multiple translated versions: the original version, Sixteen Years in Siberia by Russian socialist Leo Deutsch, was first translated into an abridged Japanese version titled Strange Tales of Revolution: God Laments, Ghost Cries ( Shinshū kikoku kakumei kidan 神愁鬼哭 革命奇談) by Kōtoku Shūsui; this Japanese version was subsequently translated in Chinese by Qiqushanmin 七曲山民. [25]
While introducing books and periodicals on its pages, Tianyi also connected with the social world of the print. The Contributions 來稿 section of the sixth issue features an article titled “Introduction of New Publications” 新刊介紹 introducing two publications sent to Tianyias gifts: the American anarchist monthly Mother Earth (1906-1917) and American feminist Josephine K. Henry’s pamphlet Marriage and Divorce (1905). [26] Tianyi also includes an acknowledgment to the two authors in this article. Moreover, when introducing Mother Earth, the article mentions that its editor-in-chef Emma Goldman previously sent letters to Kōtoku Shūsui to congratulate him on the publication of Tianyi. [27] The August 1907 issue of Mother Earthindeedexpresses such congratulation in its “Observations and Comments:” “Our readers will be glad to learn that a new Anarchist publication had been started in Tokio [Tokyo], Japan. The publishers are three Chinese girls who have courageously freed themselves from the heavy shackle of Occidental tradition, prejudice and superstition.” [28] In its “International Notes,”Mother Earth’s August 1908 issue also praises He-Yin Zhen as the first in China to advocate anarchism.” [29] This case provides an example of the social life of printed materials in global circulation. Although Mother Earth’s description of Tianyi was not entirely accurate, the two established a transnational echo between Asian and American anarcha-feminism.
On a more tangible level, in the “geography of the book,” which involves the physical movements of books in their production and distribution, Tianyi played a crucial role as transnational distributor and producer. [30] When Tianyiintroduced the “Paris Group” Chinese anarchist periodical New Century ( Xin shiji 新世紀) and its bookseriesin the Appendix 附錄 section of the fifth issue and the inserted advertisement page of the eighth, ninth, and tenth combined issue, New Century wasdistributed by Minbao 民報 (People’s News) press in Tokyo. [31] However, starting from the eleventh and twelfth combined issue, New Century was distributed directly by Tianyi, and readers could collect copies of New Century and its book series directly from Tianyi ‘s correspondence office. [32] Similarly, when introducing The Social General Strike, originally written by German anarchist Siegfried Nacht and translated from Japanese by Zhang Jun 張君, andAnarchism,originally written by Italian anarchist Errico Malatesta and then translated from Japanese by Zhang Ji, Tianyi informed readers that they could obtain these books at no cost from its correspondence office. [33] Tianyi itself also translated and printed a variety of books. At the first meeting of Society for the Study of Socialism, Kōtoku Shūsui delivered a speech on anarchism, which, after being translated into Chinese, was printed as a pamphlet by Tianyi and made available to readers free of charge. [34] Besides this kind of pamphlet, Society for the Study of Socialism also translated theoretical texts by Marx, Bakunin, Kropotkin, and Tolstoy. [35] Since these books, periodicals, and pamphlets were freely available, the production and distribution of them were not driven by commercial purposes. Tianyi’s efforts in translating texts and producing books remind us of the important role played by labor and material production in expanding access to the ideas it sought to share.
Shijieand Wanguo: Visions of the World and World Order
Tianyienthusiastically reported on recent political events from different countries around the world. Early in the second issue, the Commentary 時評 section features an article titled “The Big Trend of Social Revolutions” (“Shehui geming da fengchao” 社會革命大風潮) that includes news of working-class strikes, demonstrations, and uprisings in European countries such as Germany, France, Britain, Austria, and Russia, as well as in domestic cities such as Shanghai and Harbin. [36] Collecting news from different countries and presenting them in a single article was a typical journalistic method used in Tianyi , demonstrating not only the journal’s interest in foreign events but more importantly a consciousness that these events were simultaneously occurring in multiple countries. This consciousness transcends a singular national perspective and becomes both spatially and politically international. To fully understand the discursive formation of this consciousness, this section analyzes how Tianyiused key terms such as shijie 世界 (world), shijiezhuyi 世界主義 (internationalism), and wanguo 萬國 (international) in both theoretical and journalistic articles to imagine the world and the world order. [37]
When He-Yin Zhen and the Society for the Restoration of Women’s Rights startedTianyi, they published “Announcement of the Publication of Tianyi”(“Tianyi bao qi”天義報啟) in the Fubao 復報 (Restoration)and N üzi shijie女子世界 (Women’s World), announcing the publication of the journal and its political and feminist stance. [38] The announcement begins by claiming that human society has produced nothing but injustices in the world: “Upon the earth, states stand around, but since the appearance of humans, nothing has truly been just. The oppression by alien races, the distance between rulers and people, and the disparity between the rich and the poor all form part of this injustice” (地球之上，邦國環立，然自有人類以來，無一事合於真公。異族之欺陵，君民之懸隔， 貧富之差殊， 此咸事之屬於不公者也). [39] It then suggests that such inequity is manifested in various forms of social hierarchy and that gender inequality needs to be abolished first. It also makes extensive use of the world shijie (world), as in “looking around the states of the world” (環顧世界各邦), “the inherent society of the world” (世界固有之社會), and “the inherent classes of the world” (世界固有之階級), to indicate that inequality and injustice have become universal and worldwide issues.
