Marian Ramelson, 'British Woman in New China': laporan Konferensi Wanita Asia, Peking, 1949

=== [PDF page 1] === nell University Library Pamphletbs 166 British woman in new C| MPa 3 1924 024 035 093 Tibetan and Mongolian wome n, wearing their national costumes, dance the Yangko—China’s Dance of Liberation === [PDF page 2] === HOW THIS PAMPHLET CAME TO BE WRITTEN HEN it was first learned in Britain that a Conference WW: the women of Asia was to be held in Peking, it kindled the imagination of every progressive woman. For the first time in the long and varied history of that great continent women were to meet, discuss common problems, and work out @ programme of action for their social and economic. rights and for peace. There could not have been a more fitting place to hold it than Peking, capital of New China. There could not have been more fitting hosts than the Chinese women who so recently were fighting, quite literally, for their freedom. This great Conference was organised by the Women’s International Democratic Federation, which unites 83 million women of fifty-six countries in their struggle for peace, and for social and economic rights. Some of these rights we in Britain have enjoyed for years, largely at the expense of colonial workers. Because of this, we felt that British women had a particular responsibility in accepting our Asian sisters’ invitation to send a fraternal delegate to their first Conference. We received the invitation with pride, but also with some trepidation. Could we possibly raise the cost, which we estimated would be about £250? We decided to try. A financial appeal was launched. It was sent to Co-op. Guilds, International Women’s Day Committees, Housewives’ Groups, Trade Union branches, and prominent individuals well known for their interest in the Colonial and Asian peoples. The contributions came in. Half-a-crown from a Birmingham housewife; shillings and pence from an I.W.D. committee; five shillings from a Co-op. Guild; 13s. 4d. from some Rhondda miners’ wives; a shillingsworth of stamps from a woman of sixty; two shillings from an unemployed man; £10 from a teacher; £2 from a doctor; and so on. The pennies, shillings and pounds of === [PDF page 3] === Women of Asia are ending their centuries-old backwardness. A Chinese grandmother learns to read and write the women, and men, too, of Britain who saw in this Conference another step forward to world peace and equal status of women throughout the world. We chose Marian Ramelson to represent us. Mrs. Ramelson is a housewife from Yorkshire, a well-known trade unionist in Leeds; she has a long record of fighting for women’s rights and an equally long record of fighting for peace. We believe we could not have sent anyone better fitted for this great job. Every shilling which was raised by the women and men in Britain was a demonstration of the desire for friendship, trade and understanding between the colonial countries, New China, and Britain. We believe that sending Mrs. Ramelson to the Conference will have contributed not a little towards this end. MOLLY KEITH, Secretary, British Committee, Women’s International Democratic Federation. === [PDF page 4] === British Woman New China BY MARIAN RAMELSON E had come from the four corners of the earth, the W fossa who gathered in the train in Moscow for the ong journey to Peking. There was Mrs. Ada Jackson, of Brooklyn, New York. She is a postman’s wife and the mother of a grown-up daughter and son. The boy served for five years in the Second World War, in the course of which he was decorated five times for valour. Mrs. Jackson is Negro; her mother and father were both born slaves. When her son was travelling from Alabama to New York, still in his Army uniform, he was not permitted to eat in the same room as white people “J am going to Asia to learn how we can strengthen the bonds of peace and sisterhood throughout the world,” said Mrs. Jackson. Madame Francoise Le Clerc is a leading French Roman Catholic. She has four children. In the dark days when France was overrun by the Nazis, Madame Le Clere took part in the Resistance Movement. “I have seen my country devastated by war twice,” she said. “We women of the world must get together to stop any more wars from taking place.” Madame Edith Buchaca came from Havana, Cuba. She is President of the Women’s Democratic Federation of Cuba. “I go to China,” she said, “with the thought of my two young daughters in mind. They have a right to a chance in life, as have all children. If they are to have such a chance, there must be peace.” “IT have six children,” said the delegate from the Ivory Cgast, === [PDF page 5] === Africa. “They live in a country where to have a dark skin is thought to make a person less than a human being. So we all have a lot in common to discuss in Peking.” Yes, we came from the four corners of the earth, but we had a lot in common to discuss in Peking. Among us were women from all walks of life—workers and, peasants, teachers and authors, technicians and doctors, Members of Parliament and Ministers in governments, and women who had been in Nazi concentration camps. We knew that we were on a voyage of discovery. We were going to meet women who a few short years ago were not considered to have any intelligence at all, who for centuries had been condemned to hard toil and black illiteracy, but who today are playing a leading part in helping to build up a new life in their own countries. Across Siberia For eight days and nights we travelled over the Trans-Siberian railway to Manchauli, the first station on the Chinese side of the Russian-Chinese frontier. We felt tired; but in two seconds we were full of energy and joy. Waiting for us on the platform, smiling and cheering, were women who had travelled from miles around to greet us, As we stepped from the train young children began the simple yet lovely steps of the Yangko dance as their welcome. We went into the station waiting room where a meal had been prepared for us, and soon the Chinese women were singing some of their songs. They then asked each delegation to sing some national song. Though I can’t sing a note in tune, I did my best. Welcome Everywhere This was a taste of the welcome that we were to experience in place.after place. We were booked