He Yin Zhen (1884—circa 1920) was a radical Chinese language anarcha-feminist political thinker. Her radicalness manifests itself not solely in her views on such points as ladies’s oppression, financial oppression, militarism, and imperialism, but in addition within the type of life that she lived as a girl mental across the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the final of the imperial dynasties of China. Regardless of (and maybe due to) her radicalness, He Yin’s work is way much less well-known in comparison with white feminist philosophers within the World North.
Within the Chinese language-speaking world, she is commonly launched as “the Chinese language Simone de Beauvoir” although she superior a social constructivist view of gender forty-two years earlier than the publication of The Second Intercourse. Whereas her writings have been translated into English in 2013, there was minimal philosophical consideration paid to her work within the English-speaking world. Even when philosophers like Saran Mattice and Jana Rošker interact together with her work, their essays are revealed in comparative or Chinese language philosophy journals, somewhat than basic or feminist philosophy journals which can be thought-about prestigious by the Anglophone philosophy group. Granted, there might be many the explanation why an article will get revealed in a single journal somewhat than one other. Nevertheless it’s nonetheless secure to conclude that the overwhelming majority of Anglo-European feminist political philosophers should not conscious of her work.
The purpose of this weblog submit is to (re)introduce He Yin’s work to the Anglo-European philosophy world. I argue that it’s crucial to take He Yin’s work critically as a result of it enriches Anglo-European feminist philosophy by a decolonial lens and, extra importantly, challenges the Anglo-Eurocentric conception of philosophy.
Whereas He Yin was writing greater than 100 years in the past, most of the questions she raised are nonetheless relevant, and the extent of radicalness of her work is unparalleled even by at the moment’s requirements. She wrote concerning the struggles of working-class ladies, illuminating the exploitative nature of intercourse work and the improbability of attaining equality for all ladies by letting just a few maintain energy. She known as for antimilitarism, laying out the methods wherein ladies are harmed by army buildup and warfare. She criticized loads of Anglo-European feminist efforts (e.g., the ladies’s suffrage motion) for lifting up solely ladies who’re already in a privileged place. Western liberalism, on He Yin’s account, doesn’t promote real freedom or equality for marginalized communities, and justifies practices which can be no extra civilized than perceived “barbaric” practices in China.
Chinese language male intellectuals writing throughout the identical interval have been deeply affected by imperialism. Whereas they’re usually perceived because the founding fathers of Chinese language feminism, they have been extra involved concerning the nation and their very own masculinity versus ladies’s liberation. They known as for prohibiting footbinding, permitting ladies and ladies to obtain fundamental schooling, and different practices that will align themselves with the “civilized” in World North international locations. He Yin discovered these calls jarring as a result of they superior male intellectuals’ self-interest, self-distinction, and self-comfort within the identify of girls’s liberation. Selling ladies’s schooling, for instance, allowed male intellectuals to flee from household tasks given that ladies’s colleges in China uniformly emphasised family administration and that household schooling was regarded as the premise of all academic efforts. Calls like these benefited males on the expense of girls.
Her evaluation of social justice points is grounded in two central tenets: nannü and shengji. Nannü is the mixture of the 2 phrases for “male” and “feminine” in Chinese language. For He Yin, the connection between women and men represents energy dynamics that permeate all historic social relations. As Lydia Liu, Rebecca Karl, and Dorothy Ko put it, nannü is “a single conceptual mechanism, used as each noun and adjective, that lies at the inspiration of all patriarchal abstractions and markings of distinction.” Nannü goes past what we name “gender” and “intersectionality” at the moment. Along with producing social identities like working-class Chinese language ladies, the principle perform of the nannü distinction is to assemble constructions of energy and domination in all social relations. One vital implication of this extra totalizing idea is that nannü equality is the premise for all types of equality.