Embracing this vision of the world since the beginning, Tianyi published several theoretical articles addressing the problems of the world from socialist and anarchist perspectives. For example, the Editorial 社說 section of the fourth issue features an article titled “Anarchist Views of Equality” (“Wuzhengfuzhuyi zhi pingdeng guan”無政府主義之平等觀), analyzing how human governance disrupts the world order and leads to inequality. [40] The fifth part of the article, “The Phenomenon of Inequality in Humanity Across the World” (世界人類不平等之現象), lists three sets of relationships involving governing and being governed that are commonly found across various countries and historical periods: “government over people” ( 政府之于人民), “capitalists over workers” (資本家之于傭工), and “strong races over weak races” (強族之于弱族); these relationships correspond to the three major domains of politics, economics, and international relations, within which the article respectively critiques the state apparatus, capitalism, and imperialism. [41] Against this background, Tianyi sought to restore the world order of equality by mostly drawing on Kropotkin. In both the meeting purpose statement for the Society for the Study of Socialism and the article “A Summary of Kropotkin’s Theory” (“Kulubatejin xueshu lüeshu” 苦魯巴特金學術畧述) published in the eleventh and twelfth combined issue, Liu Shipei introduces Kropotkin’s notions of mutual aid and decentralization and uses them to envision and validate a world order marked by absolute equality. [42] Such a natural and equitable world order emerges from decentralized structures and organizations, where entities cooperate and harmonize with each other, Liu argues, and the method to restore this world order is through the violence of the anarchist revolution. [43]
In its later period,however, Tianyi turned to antimilitarism, adopting a softer, non-violent approach when articulating its aspiration for a world of equality. The Compilation 编纂 section of the sixteenth to nineteenth combined issue features an article titled “General Explanations of Esperanto Vocabulary” (“Esperanto cili tongshi” Esperanto 詞例通釋), introducing Esperanto as a “human-made script” (人為之文字) invented in the hope of helping to achieve world unification. [44] The beginning of the article identifies the root of global conflicts in two realms, the economic and the cultural, respectively using the terms shengji 生計 (livelihood) and ganqing 感情 (emotions); Esperanto is believed to be able to resolve emotional conflicts, which stem from a lack of unity between languages. The article then draws an analogy, comparing the relationship of Chinese dialects to Mandarin with that of foreign national languages to Esperanto, and demonstrates Esperanto’s potential role in mitigating global conflicts and restoring world order. While some other late Qing Chinese intellectuals viewed European languages and Esperanto as hierarchically superior to the Chinese language, the article proves the morphologic and syntactic similarities between Chinese and Esperanto and Esperanto’s suitability for Chinese learners. It also mentions that “When Zamenhof created this language, his aim was to harmonize emotions among humans. His speeches and poems [in Esperanto] express a hope for world peace and cessation of war, which embodies the principles of universal love and great harmony” (當石門氏創造此語時，曾以融洽人類之感情為目的。觀其各演說詞及所作詩歌，均希望世界平和，弭消爭戰，固含有博愛、大同之旨者也). [45] The value of harmony associated with Esperanto is illustrated by a postcard image published under the title of “World Compatriots” (“Shijie tongbao” 世界同胞) in the Illustration section of the eleventh and twelfth combined issue (Figure. 3). [46] Designed by the French anarchist artist Adolphe Willette and sent to the French geographer and anarchist Élisée Reclus, the image depicts the earth as a mother with four breasts feeding four babies of different geographical origins, with the Esperanto caption below: “Unu mamo por ĉiu. Unu koro por ĉiuj,” meaning “A breast for each one, a heart for all.” [47] The image and text together convey a world vision in which the world offers motherly care in her embrace, where individual nations peacefully reside.
Figure 3. “World Compatriots,” Tianyi, no. 11 and 12 (1907)
Another key term related to Tianyi’s understanding of the world and world order is shijiezhuyi 世界主義. Composed of shijieand the suffix zhuyi(-ism), the term is translated as internationalism by Tianyiin the second version of its General Objectives 宗旨 (zongzhi). The first version, “To destroy the inherent society and implement equality for all humans, advocating for revolution in women’s space, as well as racial, political, and economic revolutions” (以破壞固有之社會，實行人類之平等為宗旨，于提倡女界革命外，兼提倡種族、政治、經濟諸革命), appears in the “Announcement” in the original first and second issues, and in the third through seventh issues. [48] From the eighth, ninth, and tenth combined issueto the sixteenth to nineteenth combined issue, Tianyi includes a revised version of its General Objectivesin both English and Chinese: “To realize internationalism, abolishing all national and racial distinctions. To revolt against all authorities of the world. To overthrow all the political systems of the present time. To realize communism. To realize the absolute equality of man and woman.” (破除國界、種界，實行世界主義。抵抗世界一切之強權。顛覆一切現近之人治。實行共產制度。實行男女絕對之平等). [49] This revised version also replaced the first version in the reprinted first and second combined issue that appeared in May 1908. Emphasizing shijie and shijiezhuyi, the second version more explicitly defines the spatial orientations of Tianyi’s feminist revolutions.
Despite the lack of a definition for the term shijiezhuyi in Tianyi , it was a highly politicized concept, used to refer to the actual international labor movements in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The term first appears in the article “The Enemy ofInternationalism” (“Shijiezhuyi zhi gongdi” 世界主義之公敵) published in the Commentary section of the seventh issue, which criticizes the American labor movement for excluding Chinese immigrant workers, and discusses the political economy behind this racial exclusion. [50] The article disagrees with the nationalist approach to this racial conflict: “The national government of each country practices nationalist imperialism, only knowing the state and not the world. This is a mistaken view of those in power” (各國政府實行民族帝國主義，只知有國家，不知有世界。此在上者之謬見也). [51] In contrast, the article argues that, “[If we could make] both yellow and white workers recognize that capitalists are their biggest enemy, then the racial conflict could be dissolved and the implementation of internationalism could be achieved in the foreseeable future” (使黃人、白人之為勞動者，共明資本家為大敵，則人種之爭消弭於無形，而世界主義之實行亦可計日而待矣). [52] The term shijiezhuyi as internationalism thus represents a solution to nationalist imperialism, racialism, and capitalism.
In addition to shijie and shijiezhuyi, another term related to Tianyi’s vision of the world is wanguo 萬國 (international). This term initially appears in cover articles when reference is made to various political organizations with “international” in their titles, most notably in news texts related to the Socialist International, which Tianyitranslated as Wanguo Shehuidang 萬國社會黨. Established in 1889 with Engels’s involvement, the Socialist International was an organization of working class and socialist parties, also known as the Second International. The Seventh Congress of the Second International took place in Stuttgart, Germany from August 18 to 24, 1907. Tianyi began previewing this event in its second issue, publishing a series of reports and commentaries on the “International Socialist Congress” (萬國社會黨大會) from the sixth issue onwards. The Report 記事 section of the seventh issue also features articles reporting on the “International Anarchist Conference” (萬國無政府黨大會) in Amsterdam. Notably, the article titled “The Unjust International Peace Conference” (“Buping zai wanguo pinghe hui” 不平哉萬國平和會) in the Commentary section of the fourth issue reports on the Hague Secret Emissary Affair in the Second International Peace Conference held at the Hague in 1907, critiquing the conference’s injustice and unfairness, and advocating for independent and equal status for all countries around the world. [53] This stance once again shows Tianyi’s vision of a just and equitable world order.
At the same time, Tianyi alsoremoved the term wanguo from the context of the names of specific “International” political organizations, using it in a more generalized and abstract way by combining it with other words to create new phrases. This usage also appeared in the journalistic Report section, where articles such as “Report on International Revolutionary Movements” (“Wanguo geming yundong ji” 萬國革命运动記) and “Collected Reports on InternationalRevolutionary Currents” (“Huiji wanguo geming fengchao” 彙記萬國革命風潮)collect recent political and revolutionary eventsfrom countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and even Africa. [54] These reports often lack detailed information, such as the date of the event and the names of those involved, but they all emphasize the countries where the events happened and the punishments suffered by the political activists involved. If we draw on Benedict Anderson’s argument about how newspaper’s simultaneity of “calendrical coincidence” fosters the imagination of national community, then it is the simultaneity of political and ideological tendencies across different countries that becomes part of Tianyi’s imagination of an international space. [55] More importantly, this space is gendered: the dynamic of women’s movements across different countries fighting for gender and social equality also constructs an international women’s space.