to stop at Harbin, Mukden, and Tientsin on our way to Peking. But when the news got around that our train was on its way, at many small stations women gathered from villages miles around, often waiting all night for us to arrive, and they. stopped the train. We tumbled out of our train on to the platform to be hugged, shaken by the hand, patted on the back, and presented often with artificial flowers, beautifully made of wood shavings and dyed in many colours. At the three main towns on our route—Harbin, Mukden, and Tientsin—great meetings of thousands were held at the station gates. === [PDF page 6] === In Peking we were welcomed by Madame Chou En-lai, wife of the Prime Minister; Madame Chu Teh, wife of the Commanderin-Chief of the People’s Liberation Army; the Mayor of Peking, and many other people. Some 5,000 people were at the great meeting in the station square. The Conference was held in a great hall of the Winter Palace in the Forbidden City. The name of the hall is “Hall for Strengthening Humanity”. The Forbidden City occupies one quarter of the land area of Peking. It contains some of the lovliest buildings in the world. But for centuries no one could enter it but the Emperor and his circle. Now it is forbidden no more. The people can enjoy the wonders of art and architecture which the skill of their forefathers created. Bright with Banners The hall was bright with banners which had been sent by countless women all over China, and they were masterpieces of embroidery. We delegates faced a huge platform in the centre, behind which there was an emblem of the world, surmounted by the dove of peace. Around this emblem a red and white band announced in four languages—Chinese, Russian, French, and English—“Conference of the Women of Asia”. On each side of the emblem, running the entire length of the platform, were the flags of the nations of the world. There were 198 delegates from twenty-three countries, and their varied costumes presented a gay panorama of colour. So much that was different, so much that was rich and varied, yet all drawn together by a common feeling! Madame Chou En-lai made the first report. In a calm, clear voice she asked: “Is Asia a small place with no riches, either in people or natural resources, that our people live in such dire poverty? That cannot be so, for Asia covers one-third of the land area of the world, with over half the world’s population living in it. Denied Rights “The people in many parts of Asia are denied the most elementary rights. They work fourteen hours a day, and yet do not get enough pay to enable them to buy two meals a day. Children work from the age of five and receive no education. Women receive no care or protection as workers, peasants, or mothers. There are few doctors and fewer hospitals. “Girls are sold into brothels, children are sold as slaves to factory and land owners. === [PDF page 7] === Liu Hsiu-len represents the new worker of Liberated China. She is now a section chief in the Hsin Shen Textile Mill “The cheapest, least cared for life in the East is the life of a colonial worker. This is the condition of the half of Asia which is not yet free, one-quarter of all mankind.” Iran, India The delegate from Iran, a tall, round-faced 22-year-old girl, spoke next: “My country has a history of civilisation stretching over 3,000 years, yet today the majority of its population is poor and illiterate. The carpets of Iran are famous, and for those who own the factories they bring a profit of 700 per cent a year. But for those who work inside the miserable, dark, illventilated workshops there is misery. Children from the age of six work there for ten to twelve hours a day, and for their labour receive a bare pittance.” Next to mount the platform was an Indian in a bright yellow sari, her luxuriant black hair braided around her head: “Forty out of every 100 Indians die before they reach the age of fifteen years. The expectancy of life in India is twenty-three === [PDF page 8] === years. Children work in carpet factory, mill, and mine, on tea plantations, in jute, leather and match industries, in domestic service, and as sewer cleaners. “Child marriages are still widely practised, and the price of this is shown in the fact that 24.5 of every 1,000 deaths are in childbirth, and the majority of these are of girls between ten and twelve years of age. “Women are sacked when pregnant and have no hope of having children in maternity homes, for in the whole of India there are only 600 homes, and none of them are free.” Japan The delegates from Japan were not at the Conference because General MacArthur refused to allow them to have passports, but the voice of Japan was heard when a young Japanese girl living in China spoke and said: “Tama young Japanese woman. I came to China full of ideas about the superiority of Japan, and determined to do everything to help defeat China. I have stayed to learn that we are all sisters who work and struggle for peace and democracy. Japan is not free today, she is not developing into a democracy. Of all the workers in Japan, one-quarter are children who get only onequarter of the wages of adults. Worse than that, hundreds of children begin working in mills from the age of six, and for years get no pay at all. “The geisha girl is not a romantic figure. She is usually a girl sold into a brothel. Fifteen per cent of all Japanese women between the ages of fourteen and twenty-five are sold into prostitution.” Malaya, South Korea “In my country,” said the young delegate from Malaya, ‘‘a war is raging. We who fought side by side with the British and gave of our blood to defeat Japan are today called bandits and traitors. Our land is rich in tin and rubber, and from this wealth pour vast profits to the British owners of the plantations and mines. But for our people there is poverty, in glaring contrast to the luxurious living of the white settlers. “The sons and husbands of British women and the sons and daughters of Malaya die, and they who oppress us both draw dividends from our sorrow!” The delegate from South Korea condemned the division of her country by the United States of America. This young woman had joined the guerilla forces in the South, and for this her === [PDF page 9] === mother, father and younger brother