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Culture, History and Women in China’s Heartland
May 15-30, 2007
Beijing, Xi’an, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai
Fully escorted and inclusive * from Los Angeles
$2,375
Under the Chinese constitution women are granted full equality with men, very different from their traditional rights in Chinese culture and society. Explore with CCE China the lives of women in China, past and present, great and small, from earliest times.
7,000 years ago some Chinese archaeologists believe that peasant society was fairly egalitarian in the Xi’an area, as exemplified by Panpo Neolithic Village. Thereafter, except in certain borderlands in the south, women’s influence was more confined although her work contributed at least half of family upkeep. By the time of Confucius, 2,500 years ago, a woman’s place was generally very different—she left her family upon marriage to serve her husband’s family and her mother-in-law. At the same time, from its earliest introduction, Buddhism incorporated Kuan Yin, perhaps modeled on an indigenous goddess, as Goddess of Mercy. Shortly thereafter ensued a period of political consolidation; the Great Wall marked China’s northern boundary and China’s leader orchestrated his own massive tomb (Terracotta Museum) at Xi’an.
There were great and famous women in China, but few and far between (Empress Wu, Dowager Empress Cixi, several poets and others). Behind the scenes women, in collaboration with the men in their families, did influence China (e.g., Empress Wu declared herself a reincarnation of Buddha of the Future in the 600s; Cixi a concubine in the Imperial Palace in Beijing successfully orchestrated her way into power and expanded the Summer Palace with purloined naval funds in the late 1800s; the Soong sisters helped finance and promote Nationalist movement in the early 1900s).
By the time of Empress Wu in the 7th Century, women of Hangzhou, Suzhou and neighboring towns produced quality tea and silk that the state exported. And we know that women ran businesses in China, notably in Hangzhou during in the 12th and 13th Centuries. Statues of Kuan Yin were carved in grottos and temples such as at Linying and onPu Tuo Shan Island. At time of great prosperity and cultural florescence, the wealthy contrived to bind women’s feet, proof that they did not do outside labor—a practice that persisted even among poorer families into the 20th Century. In the mid-1800s and 1900s Nanjing capital saw its share of prominent women leaders and followers (female members of the Taiping movement; the Soong sisters). That century-plus of turmoil hit the poor hard; the Taiping utopia failed; foreign concessionaries acted against Chinese interests; the Nationalists leaders were corrupt and ruthless.
The social agenda of Mao and his comrades, developed by the 1920s, promised a better life for peasants and women alike, and ultimately prevailed in China, throwing out Japanese and Nationalist. Today women are found in all walks of life and often hold positions of considerable influence and power; that is not to say there is parity, but their numbers in top offices greatly exceed the U.S.
* Tips are not included ($5/day/person for driver and guide; $1/room for baggage transfers)
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Applications
Your application must be accompanied by a valid passport (good through 2008)
We urge you to submit a Visa application (and picture), and $75 check for the visa (made out to Council on China Exchange as part of or in addition to your payment for the travel seminar), at the same time.
We recommend you send us all your materials via Certified Mail to ensure timely delivery.
To apply, submit this application and payment in full to your counselor/teacher or directly to CCE China no later then 60 days prior to departure.
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* This trip was originally organized by us under the organizational name of Spring International Education Foundation.
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Our Mission
Council on China Exchange (CCE China) specializes in bilateral cultural and educational programs in China and the United States. We provide high quality cultural, educational and professional experiences to the interested public, students and teachers from the U.S. as well as from China.
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