The Emergence of International Women’s Space
Among the many different terms used to refer to women in Tianyi, nüjie女界 (women’s space or sphere) places the greatest emphasis on the plurality or collective identity of women. [56] For example, in the often-used phrase n üjie tongbao 女界同胞 (compatriots in women’s space), collective identity creates a women’s space filled with bonding, sisterhood, and group strength. As it has to do with n ü (women),nüjieis in the first place used in discourses on gender relations in which its corresponding term is nanjie 男界 (men’s space or sphere). Sometimes n üjie and nanjie are able to be used as a set of simple descriptive terms referring to the two gender groups. When discussing gender inequality, n üjie,however, provides a stance opposite to nanjie, as seen in the opening question in He-Yin Zhen’s famous editorial, “On the Revenge of Women”( “Nüzi fuchou lun” 女子復仇論): “Do my womencompatriots know that men are the great enemy of women?” (吾女界同胞，亦知男子為女子之大敵乎). [57] Since n üjie and nanjie are oppositional, in Tianyi’s goal of “destroying society” (破壞社會), the gendered spatial marker jie 界 (sphere, boundary) representing inequality must also be erased. For example, the Theory section of the first issue features “Scholar Li Zhuowu’s Theory” (Li Zhuowu xiansheng xueshuo” 李卓吾先生學說), drawing on late Ming literati Li Zhi’s 李贄 essays on gender quality to support the argument for “destroying the boundary between men and women” (破男女之界). [58]
However, the anarchist perspective of Tianyi does not simply view nanjie as the root cause of the oppression of nüjie. He-Yin’s “On the Revenge of Women” further discusses Han rulers “trampling over women’s space” (蹂躪女界) and Manchu rulers “dominating women’s space” (專制女界), attributing the oppression of women to the power of the imperial rulers of the past dynasties and demanding the abolition of all forms of ruling and governance. [59] “Emperors and Prostitutes” (“Diwang yu changji”帝王與娼妓), another of He-Yin’s editorials published in the first issue, satirizes that emperors having multiple wives is comparable to prostitutes having multiple clients, and that emperors loving beautiful women is comparable to prostitutes loving money, therefore prostitutes could be the “emperors in women’s space” (女界之帝王) while emperors “the prostitutes in men’s space” (男界之娼妓). [60] Although this analogy may appear to be a play on words, it points out the commonality in the missions of anti-Qing and anti-prostitution revolutions and highlights the transformation of the spaces between men and women, indicating that both are shaped by a shared patriarchal structure. Consequently, n üjie itself becomes an object that needs to be critically reexamined. He-Yin’s “On the Question of Women’s Liberation” (“Nüzi jiefang wenti” 女子解放問題) discusses women’s political participation: “Having only a few women partake in politics in governing positions, while subjecting the majority who lack rights to their rule, creates an unequal hierarchy within women’s spaces, in addition to the existing inequality between men and women” (以少數參政女子處於主治之位，使多數無權之女子受其統治，不獨男女不平等，女界之中亦生不平等之階級). [61] The original meaning of collective identity and women’s solidarity in the term n üjie now shifts toward addressing more intricate aspects of oppression among women. The term n üjie in the discourses on gender relations in Tianyi thus generates multilayered meanings. Women’s spaces can be either celebrated or criticized, depending on the specific context.
Often used in phrases such as Zhongguo n üjie中國女界 (women’s space in China) and wanguo nüjiein Tianyi,n üjie is also indicative of the changing relationship between gender and nation. As jie’s meaning of boundary points not only to static spatial units but also to the process of boundary making, n üjie often interacts with different spatial scales, including local, national, and international. The Commentary section in the fifth issue features “Men the Robbers, Women the Prostitutes in Shanghai” (“Nandao nüchang zhi Shanghai” 男盜女娼之上海), with the first paragraph suggesting that “The world today is a world where men behave like robbers and women like prostitutes. In the world, there is Asia, within Asia is China, and within China is Shanghai, and this phenomenon is now gradually condensed in one corner of Shanghai” (今日之世界，男盜女娼之世界也。于世界之中有亞洲，于亞洲之中有中國，于中國之中有上海，而男盜女娼之現象，遂漸集于上海一隅). [62] Starting from the world, the spatial scale narrows from large to small, finally zooming in on a corner of Shanghai. This rhetoric of space and spatial scales is often used in Tianyi to view local news and events through national and transnational lenses. The Commentary section in the first issue features “Great Are the Heroines” (“Wei zai nüjie” 偉哉女傑) on two women fighting against the Manchu army on the border of Heilongjiang province: “Now the nüjie are standing up for the restoration…I cannot help congratulating the women’s space in China!” (今也女傑奮興，群謀光復……不禁為中國女界賀). [63] Another Commentary article in the same issue, “Women Becoming Men’s Concubines” (“Nü wei renqie” 女為人妾), criticizes female students from Hunan, Shanghai, and Jiangsu for “willingly becoming concubines, externally relying on a name of extreme honor, internally behaving in a reality of extreme lowliness” (甘心為妾，外託至尊之名，內行至卑之實). [64] The author says, “I really cannot avoid speaking out for women’s space... I mourn for the women! I especially mourn for China!” (吾誠不能為女界諱矣……吾悲女子！吾尤悲中國！). [65] Women’s space becomes an interface that allows for the transformation of both positive and negative emotions evoked by provincial issues into a national sentiment.
In two Commentary articles on Japanese female workers, national discourse also intervenes. “Tragic Are the Women Workers” (“Canzai gongnü” 慘哉工女) published in the eighth, ninth, and tenth combined issue claims that “The hardships experienced by Japanese women workers are the future hardships for Chinese women workers” (是日本工女已嘗之苦，卽中國工女未來之苦). [66] “Please Look at Japanese Women Workers’ Salaries” (“Qingkan Ribengongnü linyin’e” 請看日本工女賃銀額), published in the thirteenth and fourteenth combined issue, discusses the low incomes of Japanese women workers, lamenting that “I feel sad for the Japanese female workers, and because of this, I feel sad for the Chinese women workers” (吾為日本工女悲，吾因為中國工女悲). [67] By using Japanese women as a reflection of Chinese women, Tianyi perceives the oppression of women laborers as an issue transcending national boundaries. It is through exchanges across different spatial units that the concept of women’s space surpasses mere locality and nationality and acquires a layer of transnational and global significance.