He Yin’s critique of the political economic system of gender is encapsulated in her idea of shengji. Shengji, usually translated as “livelihood,” is the labor needed for one’s survival. He Yin wrote in “On the Question of Women’s Labor” that “the system of slavery doesn’t originate within the class system; somewhat, it originates in the issue of livelihood (shengji wenti).” Working-class ladies and different marginalized persons are became non-public property because the wealthy accumulate their wealth underneath the auspices of the state. As a result of the authorized establishment of personal property sustains social injustice, He Yin known as for the abolition of the state to attain nannü equality.
He Yin’s methodology differs from that of many Anglo-European philosophers who are likely to concentrate on principle somewhat than motion. Nearly all of Anglo-European philosophers writing about resistance, for instance, current themselves as leaving room for various varieties and levels of resistance by claiming that the obligation to withstand is an imperfect obligation. I agree that the obligation to withstand oppression ought to be imperfect, however stating this as such is just not very useful in that it lacks action-guiding power.
Along with growing theoretical frameworks that illustrate oppression and social justice points, He Yin proposed sensible options. In “The Feminist Manifesto,” she spelled out seven targets that ladies ought to attempt for to assist understand nannü equality: defending monogamous however not polygamous marriage, dropping surnames, not preferring sons over daughters, securing equal schooling for all, legalizing relationship breakdown as a motive for divorce, guaranteeing that marriage solely occurs between individuals who have been married the identical variety of instances, and prohibiting intercourse work. Whereas a few of these initiatives could also be much less prone to result in social justice at the moment, He Yin’s proposal nonetheless sheds gentle on the type of work that feminist philosophers ought to intention to supply. If feminism is about overthrowing patriarchy, feminist work ought to transcend basic claims about an unspecified obligation to withstand to supply some motion plans.
Not solely did He Yin provided a step-by-step information for ladies to realize these targets, she additionally acted on them herself. Contemplate the purpose of dropping surnames:
“[A]fter a girl marries, she mustn’t take her husband’s surname. Even when she retains her maiden identify, it’s nonetheless unfair as a result of it’s her father’s surname however not her mom’s. Subsequently, ladies like us who’re dwelling within the current age ought to style our surnames from each the daddy’s and the mom’s [surnames]. After we overthrow the Manchus, neither males nor ladies ought to preserve a surname. That might be the precept of supreme justice.”
He Yin’s delivery identify was He Ban, with “He” as her household identify and “Ban” the primary identify. She was named after the Chinese language historian and lady thinker Ban Zhao. Viewing Ban Zhao’s feminist principle as oppressive to ladies, she later modified her first identify to “Zhen” (thunderclap) and signed her revealed work as “He Yin Zhen” to incorporate her mom’s maiden identify within the household identify. If He Yin have been alive at the moment, she would almost definitely drop the household identify totally and easily go by “Zhen.”
Integrity is commonly not a prerequisite for doing feminist work, and the advert hominem fallacy is commonly taught in intro-level logic programs. However the type of radical life lived by He Yin prompts us to ponder the connection between principle and follow. If justice-oriented feminist philosophizing is knowledgeable by follow, to what extent ought to philosophers reside a feminist life to supply accountable work?
He Yin’s work additionally challenges the Anglo-Eurocentric conception of philosophy. Philosophy has all the time been a predominantly white, Eurocentric, male occupation. If you happen to kind “thinker” into an AI picture generator, you’ll virtually actually get a picture of a white man with a messy lengthy beard. Relying on the algorithm, the person could look extra like Aristotle than Plato. Even in the event you kind “lady thinker” into the generator, the probabilities of getting a picture of an early twentieth century Chinese language lady are like ready for a ship on the airport. You’ll almost definitely get somebody that appears like Beauvoir.
