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In celebrating Women's Day, 1977, K'ang K'e-ch'ing used a Mao quotation from the late 1950's, indicating that women in agriculture had yet to attain full equality with men: 113

Only when class society no longer exists, all cumbersome labor has been made automatic, and all agriculture has also been mechanized, will it be possible to realize equality between men and women.114

In the same paper an article written by the Hunan Women's Federation referred to the work earlier done by Chairman Hua Kuo-feng to promote the cause of giving women equal pay with men.'

115

In the new constitution adopted in 1978 by the People's Republic of China it was explicitly stated that:

Men and women enjoy equal pay for equal work.118

In a report on the work of the government, February 1978, Hua kuo-feng in a speech stated that:

All people's communes and production brigades must seriously apply the system of fixed production quotas and calculation of work-points on the basis of work done and must enforce the principle of equal pay for equal work irrespective of sex, 117

The continued insistence that equal pay for equal work must be enforced in the rural people's communes indicates that this principle is not yet universally applied in the Chinese countryside. In perspective, 29 years is probably too short a period to produce a general belief among Chinese that women are the equal of men, when ideas to the contrary have dominated China for more than 2,000 years.

The Management of the Income of Female Cooperative Members

Since at least the early 1940's one theme running through all the speeches on women's emancipation by party officials and those of the Women's Federation was that productive work for women was regarded as a necessary precondition for emancipation.118 This was contained in the notion that women would be liberated through working for and in society and by being able to handle the fruits of their own labor by themselves. In traditional China the husband had the full legal power to take all of his wife's income. This power was abolished in the new marriage law of 1950.5.1., where women explicitly were given full rights to their own income. But old habits still lingered. In many APC's the income of a wife was often automatically added to her husband's income, and given to him:

In Chu Kuang cooperative the women did not get their names on the list for labor points, and therefore their labor enthusiasm decreased. This the cooperative did because it found it more convenient. When the women came to the accountant they did not find their names on the list. The labor points of the women had been added to and included under the name of their husband. Originally the women wanted to have an income of their own to use for their own expenses. When they asked their husbands for money (who had also got the incomes of their wives) then the husbands quarreled with them. Then, of course, the women were dissatisfied. They took part in collective labor to get economic independence and

113 JMJP 1977.3.8.

114 Ibid., and the quotation above was cited in an article by Tsao Kuan-chun, Secretary of the National Women's Federation, "Further liberate women's labor power for the sake of quicker, better, and more to serve the construction of socialism," JMJP, 1958.6.2.

115 Hunan Women's Federation "Under the leadership of Chairman Hua we women advance on the revolutionary road," JMJP, 1977.3.8.

116 "New constitution of People's Republic of China," NCNA, Peking, 1978.3.7.

117 Report on the Work of the Government delivered at the First Session of the Fifth National People's Congress on February 26, 1978, by Hua kuo-feng, "Unite and strive to build a modern powerful socialist country," Peking Review, No. 10, 1978.3.10., p. 26.

equality, but now no women take part in collective labor, because they cannot use the money they earn. Therefore they are not liberated and do not go to work in the fields. 119

An editorial in the organ of the Women's Federation written after the formation of the people's communes in 1958, pointed to the prevalence of the earlier transfer of a woman's income to either her father or husband, the so-called head of household:

Especially after the cooperativization of agriculture the system of feudal patriarchy had begun to be shaken to its foundation. There were still many families, however, that relied mainly on their men's labor power to earn their income, and recorded the workpoints of their women members in the name of the heads of the families.120

If the wage was issued directly to the laborer, she could depend on her own labor for her basic means of living and did not have to rely on either her father or husband. In this way a woman's status in the family would be changed. When women were no longer totally dependent, the patriarchal system could be broken down. In addition more women could be mobilized for farm work. Management of their own earnings was crucial as a motivation for them to work outside their own households.

121

Lo Chah cooperative separately distributed the labor rewards to female coop erative members and so all of them were happy and attended to work.122

Sometimes the earnings of women were even considered as wind-falls with no connection whatsoever to women's motivation for work, even by the workgroup of a Provincial Women's Federation.

The very best [way] is to put all earnings of women cooperative member together and use it collectively, instead of personally,123

Such views were common even though in 1956 women earned onefourth of the total number of work points in agriculture.124

WOMEN AND OVERWORK IN AGRICULTURE

The overwork of women in Chinese agriculture is directly related to a combination of two factors:

(1) Massive mobilization of women to work in the fields. (2) Inadequate supply of services to relieve women of their traditional tasks.

For this reason the campaign in 1956 led to a peak in the overuse of women's labor when mobilizing women for agricultural production without supplying adequate services. Though women were much more extensively mobilized for production in 1958, a concomitant establishment of services alleviated women's traditional workload. When the peak demand of 1958-59 fell off, many of the service organizations were dissolved but also fewer women took part in production. During the early 1960's women's double workload was

118 Chung-kuo chieh-fang-chi nung-ts'un fu-nü sheng-chan yun-tung (The production movement of the village women in the liberated areas of China), chap. 7, ACDWF, Shanghai 1949.

