Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-06

Nvues are legion II is she and her kind who
have set up a new standard for young women
of the vast middle clasS-the bourgeois, you
hke-in China.
THE modern girl is most noticeable m the
treaty ports. In thousands Sale exists, in
Shanghai TientSin, Peiping, Tsingtao, Canton,
Foochow, Annoy, Marking, Hankow-whereVer
foreign influence has been most impressive. But
she il common throughout all the provinces to-
day; her characteristics are recognized as dOmi-
nant IN the new woman Of China.
Movies, radio. gTamaphone, modern literature,
returned students and the equality Of sexes
slogan Of the Kuomintang Rave proved too
devastating a combination for the ne9Rly nm
pregnable conservatism of the Cninese people.
Nothing can stop the progress Of this new little
lady Looking at her IN that very Same Majestic
one afternoon friend remarked TO me-
There, it seems quite OBVIOUS to me, is where
the real revolution has taken place. There IS
the most definite proof that even in China the
old order ehangeth.''
The modeFnlzatiOn movement began soon
after the fall Of the Ching dynasty. in 1911.
but not until 1926, at the opening of the Ma
tionaliSt revolution, did it begin TO assume its
present radical trend. When the Nationalist
inangurated their campaign they did everything
possible to enlist the aid and interest of women.
urged to participate in the making Of new
China.
Many Of them Joined the KuoElintang-the
political party founded by DR.. Sun Yat-sen,
which engineered the revolution and today rules
the country. And during the stirring days Of
the Nationalist Northern expedition" these
enthusiastic young patriOts-many of them
girls StM IN their teens-undeFvent experiences
which brought them to the fun realization Of
the joy and power of lie Of freedom and
action
As nurses, clerks, propagandists teachers,
they served their party. There were even some
who side by side with Southern youth marched
as soldiers against militarism. Two famous
women's battaliOns which were formed in Can
ton and HankOw during the revolution stiH ex-
ist Is the Dare to DIE Reserve Corps.
At the close Of the unihcatiCn campaign the
thousands of young women who had helped TO
establish the new regime demanded recognition
for their effort. Today the feminine influence
in the KuOmintang ID affirmed by their pres
ence I'M large numbers In an the government
Offices, where they act in many official capaei-
ties-as directors and vice directors Of bureaus,
department heads and secretaries. women even
have been appointed a Judges. and Miss DF.)
S0uney Tcheng recently was chosen a. Chin4'1
Minister to France. Besides those employed as
executives. there are hundreds Of clerks and
StenogTapheTs
hierarchy which holds the final veto power and
shapes the policies Of the National government,
has feW woman members. The oldest Of them,
ME- Sun YaS-sen (SOOng Ching hngl, Is the
.wid0W Of ChinA's new patTiOt-deity, the So
called Father Of the Reputable" Her pope
claIity with the Chinese masses perhaps 10 sec-
onR emily to that Of her hate husband And juss
as the deifed Sun Yat-sen Il WOEshipped ~
thousands Of impxessionah1e Chinese boys, his
widow, has become the model for the young
women.
This is not altogether satisfactory to the older
people, when they remember that, in order to
marry her Sun "scrapped" the broken
footed bride Of his youth; for divorce, while
theoretically simple matter in China in the
past was 50 frOwned upon by public opinion
that it was literally Impossible. Sum and his
second bride, SOong Ching ling, had to run the
gauntlet Of public distaste, bat both Of them
have emerged today with their fame undimmed
what Sum Yat-sen had done with impunity,
thought hundreds Of his followers, they also
would do. Dissatisfied with similar bargains
which their parents had made for them, acOlytes
of the late leader have followed his example.
Divorce has become common; among the yadi-
Gals 1t has become even popular Lotus wives
are being abandoned for more youthful mates
with free feet and modern ideas. The divorcing
has not all been done by men, either; there are
eases, under the new laws, of women Kidding
themselves Of "unfaithful" Acknowledgements
Gus as this may sound in q nation where con-
eubines have been the male pEerOgative for cen
tuYies.
ROMANTIC marriages were frequent during
the Nationalist Revolution. 1t was incvi-
table that susceptible young men and women,
thrown in daily contact as workers In the
KnOmintang campaign. should fail in love; and
there were many who went forth free, yellow
and 81 and came hack with marital ties to
which their parents could give nothing bat cha
gTned acquieseence.
Among those who followed the precedent set
BY Sun Yat-sen was Chang Kai-shek, the
youthful military leader Of the allied Nationalist
armies who is president OF the Marking govern