As previously discussed, with increased coverage on international events and the translation and abstraction of the term wanguo in Tianyi, an international women’s space was constructed, particularly through articles containing the termsn üjie and even wanguonüjie萬國女界 (international women’s space) in their titles. “Report on Recent Events in Women’s Space” (“Nüjie jinshi ji”女界近事記) published in the eighth, ninth, and tenth combined issue briefly reports on women’s participation in political activities in Ireland, Germany, Italy, the United States, and Russia. [68] “Report on Movements in International Women’s Space” (“Wanguo nüjie yundong ji” 萬國女界運動記) in the eleventh and twelfth combined issue covers women’s movements in European countries including Russia, Germany, Britain, Italy, concluding with Emma Goldman’s speech on anarchism and solidarity delivered at the 1907 International Anarchist Congress. [69] The thirteenth and fourteenth combined issue features three additional short pieces, following up on events mentioned in the previous two articles. One short piece, titled “Report on theHeadquartersof British Socialist Women” (“Ji Yingguo furen shehuidang benbu” 記英國婦人社會黨本部) introduces a proposal by British socialist women to establish a headquarters for the Socialist International Women in London. It also comments on their advocacy for women’ssuffrage, however, adds a note showing disapproval: “Because their advocacy does not conform to our journal’s objective, we will not elaborate further. In the next issue, we will write an article to attack it” (以其與本社宗旨不符，故不贅述耳。下冊當作文攻擊). [70] As promised, the sixteenth to nineteenth combined issue features an article titled “The Criminal History of Election” (“Xuanju zuieshi”選舉罪惡史), providing an abridged translation of the eighth chapter of Louis Proal’s Political Crime(La Criminalité Politique), which examines corruption caused by election systems in European history. [71]
Scholars often suggest that late Qing Chinese women’s emulation of Western and Japanese women indicates a hierarchical relationship underpinned by imperialist order. [72] But the anarchist vision of absolute equality anticipated by Tianyi liberates its construction of women’s space from this power structure. When reporting on recent events in international women’s space, the journal often offers criticism in its own argumentative or sentimental ways, as seen in the earlier example. In another instance, the Miscellaneous Notes 雜記 section of the thirteen and fourteen combined issue features “On the Miscellaneous Events in Women’s Space” (“Nüjie zashi tan” 女界雜事談), depicting recent events in Western women’s space. [73] One part of this article comments on wealthy American women’s luxurious consumption and the stark disparity between rich and poor. Another part expresses disagreement with the proposals on women’s suffrage and labor rights raised at the meeting of the Baltic Lettish Social Democratic Workers Party in Russia: “Looking at such proposals, they erase the differences between men and women to practice gender equality, and are particularly considerate of women, which could be called acceptable. However, the representative government and the wage system still follow the past conventions, and these are what we reject” (觀此等議案，旣忘男女之差別，以實行男女平等，而體恤婦人，尤為周至，可謂允當者也。惟代議政體、賃銀制度，猶欲沿往昔之舊，此則吾輩所否認也). [74]
Tianyi also covered the debates among women’s movements from different countries. The Report section in the eighth, ninth, and tenth combined issue features an article titled “On the Relationship between Women’s Space and the International Socialist Congress” (“Ji nüjie yu wanguo shehuidang dahui zhi guanxi” 記女界與萬國社會黨大會之關係), describing the discussion of women’s issues at the International Socialist Congress in Stuttgart. [75] The congress was divided into two factions holding different opinions on women’s suffrage: one advocating for restricted suffrage and the other for equal suffrage, and they are described as being “engaged in intense debate with each other” (致相詰駁). [76] The article notes that, when the committee discussed women’s suffrage, a German socialist woman made a powerful speech, a British woman expressed objection to her, and an Austrian woman then “used eloquentwords to attack the British women’s movement” (以雄辯之詞，攻擊英國婦人之運動). [77] These descriptions vivify the coexistence of conflicting voices inside the international women’s space. We can see here that Tianyi’s imagination of this space is still informed by its vision of equality: though it is composed of participants from different countries, there is no hierarchical division based on nationality. Chinese women’s space did not need to merely follow its Western counterpart; Western women’s space was also not a harmonious and homogenous one. Women from different countries were unified in an international women’s space, yet each country remained independent and equal.
International Feminism in the Age of Early Globalization
Having traced the global journey of intellectual resourcesand contextualized the terms of shijie,wanguo, andwanguo nüjie, I now turn to synthesize these clues and meanings in order to theoretically explore Tianyi’s feminism. My analysis begins with a review of He-Yin Zhen’s feminist editorials to see how her own framing of the relationship between China and the world can inspire us. He-Yin was acutely attentive to the oppression of women as a global, trans-temporal issue permeating cultural, economic, educational, military, and other realms. The opening paragraph of “TheFeminist Manifesto” (“Nüzi xuanbushu” 女子宣布書) points out the long-standing gender inequality manifested in various forms across different countries, including those in seemingly progressive Europe and America:
Alas! The inequality between men and women in the world has been long. Indian women burn themselves to be buried with their dead husbands. Japanese women bow and bend to serve their husbands. European and American countries practice monogamy and claim equality, but women are rarely able to participate in the legislature or vote. Where do the so-called equal rights really exist? Moreover, if we turn to look at our China, then men treat women almost not like human beings.
嗚呼！世界之男女，其不平等久矣。印度之女，自焚以殉男，日本之女，卑屈以事男。歐美各國，雖行一夫一妻之制，號為平等，然議政之權，選舉之權，女子均鮮得干預。所謂平權者，果安在邪？更反觀之吾中國，則男子之視女子也，幾不以人類相待。 [78]
“On the Question of Women’s Liberation” expresses the hope that women’s liberation will transform the existing “world that is exclusive to men” (男子專有之世界) into “a world shared by men and women” (男女共有之世界). It further criticizes women’s liberation in Europe and America for being merely nominal and encourages Asian women to pursue authentic equality and freedom:
Asian women, awed by the civilizations of Europe and America, believe that European and American women truly attain liberation and enjoy the joys of equality and freedom. It seems as if following in European and American women’s footsteps would be enough to fulfill their wish. Alas! In this era of women’s revolution, I never wish for women to have merely pseudo freedom and pseudo equality. I particularly hope that women achieve authentic freedom and authentic equality!
亞洲婦女，震于歐美之文明，以為歐美女子實行解放，實享平等自由之樂。一若克步歐美女子之後塵，為願已足。嗚乎！處今日女子革命之時代，吾決不望女子僅獲偽自由、偽平等也，吾尤望女子取獲真自由、真平等也！ [79]
“OnWomen’sAntimilitarism” (“Nüzi feijunbeizhuyi lun” 女子非軍備主義論) critiques militarism in Europe, America, and Japan as well as China’s admiration for it. The last paragraph speaks to all women in the world about the glory of embracing antimilitarism and nonviolence:
If antimilitarism prevails, then weak nations will end the invasion by strong countries, common people will be freed from the oppression by the state, and women too can break free from the yoke of men, thus achieving the happiness of freedom. This is indeed the omen of world peace and joy. I deeply wish that women around the world could understand this significance and participate in the antimilitarist movement collectively, then such efforts to save the people and the world will gloriously rival the brilliance of the sun and the moon.
