The New Temperament of “Modern Girls” in China at the Beginning of the 20th Century

The low social status of women is one of the most striking manifestations of the underlying hierarchy of Chinese society and worldview. In the traditional understanding of a woman’s place, family life is in the centre of her activity, whether as a wife, someone’s daughter, or sister. Established Confucian norms of family behavior have not been changed nor questioned for over two thousand years. However, the old model of family organization and kinship relationships, as well as the ritual mannerism accompanying the cults of honor and worship of the ancestors no longer suit the modern phenomena and needs, nor the idea of the new image of the Chinese woman. Аlong with reforms in administrative structures, in literature, and in writing, an important direction in the reformers’ activity is the change in the legal, family and social status of Chinese women, which is also the topic of the present essay study.