Miao Boying () was a Chinese teacher, writer and revolutionary who became the first woman to join the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

. She was a founding member of China's Woman's Rights League and was later became secretary of the Hunan Communist Women's Committee.

Life

Miao was born in 1899 in

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...

Hunan Province Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi t ...

. She went to First Girls' Normal School, passing an entrance exam allowing her to attend Beijing Normal Women's College (now known as

Beijing Normal University Beijing Normal University (BNU, ), colloquially known as Beishida (), is a public research university located in Beijing, China, with a strong emphasis on humanities and sciences. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China ...

). While here she met her future husband and Hunan native He Mengxiong who was studying at the nearby

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

. After suspending her studies she became involved with the Work-Study Mutual Aid Corp which was set up by future communist party founders

Deng Zhongxia Deng Zhongxia (or Teng Chung-hsia; October 5, 1894 – September 21, 1933) was an early member of the Chinese Communist Party and an important Marxist intellectual and labor movement leader. Having led many strikes and uprisings against Chian ...

and

Li Dazhao Li Dazhao or Li Ta-chao (October 29, 1889 – April 28, 1927) was a Chinese intellectual and revolutionary who participated in the New Cultural Movement in the early years of the Republic of China, established in 1912. He co-founded the Chinese ...

to promote Marxist ideas. In November 1920 she formally joined the newly establish

Communist Youth League of China The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), also known as the Young Communist League of China or simply the Communist Youth League (CYL), is a youth movement of the People's Republic of China for youth between the ages of 14 and 28, run by the ...

headed by

Yu Xiusong Yu Xiusong () (1899 – February 21, 1939) was an early member of the Chinese Communist Party. He was born in Zhuji, Zhejiang. He started attending the Zhejiang First Normal School (currently Hangzhou High School) in 1916. The May 4 movement of ...

and started publishing articles about the roles women play in the family. Later that month a split within the party saw some member who supported

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

leave, to strengthen the party Miao who was the first woman to join the group, recruited five members from other CYL chapters. At the age of 21, Miao left the Communist Youth League and joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

, again becoming its first female member. A few years later she founded the Women's Right League and traveled across China with her husband He Mengxiong to promote the organisation. In 1924 she was sent back to Hunan by party leaders to become secretary of the Hunan Communist Women's Committee. In 1929 Miao died at Paulun Hospital in Shanghai of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miao, Boying 1899 births 1929 deaths Writers from Changsha Chinese women's rights activists Educators from Hunan People from the Republic of China