非軍備主義行，則弱種泯強國之侵凌，平民脫國家之壓制，為女子者亦可脫男子之羈絆，以博自由之幸福。此實世界和平安樂之先聲也。吾深願世界婦女共明此義，實行非軍備運動，則濟民救世之功，偉然與日月爭光矣。 [80]
Liu, Karl, and Ko have argued that “For He-Yin Zhen, Euro-America functioned not as a hierarchical comparative but, rather, as part of a global conversation on feminism and modernity, a conversation in which she was as fully participant as anyone else.” [81] The three quoted passages all emphasize women’s liberation as a fundamental global issue. On these grounds, He-Yin critiques the current asymmetrical, hierarchical relationship between China/Asia and the West through critiques of the standard of civilization, violence by imperialism and the state, and the formation of gender inequality. Consequently, the category of women is differentiated according to the politics of location: on the one hand, European and American women’s movements were not models for Chinese and Asian women; on the other hand, in order to achieve a common antimilitarist ambition, “women around the world” could be universally interpellated, mobilized, and allied.
Reconnecting He-Yin’s editorials with the global context of Tianyi and its vision of international women’s space, I propose international feminism as a historical-theoretical concept in order to delineate both the production and the meanings of the discursive entanglement of anarchism, feminism, and socialist internationalism in Tianyi. As such, my choice of the term “international,” which differs from Liu, Karl, and Ko ’s use of “transnational,” places greater emphasis on the historical and political contexts of Tianyiin its entirety, especially its mediated encounter with internationalism at the turn of the twentieth century, and how these contexts shaped the contours of its feminist agendas. [82]
Feminisms modified by “international,” “transnational,” and “global,” constitute a discursive constellation that aims to transcend nationalism and national perspectives to discuss feminist theory and practice under global conditions. [83] As Alison M. Jaggar noticed in 1998, a community of global feminist discourse that “occurs in multiple and overlapping networks of individuals and communities and with varying and changing agendas,” was “in the making.” [84] Gradually formed during the 1990s in a background of accelerated globalization, this discursive constellation emerged as a critical paradigm for scholars to rethink the geopolitics of the local and the global, the center and the margin, in feminist knowledge production. This paradigm is still felicitous when retrospectively considering the case of the international feminism of Tianyi, whose time was characterized as the age of “early globalization” by Benedict Anderson . [85] The early globalization of late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was made possible by advancements in the construction of telegraphic and postal infrastructure and the development of new means of transportation, which facilitated not only the movement of letters and printed matter, but also massive migrations around the world. [86] Anderson in his book describes how European and Asian anarchists formed a globalized network in this historical context, a story that could be seen as a precursor to He-Yin and Tianyi. [87]
This age of early globalization is notably exemplified by the global journey of the intellectual resources behind Tianyi. As suggested in an earlier section, the translation of foreign images, texts, and ideas, and the conversations between Chinese revolutionaries and Japanese anarchists and socialists, are not examples of static, one-dimensional replication and indoctrination. These global contexts are instead characterized by a spirit of creative and critical reception, exchange, and interaction. Moreover, this spirit is aptly demonstrated in the journal’s worldview and is examined by He-Yin’s editorials on the relationship between Chinese and Western women’s movements, both of which are products of the amalgamation of anarchism, feminism, and a touch of internationalism. Unlike anarchism and feminism, which were extensively discussed by He-Yin and Tianyi, this internationalism was not theoretically defined and explored, and nor did the journal often use this term. He-Yin was not practically involved in any internationalist associations. [88] Tianyi’s encounter with internationalism mainly relies on its journalistic representation, which is a mediated, imagined, and indirect encounter. But Tianyi’s overall internationalist inclinations cannot be overlooked. The heightened elements of internationalism, as evidenced by the change in the journal’s General Objectives, created tension and ambivalence towards some of its early principles. Consider how the journal’s later advocacy of pacifism challenges its earlier support for violent revolution. More importantly,Tianyi’s indirect encounter with internationalism—through representation and mediation—employs a range of new words and concepts, such as shijiezhuyi andwanguo nüjie, which serve to consolidate important abstract meanings and values that shape both its worldview and its feminist politics.
If the modifier“international” refers to interaction between nations and concerns the ways in which national entities play roles in relation to each other on the global stage, then international feminism provides a medium for feminist inquiry into the politics of such interactivity and relationality. Through an attentiveness to multiple voices of women’s movements from different countries and a rejection of mythicizing the Western ones as progressive and exemplary, Tianyibased its feminist politics on a dialectic between international multiplicity/unity and national autonomy/equality. This dialectic is a political idealism that was imagined mostly by virtue of journalistic coverage and commentary on recent events in an international women’s space.This method allows Tianyi the agency not only to reproduce but also contest some internationalist feminist objectives, including women’s suffrage, based on the journal’s own anarchist position. Tianyi’s international feminism thus also pushes us to muse on the intersection of journalism in periodical media with the politics and possibilities of feminist knowledge production and representation.
While international feminism holds promising energy in rethinking feminist knowledge production, its historical and political context also define its limitations. That is, a lack of consideration given to the actual differences among women. Although He-Yin questions whether the Western women’s movements of her time could serve as a model, her argument is based on the absolute anarchist standard of “true equality” and “true freedom” rather than on actual women’s experiences and struggles. This standard risks failing to accurately evaluate and homogenizing the oppression faced by different women, leading her argument towards an essentialist tendency. This also explains why the rhetoric of women’s space in Tianyi can shift smoothly between local, national, and international levels, often without adequately analyzing the specific contexts of women’s practices and cultural differences. This problem is partly the consequence of Tianyi’s encounter with Marxist-inspired socialist internationalist ideas, whose relationship with feminism, as Hartmann describes, is an “unhappy marriage.” [89] This is because Marxism tends to view gender as a category of class, treating all women as belonging to a single, somewhat homogenized group with a uniform class consciousness. This view is often critiqued in today’s international/transnational/global feminist frameworks.
The turn of the twentieth century was a period marked by the rise of both global print culture and international political movements. The circulation of texts, thoughts, people, things, and information across geographic boundaries signaled an age of early globalization, in which Tianyi utilized the intellectual resources of anarchism, feminism, and socialist internationalism to extend its vision beyond the confines of national culture and politics, thereby intervening into the process of world history. Women from different countries and regions of the world formed discursive and practical alliances to campaign for gender equality and other forms of equality. The international feminist consciousness reflected in Tianyi was both a remote part of this alliance and a reflexive representation of it.
Acknowledgments
This paper is revised from part of my MPhil thesis on Tianyi and late Qing feminism, completed at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. I am deeply indebted to my MPhil supervisor, Nim Yan Wong, for her valuable guidance on this project. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the ACLA 2022 annual meeting for the panel “Intra-Asian Feminism: Then and Now.” I am grateful to the organizers, Clara Iwasaki and Gal Gvili, and the other panelists for their constructive feedback. I would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments and Amber Szymczyk for her editorial support.