119

'Female cooperative members must manage by themselves their own labor reward”, Chiang-hsi jih-pao (Kiangsi Daily), 1956. 8.30. 120 About the new stage in women's work." Special editorial, CKFN, No. 10, p. 1 (1959.5.16).

121 Ibid.

122 See footnote 119.

123 What's the appropriate way of handling the income of women cooperative members" Shan-hsi jih-pao (Shansi Daily), 1956.9.12.

124 Speech by Comrade Chang Yün on the Chinese Women's 3rd National Congress. 1957.9.9. "Run the country and manage the household with industry and skill and fight to develop socialism", CKFN, No. 10, 1957.9.9., p. 10.

made a private women's problem. The women working in agriculture were encouraged to help each other, engage neighbors, relatives, or elderly women and employ positive revolutionary thinking.

During this period women's participation in agriculture returned to pre-1958 levels. Because of that those with the greatest needs for service, mothers with many small children, were either given only light assignments or were not mobilized at all. This in combination with a greater concern for women's health explains why the excesses of the 1950's were not repeated. The continued and heightened demands from the mid-1960's for rural women's labor increased the awareness of the importance of women for agricultural production. Therefore more resources, facilitated by good harvests, were channeled to services aimed at reducing women's work load at home. In addition men were encouraged to share household chores.

Production Competition in the Early 1950's

Already in the busy summer season of 1951 reports had appeared of women being overworked in production competition.125

360 women had joined the work of digging a pond under the slogan "carry fast, carry much and no rest." The production competition was treated as a competition of strength. At least one pregnant woman was seriously-hurt and had a miscarriage 2 days later. In other place there are instances which show miscarriages resulting from overwork. A woman in Kung chou village worked more actively after being elected and recognized as an outstanding worker, until at last she fell ill. In the whole district 8 women had miscarriages from overwork, in addition to those who fell ill **** 128

Likewise the campaign in 1955 to bring more rural women into production activities resulted in reports of women having miscarriages because of overwork, mostly from carrying too heavy burdens."

In Szechuan, March 22nd, a woman, 3 months pregnant, in Ching Hsi village when carrying grain slipped and fell on the road and had a miscarriage. April 2nd, a woman, Chou Hou Chen, pregnant 6 months, did too much work in graincarrying and narrowly escaped having a miscarriage. Mao Hsin Chen of Hsin Ho village, 9 months pregnant, overworked carrying night-soil, had an abnormal delivery. Her baby died and her life was in great danger. 128

In an editorial in the People's Daily women were told that not until the full socialization of agriculture could household work be socialized. Until then women had to take full responsibility for household work, even if they did outside work. 129

In 1954 when the busy summer season was over the ACDWF particularly stressed that carrying too heavy things was a major factor contributing to miscarriages among women working in agriculture.'

125 "In production competition we have not properly looked after women's strength, in Kung city region eight women were overtired and had miscarriages." CFJP, 1951.7.27.

126 Ibid.

127 "In the lower reaches of Min river, the 5th group of the antiflood headquarters did not pay attention to the safety of pregnant women, making pregnant women miscarry contiuously." Fu-chien jih-pao (Fukien Daily), 1953.3.24.

128 "Do not let pregnant women participate in heavy labor." Hsin-hua jih-pao (New China Daily), Chungking. 1953.5.14.

129 Editorial, "Educate village women in the spirit of the general line of the state" JMJP, 1954.1.99.

130 ACDWF; Instructions about current village women's work," KJJP, 1954.7.31 in HHYP, No. 8, 1954.

The 1956 Mobilization Campaign

The nearly universal establishment of agricultureal producers cooperatives (APC's) in 1956 and the collectivization of agriculture were closely connected with massive campaigns by the CCP to recruit more women for farm work. Because of these campaigns for farm work and to augment the number of workdays that women contributed, complaints mounted that women were being overworked. In the busy season most women had only 4 or 5 hours sleep at night according to one report.131 Such slogans as "Take the moonlight and use it as sunlight" 132 or "Work in the fields in daytime and collect manure at night" were common.133

Besides household work and taking care of children, sewing, mending, and washing clothes and stitching shoes were traditionally regarded as responsibilities of women alone. When women were asked to work more in agriculture they were expected as well to fulfill their traditional duties. This opinion was clearly expressed in an editorial in the leading national daily:

Participation in agricultural production is the inherent right and duty of rural women. Giving birth to children and bringing them up as well as preoccupation with household work are also obligations of rural women. These things set women apart from men.134

Sometimes village women were put under great pressure to take part in farm work irrespective of what was regarded as their household duties:

Some cooperatives neglect the specific conditions of women. They criticize women who are pinned down by household drudgery and are not able to work in the fields as "loiterers" and "lazy bones". The request of a woman who had worked for 15 days in succession for a day's leave to do household work was rejected.135

