Lei Jieqiong

Lei Jieqiong (; 12 September 1905 – 9 January 2011), also known as Kit King Lei, was a Chinese sociologist, activist, and politician. Educated in the United States, she taught at Yenching University, China University of Political Science and Law, and Peking University in Beijing, and Soochow University, St. John's University, University of Shanghai, and Aurora University in Shanghai. She was a cofounder of Zhongzheng University in Jiangxi during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

She co-founded the China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD), one of the eight legally recognized non-Communist parties in China. After performing manual labour during the Cultural Revolution, she served as Vice-Mayor of Beijing (1977–1983), Vice-President of the All-China Women's Federation, Vice-Chair of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (1986–1988), Vice-Chair of the National People's Congress (1988–1998), and Chair of the CAPD (1987–1997).

Early life and education

Lei Jieqiong was born 12 September 1905 in Guangzhou during the late Qing dynasty, with her ancestral home in Taishan, Guangdong. Her grandfather went to the United States during the California Gold Rush and became a prosperous businessman, but left his third son Lei Zichang (1875–1926) in Guangdong to receive a traditional Chinese education. Lei Zichang won a ''juren'' degree before the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911. He then studied law in Beijing and became a lawyer and magazine editor in Guangdong. Lei Jieqiong was born to Lei Zichang and his wife Li Peizhi.

Lei's father provided her with a progressive education and sent her to study in California when she was 19. After learning English, she studied chemical engineering at the University of California and Far East studies at Stanford University, before graduating from the University of Southern California in 1931 with a master's degree in sociology. While a student she supported herself by teaching Chinese to Chinese-American children.

Wartime career

In 1931 Lei returned to China and became a lecturer at the Sociology Department of Yenching University (later merged with Peking University). As Japan invaded Manchuria and encroached upon North China, Lei and her students joined the December 9th Movement to demand that the Nationalist Government resist Japanese aggression.

After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, the Japanese occupied Beijing and launched a full-scale war to invade China. Lei went to Nanchang, Jiangxi Province to join the National Salvation Movement. She served in a women's advancement group which cared for wounded soldiers and was awarded the rank of colonel. She also taught at a women's training class at the Jiangxi Political Movement Institute, one of whose two deans was Chiang Ching-kuo, the future President of the Republic of China. When Nanchang fell to the Japanese in 1939, she moved to Ji'an in southern Jiangxi, where she became a friend of the Communist leader Zhou Enlai.

In 1933, Lei published an article advocating family planning. During the Sino-Japanese War, she wrote many essays based on her studies of women's lives, careers, and struggles in wartime. They were later published in the two-volume ''Selected Works of Lei Jieqiong''.

In 1940 Lei helped to found Zhongzheng University (now Nanchang University). A year later she went to Shanghai, where she became a professor at Soochow University and also taught at St. John's University, University of Shanghai, and Aurora University. In 1945 she cofounded the political party China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD), and would serve as its chairwoman decades later.

After the end of the World War II, in June 1946 the Shanghai Union of People's Associations sent 11 representatives, including Lei, to capital Nanjing to petition the Kuomintang government not to resume the civil war against the Communists. When they arrived at Xiaguan train station in Nanjing, they were assaulted by thugs and injured. The Xiaguan incident raised an outcry in Chinese media, which blamed the KMT government for the attack. Zhou Enlai visited them in the hospital. At the end of the year, Lei returned to Yenching University and became a professor of sociology.

People's Republic of China

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Lei held high-ranking positions in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People's Congress (NPC) for over 40 years. She also served as vice-dean of Beijing College of Political Science and Law (now China University of Political Science and Law).

During the Cultural Revolution, she and her husband were sent to perform manual labour in rural Anhui province, but Zhou Enlai managed to relieve them from "reform through labour".

After the Cultural Revolution, Lei served as a law professor at Peking University and was appointed Vice-Mayor of Beijing (1977–1983). She also served as Vice-President of the All-China Women's Federation, Vice-Chair of the CPPCC (1986–1988), Vice-Chair of the NPC (1988–1998), and Chair of the CAPD (1987–1997).

Lei taught at Peking University until the age of 100. She died on 9 January 2011 at the age of 105.

Personal life

In 1941, Lei Jieqiong married , also an American-educated sociologist and cofounder of the CAPD. They did not have children. He died in 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lei, Jieqiong
1905 births
2011 deaths
Chinese women sociologists
Chinese women educators
Chinese women in politics
Politicians from Guangzhou
Members of the China Association for Promoting Democracy
University of Southern California alumni
Yenching University faculty
Peking University faculty
Soochow University (Suzhou)
China University of Political Science and Law faculty
Deputy mayors of Beijing
Vice Chairpersons of the National People's Congress
Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Chinese expatriates in the United States
Chinese centenarians
Stanford University alumni
University of California alumni
Women centenarians
All-China Women's Federation people