[1] WanShiguo 万仕国, “He Zhen nianbiao” 何震年表 [Chronology of He Zhen’s life], Yangzhou wenhua yanjiu luncong 扬州文化研究论丛 7, no. 1 (2011): 81-82. He-Yin Zhen’s 何殷震 original name is He Ban 何班. In July 1904, one month after their marriage, He Ban and Liu Shipei relocated to Shanghai; she then changed her name to He Zhen 何震. In the summer of 1907, He Zhen started to use the name He-Yin Zhen. The use of her maternal surname Yin 殷 reflecting her desire for equality between men and women.
[2] Ibid. The other four co-founders of the Society for the Restoration of Women’s Rights were Lu Huiquan 陸恢權, Zhou Dahong 周大鴻, Zhang Xu 張旭, and Xu Yazun 徐亞尊. While this paper uses pinyin romanization, a different romanization of 天義, Tien Yee, officially appeared on the journal’s cover. The first two issues were titled Tianyi天義報 (Journal of natural justice). A total of nineteen issues were published, with the first issue appearing on June 10, 1907, and the sixteenth to nineteenth combined issue appearing in March 1908. Tianyiwas edited and annotated by Wan Shiguo and Lydia He Liu 劉禾in the book Tianyi Hengbao天義．衡報 ( Natural Justice & Equality ), published in 2016. All the original texts from Tianyi used in this paper are cited from this book. Unless otherwise noted, all translations are my own. For some early studies on He-Yin and her anarcha-feminism, see Peter Zarrow, “He Zhen and Anarcho-Feminism in China,” Journal of Asian Studies 47, no. 4 (1988): 796-813. Huiying Liu, “Feminism: An Organic or An Extremist Position? On Tien Yee As Represented by He Zhen,” positions: asia critique 11, no. 3 (2003): 779–800. Xia Xiaohong, “ Tianyi Bao and He Zhen’s views on ‘women’s revolution’,” trans. Ying Hu, in Different Worlds of Discourse: Transformations of Gender and Genre in Late Qing and Early Republican China , ed. Nanxiu Qian, Grace Fong, and Richard Smith (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 293-314.
[3] Lydia He Liu, Rebecca E. Karl, and Dorothy Ko, eds., The Birth of Chinese Feminism: Essential Texts in Transnational Theory , eds. Lydia He Liu, Rebecca E. Karl, and Dorothy Ko (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014).
[4] Ibid., 1-48.
[5] For the discussion on the four different reading strategies (“horizontal,” “vertical,” “integrated,” and “situated”), see Michel Hockx, Joan Judge, and Barbara Mittler, “Introduction,” in Women and the Periodical Press in China’s Long Twentieth Century: A Space of Their Own? , eds. Michel Hockx, Joan Judge, and Barbara Mittler (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), 8-9.
[6] Sebastian Conrad, What Is Global History? (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016), 5.
[7] Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, “Crossing Borders in Transnational Gender History,” Journal of Global History 6 no. 3 (2011): 357-379. Ulrike Strasser, “Thinking About Women’s and Gender History & World and Global History Intersections, Tensions, Opportunities,” Jindai Zhongguo fu nüshi yanjiu近代中國婦女史研究 no. 36 (2020): 193-227.
[8] Benedict Anderson, Under Three Flags: Anarchism and the Anti-Colonial Imagination (London: Verso, 2005), 3.
[9] Donna M. Kowal, “Anarcha-Feminism,” in The Palgrave Handbook of Anarchism, eds. Carl Levy and Matthew S. Adams (Palgrave Macmillan Cham: 2018), 265.
[10] “Faguo nüjie Luyisi Misuoer xiang” 法國女傑露伊斯．米索爾像 [A portrait of French heroine Louise Michel], in Tianyi Hengbao 天義．衡報 [ Natural Justice & Equality], ed. and annot. Wan Shiguo 萬仕國 and Lydia He Liu 劉禾 (Beijing: Zhongguo renmin daxue chubanshe, 2016), 4. Gongquan公權, “Faguo nüjie Luyisi zhuan”法國女傑露依斯傳 [Biography of French heroine Louise], in Tianyi Hengbao, 384-386.
[11] Gongquan, “Faguo nüjie Luyisi zhuan,” 386.
[13] Ibid.
[14] See Zhen Shu震述, “Jingji geming yu nüzi geming” 經濟革命與女子革命 [Economic revolution and women’s revolution] , in Tianyi Hengbao, 204-205. Zhida 志達, “Nüzi wenti yanjiu” 女子問題研究 [Study on women’s questions], in Tianyi Hengbao, 497-499.
[15] Gongquan公權, “Furen yu zhengzhi” 婦人與政治 [Women and politics], inTianyi Hengbao, 390-392.
[16] Duying 獨應, “Funü xuanjuquan wenti” 婦女選舉權问题 [On the question of women’s suffrage] , inTianyi Hengbao, 399-401.
[17] Craig A. Smith, Chinese Asianism, 1894-1945 (Cambridge: Harvard University Asian Center, 2021), 102-105.
[18] Gongquan 公權, “Shehuizhuyi jiangxihui diyici kaihui jishi” 社會主義講習會第一次開會記事 [ Record of the first meeting for the study of socialism], inTianyi Hengbao, 307-310.
[19] Ibid. He-Yin said that “I am very skeptical of all kinds of theories and scholarships, only obsessively believing in anarchism, hence I established the journal Tianyi to argue for gender equality on one side and anarchism on the other. The goal of anarchism lies in human equality and no one having the privilege. If men and women are equal, it is one aspect of human equality; women struggling for equality are also fighting against the privilege” (吾於一切學術，均甚懷疑，惟迷信無政府主義，故創辦《天義》報，一面言男女平等，一面言無政府。葢無政府之目的，在于人類平等及無人特權。若男女平等，亦係人類平等之一端；女子爭平等，亦係抵抗特權之一端).
[20] Gongquan, “Shehuizhuyi jiangxihui diyici kaihui jishi,” 310.
[21] “Riren shehuizhuyi jinyao yanjianghui guanggao” 日人社會主義金曜講演會廣告 [Advertisement for Japanese Socialist Friday Lectures], inTianyi Hengbao, 311.
[22] “Xingde Qiushui laihan” 幸德秋水來函 [A letter from Kōtoku Shūsui], inTianyi Hengbao, 347-348.
[23] Ibid.
[24] “Shubao jieshao”書報介紹 [Introduction of books and periodicals], inTianyi Hengbao, 586-587. “Shubao jieshao” 書報介紹 [Introduction of books and periodicals], inTianyi Hengbao, 550-551.
[25] “Huo diyu”《活地獄》 [The Living Underworld], inTianyi Hengbao, 599-600. Shenshu 申叔, “Huo diyu xu” 《活地獄》序 [Preface to The Living Underworld ], inTianyi Hengbao, 565-566.
[26] “Xinkan jieshao”新刊介紹 [Introduction of new publications], inTianyi Hengbao, 357-358.
[27] For a description of the interaction between Mother EarthandTianyi, see Rachel Hui-Chi Hsu, Emma Goldman, Mother Earth, and the Anarchist Awakening (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2021), 137-138.
[28] “Observations and Comments,” Mother Earth 2 no. 6 (1907): 239.