According to some reports from APC's, especially singled out as good examples, up to 95 percent of all village women were taking part in farming. 136 As the summer season became increasingly busy, the China Youth Daily made a summary of letters of complaint from its readers on women being pushed too hard:

Many letters have been received showing that many young people in agricultural cooperatives have overworked at farm tasks until some accident happened and women are no exception. From the above-mentioned letters, we know that agricultural production is in full swing and young people have become a reliable force, but some underlying problems surface; exhaustion, accidents, death, dropping out of school, miscarriages. Though this is not the general trend it is still very important. It not only influences production but also affects the health and knowledge of young people. It is a pity that there is no strong response among the cadres and they neglect the problems behind it, because they are too satisfied with their own success and imbued with the enthusiasm of the youth and the force of their movement. When people remind them of underlying problems

131 Speech at the 2d plenary session of the 1st Kwangsi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, "Women's role in Kwangsi", Kuang-hsi jih-pao (Kwangsi Daily), 1956.4. 132 "Take the moonlight and use it as sunlight", CKFN, 1956, No. 8.

28.

133 Editorial, "Protect positively the masses of village women taking part in agricultural work", KansuJih-pao (Kansu Daily), 1955.6.23.

134 Editorial, "Protect the health of rural women and children", JMJP, 1956.5.16.

135 Ibid.

138 The Kirin Province, the Fourth session of the First People's Congress. (I) "Speech by delegate Wang Yi." Chi-lin jih-pao (Kirin Daily), 1956.1.26.

(II) "Kwangtung province village women give a fuller scope in production," Nan-fang jih-pao (Southern Daily), Canton, 1956.3.8.

they always say it is not the general trend. And the problems are once again ignored. While doing work we have to grasp the general trend but at the same time we have to pay attention to the "dirty things" that appear from time to time. Though these things cannot become the main current, they can bring losses in our work, if neglected. So we should not indulge in the enthusiasm of the young people, but should correct them.137

The "dirty things" alluded to were the accidents, death, and miscarriages mentioned earlier. A week later the leading national newspaper, the People's Daily, carried one editorial and one article on the same day warning against forcing women to do too much work:

Agricultural production is no doubt the important work of the countryside. But isn't doing a good job in household work, in looking after the children so that the beloved ones feel settled in work, isn't that also work meaningful to socialism? 133 The women's labor force participation rate has increased by 89.3 percent compared to the preceding year in "The 5 Stars People's Cooperative." But they do not look after women's health conditions and ask women to do hard work during menses or pregnancy. At the same time because women do too much work they have no time to do their household work. So the leaders criticized this wrong working method and decided: Once every 10 days, male cooperative members should be taught common sense about women and babies and women should be assigned to light work during their menstrual period. During pregnancy, if they cannot work, they should be given some work points. Women should be given time to sew, mend, wash clothes as well as to manage household work.139

After these articles in the leading national daily about abuse of women's labor and a recommendation that women be given time off for household work, reports poured in about malpractices and also about remedies. That an excessively heavy workload had been responsible for the increase in the number of miscarriages and premature births in at least one province had already been stated at the second plenary session of the First Kwangsi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in April 1956.140 According to all these reports women were apparently not relieved of their traditional work burdens when they had to take up fieldwork.

We should actively suggest to the leaders that when they assign work, they should pay attention to the physical characteristics of women and children, especially those who are pregnant and weak. We must strengthen the education of ideology and education about women's health. But at the same time we must also correct women's attitude towards labor and rid women of the influence of the onesidedness of the propaganda that "labor is glorious." 141

Besides being compelled to spend their time doing excessive amounts of farmwork which endangered the health of some women, women also needed additional time to perform housework, which was still regarded as exclusive female responsibilities. 142 Though mother-in-laws could be induced to take over some of the work, they could not take over all of it. In the discussions on women's traditional work tasks either the young woman herself, her mother-in-law, or later collective actions, (that is, of an all-female group), figured as alternatives. Males were

137 Editorial, "Talking about the problem of production safety for village youth," Chung kuo ching-nien pao 1956.5.8. 133 Editorial, "Protect the health of rural women and children." JMJP, 1956.5.16.

139 "A method to criticize not caring about women." JMJP, 1956.5.16.

140 Speech at the 2d plenary session of the 1st Kwangsi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference "Women's role in construction in Kwangsi", Kuang-hsi jih-pao (Kwangsi Daliy), 1956.4.28.

141 "In agricultural labor we should pay attention to the health of women and children", Chung-kuo chingnien pao (China Youth Daily), 1956.6.6. Editorial.

142 (I) The Investigation and Research Team in Farm Work of the CCP in the region south of Yin Ch'uan town, "Ways to solve the problem of women going to work in the fields", Kan-su jih-pao (Kansu Daily),

1956.6.25.

(II) Ching Chih, "Give female agricultural cooperative members time to do their household work”, Hsin-chiang jih-pao (Sinkiang Daily), 1956.6.23.

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