One consequence of (and maybe additionally a motive for) the dearth of variety within the occupation is quotation injustice. Many feminist and anti-racist philosophers have criticized the truth that students from historically marginalized communities get cited far much less regularly in comparison with students from dominant teams. Certainly, many philosophers are fully erased from the documented mental historical past. Whereas feminist reclamation has regularly been finished with World North figures, a lot much less consideration has been paid to philosophers from the World South, particularly these working outdoors of conventional Asian/comparative philosophy. Hannah Arendt, for instance, was identified for her labor/work distinction, however He Yin differentiated between shengji and laodong (i.e., work) in 1907, fifty years earlier than the publication of The Human Situation. Ten years after her work was translated into English, He Yin nonetheless has not acquired the popularity she deserves within the mainstream political philosophy world. An anti-imperialist future for Anglo-European educational philosophy can’t be achieved if practices of mental engagement keep largely colonial and undiversified.
Along with reconceptualizing who could be a thinker, He Yin’s work additionally challenges the dominant view of the type of philosophy that marginalized people are able to producing. Mainstream analytic philosophy has been criticized for being hostile to marginalized and indigenous methodologies. He Yin’s writings, nevertheless, can be thought-about rigorous and profound even by mainstream analytic philosophy’s personal requirements.
One important characteristic of He Yin’s writings is her use of meticulous argumentation and in depth proof. The premises and conclusions of her arguments are laid out clearly. Potential objections are additionally anticipated and responded to. The sources cited in her writings are in depth when it comes to each high quality and amount. To justify the issue of livelihood because the origin of historic China’s system of enslaving ladies, He Yin contrasted slave-owners in China with these within the American South. When questioning Western liberalism’s alleged superiority, she mentioned issues with particular feminist efforts in lots of international North international locations, together with however not restricted to the U.S., the U.Ok., France, Finland, and Norway. She was additionally conscious of the predicament of girls in different Asian international locations like India and Japan.
Not solely did He Yin situate herself within the worldwide debate on varied social justice points, she was additionally well-versed within the historical past of Chinese language Ruist traditions and their impression on ladies and different marginalized teams. Her nuanced evaluation avoids lapsing into cultural relativism and permits her to concurrently criticize imperialism, capitalism, and Ruism in addition to Chinese language male intellectuals’ self-centered feminism. The sources that she engaged with additionally transcend the boundaries of style and self-discipline. The premise of her theorization goes past scholarly articles to incorporate sociological surveys, poems, and even novels.
The profundity of He Yin’s work can’t be absolutely addressed right here, however there’s no denying that her writings are invaluable to Anglo-European educational philosophy. Her work offers us with a decolonial perspective on points associated to feminist social/political philosophy. Her distinctive standpoint may additionally enrich the underexplored area of Asian vital race principle, a area that theorizes about Asian as an id somewhat than merely a class of philosophy. The truth that an early-twentieth-century Asian lady who obtained married on the age of 19 and virtually actually had her toes certain produced radical work in such depth and breadth additionally challenges imperialist expectations of what such ladies are able to.
Decolonizing Anglo-European educational philosophy takes much more effort than writing or studying a weblog submit, however we are able to do justice to indigenous thinkers provided that we take note of their work. As an increasing number of marginalized figures like He Yin Zhen proceed to be uncovered, I’m hopeful that we are able to go from the “Chinese language Simone de Beauvoir” to the “Chinese language He Yin Zhen,” and ultimately admire their ideas on their very own phrases.
The Ladies in Philosophy collection publishes posts on these excluded within the historical past of philosophy on the premise of gender injustice, problems with gender injustice within the area of philosophy, and problems with gender injustice within the wider world that philosophy might be helpful in addressing. In case you are excited about writing for the collection, please contact the Collection Editor Alida Liberman or the Affiliate Editor Elisabeth Paquette.
Yingshihan Zhu
Yingshihan Zhu is a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at CUNY, the Graduate Center. She works in feminist philosophy, social/political philosophy, ethical philosophy, and social epistemology. She can also be excited about Asian vital race principle. Her dissertation examines the ethical complexities of privileged oppressed brokers.