[29] “International Notes,” Mother Earth 3 no. 6 (1908): 271.
[30] The concept of “geography of the book” points to how “geography is involved in the production, distribution, and consumption of books.” See Miles Ogborn and Charles W.J. Withers, “Introduction: Book Geography, book History,” in Geographies of the Book, eds. Miles Ogborn and Charles W.J. Withers (Farnham: Ashgate, 2010), 5. Pan Kuang-che 潘光哲 also uses this term to describe the physical environment of books in the late Qing intellectuals’ reading culture. See Pan Kuang-che 潘光哲, Wan Qing shiren de xixue yuedushi 晚清士人的西學閱讀史 [In Search of Western Learning: A History of Reading in Late Qing China, 1833–1898] (Taipei: Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, 2014), 40.
[31] “Xinkan jieshao”新刊介紹 [Introduction of new publications], inTianyi Hengbao, 554. “Xin shiji”《新世紀》 [New Century], inTianyi Hengbao, 606-607.
[32] “Xin shiji” 《新世紀》 [New Century], inTianyi Hengbao, 610-611. “Xin shiji congshu diyice yi dao”《新世紀叢書》第一冊已到 [The first volume of the New Century Book Series], inTianyi Hengbao, 611.
[33] “Xinkan jieshao” 新刊介紹 [Introduction of new publications], inTianyi Hengbao, 568-569. “Wuzhengfuzhuyi”《無政府主義》 [Anarchism], inTianyi Hengbao, 611.
[34] “Xingde Qiushui xiansheng yanshuogao chuban” 幸德秋水先生演說稿出版 [The publication of Mr. Kōtoku Shūsui’s speech script], inTianyi Hengbao, 604-605.
[35] “Xinkan yugao” 新刊豫告[Advance notice of new publications], inTianyi Hengbao, 568.
[36] Dahong 大鴻, “Shehui geming da fengchao” 社會革命大風潮 [The big trend of social revolutions],” inTianyi Hengbao, 276-278
[37] According to Lydia Liu, the term wanguo 萬國 (lit., ten thousand countries) was first used as the Chinese equivalent for the English “international” by the American missionary William Alexander Parsons Martin in the translation of Elements of International Law as Wanguo gongfa 萬國公法 in 1864. It was later replaced by the Japanese loan kokusai 國際. See Lydia He Liu, Translingual Practice: Literature, National Culture, and Translated Modernity—China, 1930-1937 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995), 271-272. Liu also suggests that “the equating of shijie世界 with the English term ‘world’ was mediated through the Japanese sekai 世界and significantly, this term successfully replaced earlier Chinese conceptual namings of temporal and spatial boundaries such as tianxia 天下.” See Liu, Translingual Practice, 342. In their examination of the concepts tianxia天下, wanguo 萬國, and shijie 世界 in the late Qing context, Jin Guantao and Liu Qingfeng suggest that after the First Sino-Japanese War, a decentralized world view, with a strong cosmopolitan aspect, replaced the traditional China-centric world view. See Jin Guantao 金觀濤 and Liu Qingfeng 劉青峰, “Cong ‘tianxia,’ ‘wanguo,’ dao ‘shijie’—wan Qing minzuzhuyi xingcheng de zhongjian huanjie” 從「天下」、「萬國」到「世界」——晚清民族主義形成的中間環節 [From tianxia, wanguo to shijie—the in-between link in the formation of late Qing nationalism], Ershiyi shiji 二十一世紀 no. 94 (2006): 40-53.
[38] “Tianyi bao qi”天義報 啟 [Announcementof the publication of Tianyi ], Nüzi shijie女子世界 [Women’s world], no. 6 (1907): 6-8.
[39] Ibid., 6.
[40] Shenshu 申叔, “Wuzhengfuzhuyi zhi pingdeng guan” 無政府主義之平等觀 [Anarchist views of equality], inTianyi Hengbao, 93-108.
[41] Ibid., 101-106.
[42] Gongquan, “Shehuizhuyi jiangxihui diyici kaihui jishi,” 308. Shenshu 申叔, “Kulubatejin xueshu lüeshu” 苦魯巴特金學術畧述 [A summary of Kropotkin’s theory], in Tianyi Hengbao, 258-264.
[43] Shenshu, “Kulubatejin xueshu lüeshu,” 258-261.
[44] “Esperanto cili tongshi” Esperanto詞例通釋 [General explanations of Esperanto vocabulary],inTianyi Hengbao, 504-510.
[45] Ibid., 509.
[46] “Shijie tongbao” 世界同胞 [World Compatriots], in Tianyi Hengbao, 22.
[47] Ibid.
[48] “Jianzhang”簡章 [Bylaws], in Tianyi Hengbao, 580-581.
[49] “Jianzhang”簡章 [Bylaws], in Tianyi Hengbao , 588-590. In the eighth, ninth, and tenth combined issue, the English version of the General Objectives is a different one: “1. Anti-imperialism. 2. Against world powers. 3.Anarchist Communism. 4. Equality of the sexes.” See “Jianzhang” 簡章 [Bylaws], inTianyi Hengbao, 603-604.
[50] Zhida 志達, “Shijiezhuyi zhi gongdi” 世界主義之公敵 [The enemy of internationalism], in Tianyi Hengbao, 287-288.
[51] Ibid., 288.
[52] Ibid.
[53] Zhida 志達, “Buping zai wanguo pinghehui” 不平哉萬國平和會 [The unjust International Peace Conference], in Tianyi Hengbao, 280-281. For the Hague Secret Emissary Affair, see Maartje Abbenhuis, The HagueConferences andInternationalP olitics, 1898-1915 (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019), 157-158. Carter J. Eckert, Ki-baik Lee, Michael Robinson, and Edward W. Wagner, Korea, Old and New: A History (Seoul: Ilchokak Publishers for Korea Institute, Harvard University, 1990), 245.
[54] “Wanguo geming yundong ji”萬國革命運動記 [Report on international revolutionary movements], in Tianyi Hengbao , 329-331. Gongquan 公權, “Huiji wanguo geming fengchao” 彙記萬國革命風潮 [Collected reports on international revolutionary currents], in Tianyi Hengbao, 334-335.
[55] Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (London: Verso, 2006), 33.
[56] The term n üjieas a neologism was commonly used in public discourses on women’s issues during the late Qing. According to Qin Fang, this term first appears in the “Recent History of the Women’s World” (女界近史) section of Nüxue bao女學報 (The Journal of Women’s Learning) in 1903. Qin Fang 秦方, Nüjie zhi xingqi:wan Qing Tianjinnüzi jiaoyu yun üxing xingxiang jiangou 「女界」之興起：晚清天津女子教育與女性形象建構 [The emergence of women’s space: women’s education and the construction of women’s image in late Qing Tianjin] (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2019), 40. Yun Zhu understands n üjie as an “imagined community” incorporating the meanings of sisterhood, national identity, and gender identity. See Yun Zhu, Imagining Sisterhood in Modern Chinese Texts, 1890-1937 (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017), 1-34. Yun Zhang suggests that this term, as a new way of conceptualizing women’s public and collective identity, carries feminist meanings both within and outside the discourse of nationalism. Zhang uses He-Yin Zhen as an example to illustrate a kind of feminism beyond nationalism but does not analyze the spatial meanings and international perspective of the term, an omission that my paper seeks to address. Yun Zhang, “Nationalism and Beyond: Writings on Nüjie and the Emergence of a New Gendered Collective Identity in Modern China,” Nan Nü 17, no. 2 (2015): 245-275.
[58] Bugongchou 不公仇, “Li Zhuowu xiansheng xueshuo” 李卓吾先生學說 [Scholar Li Zhuowu’s theory], inTianyi Hengbao, 224-226.
[59] Zhen Shu, “Nüzi Fuchou lun,” 50.
[60] Zhen Shu 震述, “Diwang yu changji” 帝王與娼妓 [Emperors and prostitutes], in Tianyi Hengbao , 47.
[61] Zhen Shu震述, “Nüzi jiefang wenti” 女子解放問題 [On the question of women’s liberation], in Tianyi Hengbao, 142.
[62] Zhida 志達, “Nandao nüchang zhi Shanghai” 男盜女娼之上海 [Men the robbers, women the prostitutes in Shanghai], in Tianyi Hengbao, 142.
[64] Zhida 志達, “Nü wei renqie”女為人妾 [Women becoming men’s concubines], in Tianyi Hengbao , 273-274.
[65] Ibid., 274.
[66] “Canzai gongnü” 慘哉工女 [Tragic are the women workers], in Tianyi Hengbao , 290-291
[67] Zhida 志達, “Qingkan Riben gongnü linyin’e” 請看日本工女賃銀額 [Please look at Japanese women workers’ salaries], in Tianyi Hengbao, 297-298.
[68] “Nüjie jinshi ji”女界近事記 [Report on recent events in women’s space], in Tianyi Hengbao,322-323.
[69] “Wanguo nüjie yundong ji” 萬國女界運動記 [Report on movements in international women’s space], in Tianyi Hengbao , 331-332.
[70] Gongquan 公權, “Ji Yingguo furen shehuidang benbu” 記英國婦人社會黨本部 [Report on the headquarters of British socialist women], in Tianyi Hengbao, 333.
[71] Shenshu 申叔, “Xuanju zuieshi” 選舉罪惡史 [The criminal history of elections], in Tianyi Hengbao , 491-497.
[72] See, for example, Qin Fang, Nüjie zhi xingqi, 61.
[73] “Nüjie zashi tan” 女界雜事談 [On miscellaneous events in women’s space], in Tianyi Hengbao, 540-543.
[74] Ibid., 542-543.
[75] “Ji nüjie yu wanguo shehuidang dahui zhi guanxi” 記女界與萬國社會黨大會之關係 [On the relationship between women’s space and the International Socialist Congress], in Tianyi Hengbao, 322.
[76] Ibid.
[77] Ibid.
[78] Zhen Shu震述,“Nüzi xuanbushu”女子宣布書 [The feminist manifesto], in Tianyi Hengbao, 41.
[79] Zhen Shu, “Nüzi jiefang wenti,” 136.
[80] Zhu Shu震述, “Nüzi feijunbeizhuyi lun” 女子非軍備主義論 [On women’s antimilitarism], in Tianyi Hengbao,188.
[81] Liu, Karl,and Ko, The Birth of Chinese Feminism, 38.
[82] Liu, Karl, and Ko do not explicitly explain what “transnational” means in their volume. One of their concerns is how He-Yin’s original analytical vocabulary shows that non-Western terminology and epistemology can compete with contemporary Western gender studies theories to understand the worldwide phenomenon of gender equality. See their comparison of He-Yin’s term nannü with the Western sex-gender framework and the discussion on He-Yin’s shengji as a feminist critique of political economy. Ibid., 13-26.Other scholars also have similar propositions. See Abosede George, “He-Yin Zhen, Oyewumi, and Geographies of Anti-Universalism,” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 35, no. 1 (2015): 183–188. Saran A. Mattice, “He Yin Zhen’s Critical Ruism: Feminist Reclamation and Chinese Philosophy,” Philosophy East and West 72, no. 4 (2022): 993-1022.
[83] Just as I prioritize the modifier “international” for my own use, scholars have their own preferences and reasons for their choices of respective modifiers. The choice is deliberate and made at the cost of other frameworks, which are usually considered less suitable or even deficient. For example, Richa Nagar and Amanda Lock Swarr suggest that the framework of transnational feminisms “strives to liberate itself from the political and intellectual constraints of international feminisms and global feminisms.” See Richa Nagar and Amanda Lock Swarr, “Introduction: Theorizing Transnational Feminist Praxis,” in Amanda Lock Swarr and Richa Nagar, eds. Critical Transnational Feminist Praxis (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2010), 4.
[84] Alison M. Jaggar, “Globalizing Feminist Ethics,” Hypatia 13, no. 2 (1998): 27.
[85] Anderson, Under Three Flags , 3. The paradigm of international/global/transnational feminism works mainly on the issues of contemporary globalization, but some scholars also attempt to historicize the globe. For example, Mrinalini Sinha, Donna J. Guy, and Angela Woollacott, in their 1998 edited special issue “Feminisms and Internationalism” for Gender & History , call for the study of “the theme of the history of internationalism in feminist theory and praxis.” See Mrinalini Sinha, Donna J. Guy, and Angela Woollacott, “Introduction: Why Feminisms and Internationalism?”, Gender & History 10, no. 3 (1998): 347. Glenda Sluga suggests that “Putting feminisms front and centre of the histories of twentieth-century internationalisms adds to and refines our understanding of the gendered genealogies of modern political thought and institutions.” See Glenda Sluga, “Women, Feminisms and Twentieth-Century Internationalisms,” in Glenda Sluga and Patricia Clavin, eds. Internationalisms: A Twentieth-Century History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 63.
[86] Anderson, Under Three Flags , 3.
[87] Anderson mentions how Filipino activist Mariano Ponce traveled from Spain to Asia and exchanged political thoughts with Sun Yat-sen, who resided in Japan at the time. Ibid., 219-221.
[88] It was not until 1913, after Carrie Chapman Catt, the founder of International Woman Suffrage Alliance, and Aletta Henriëtte Jacobs, who also worked for the association, visited China in 1912, that Zhang Hanying 張漢英 and Chen Dehui 陳德暉 started its short-lived Chinese branch. This marked the beginning of Chinese women’s formal involvement in an international feminist association. He-Yin and Tianyi’s indirect encounter with internationalism may provide an alternative to studies centered on international women’s organizations. See Leila J. Rupp, Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women’s Movement (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997).
[89] Heidi I. Hartmann, “The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a More Progressive Union,” Capital & Class 3, no. 2 (1979): 1-33.
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