were put to death, though they had nothing to do with it. No wonder she said with bitterness: “Is this, then, the democratic American way of life?. We are determined to end for all time the horror of the fact that 50,000 children work ten hours a day. Our peasants cry out against the forcible grain collections which rob them of half of all they produce.” Viet Nam The petite delegate from Viet Nam declared: “Already 90 per cent of my land is free. My people, including the women, know there can be no peace for us until our country belongs to its people. The conditions of life brought to us by the French are best shown by the fact that one prison was built for every 1,000 of the population and only one elementary school for every 200,000.” Syria, Turkey “In Syria,” said its delegate, “it js declared immoral to educate girls.”: The delegate from Turkey told us: “My country has 30,000 villages where there are no schools at all. In many cases there is only one school to a hundred villages. Fifty out of every 100 workers in the textile industry are children between eight and ten years old.” From Siam and the Philippines, from Persia and Ceylon, all told the same facts—child labour, little or no education, a high death rate, women working hard and bitterly oppressed. Then we heard delegates from the half of Asia which is free. Free Asia Acia Atapanova, Turkmenian Minister of Social Insurance, a plump, middle-aged woman, told us: “You know that thirty-two years ago, when the Czar ruled, child labour and lack of education also existed in Russian Asia. But the last thirty-two years has seen a transformation in Azerbaijan, Turkmenia, Kazakhstan and all the other Asian Soviet Republics. Now in place of illiteracy there is compulsory education. Women receive equal pay for equal work. The Vice-Presidents of both the Uzbek and Tadjik Republics are women, while Techimnez Aslanova is Vice- Chairman of the Council of Nationalities for the Supreme Soviet. “There are women teachers, doctors, workers, collective === [PDF page 10] === Nurseries for workers’ children are opening all over China. Trained staff treat minor ailments on the spot farmers, and factory managers, and there are women in every other field of activity. One woman wrote to us from Transcaucasia before we came to the Conference to say ‘In the old life we had four masters—Czar, landowner, employer, and husband. Now all the masters are gone, and we are truly the equals of our husbands!’ ” Mongolia, North Korea Said the delegate from Outer Mongolia: “My people were a primitive people before 1921. They tended flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. They were oppressed in every way, and women were thought of as less than nothing. There was only one school in the whole country, and that was for the sons of princes and lords. Today we have fifteen universities and 500 elementary and secondary schools. Seventy of every 100 doctors and specialists are women, and forty-nine of every 100 judges, lawyers, and barristers.” From North Korea came a delegate over sixty years old. Her grey hair was combed back into a bun at the nape of her neck, 10 === [PDF page 11] === and her kindly eyes gleamed through her spectacles. “Korea was a Japanese colony for thirty-six years. We had almost 10,000 children working twelve hours a day for a fifth of adult wages. Since 1945 we have been free to build a new life. We have prohibited all child labour, we have an eight-hour day by law, and equal pay for equal work. During 1950 we shall have compulsory education for all children. We have thirty-three women M.P.s, a woman Minister of Health, five women national secretaries of trade unions, and 1,000 women technicians.” Ivory Coast “There are one million women in the Ivory Coast Women’s Democratic Movement,” declared its delegate, a tall, slender Negro woman. “We are working and organising alongside the men and urging them to help us in our work. The women of the Ivory Coast want to end the hated system of polygamy. Recently we held a great demonstration and organised a monster petition to the Government, calling upon them to outlaw this practice. The women who went to the Government with the petition were clapped into jail. When news of this spread, thousands of women gathered outside the jail, demanding that either those inside be freed or they all be put into jail, as they all agreed with the petition. In face of this ‘all in or all out’ demand, the prisoners were released.” “Our women work for freedom, too,” declared another Indian delegate. “In Chandarpir, in October 1949, peasants demanded from the landlord that they be allowed to keep two-thirds of their paddy crop. The landlords’ reply was to call for troops, who came and shot down twenty peasants, most of them women.” Our Conference made a report on its work to a great meeting of 45,000 people in Peking. It was a bright, cold day, with a clear blue sky overhead, and from six in the morning people began marching into the great palace courtyard in the Forbidden City. Enclosed on all four sides by the walls of the palace, it is open to the sky. The walls were gaily decorated with banners, and the platform was the many-terraced front of the palace. As we walked through the crowd to the platform, hands stretched out from all sides to shake ours. It was a moving and glorious finish to an historic conference, Old and New China China has a very recent past of slavery. Women worked for thirteen hours a day for one-third of a man’s wage. Pregnant 11 === [PDF page 12] === women were often dismissed by employers and there was little or no care in childbirth. Though the Kuomintang spent 80 per cent of its budget on war, it spent only 3 per cent on education. Polygamy, concubinage, prostitution and child marriages prevailed throughout the land. The peasants paid one-half and sometimes more of their produce in rent. In addition, they had to pay taxes, and often contending armies would pillage and rob them. The peasants demanded land, and since 1947 a great land reform has been taking place in China. All land is being equally distributed amongst all the peasants, including landlords and rich peasants. Every member of every household, young or old, man or woman, is given land in his or her own right. So great is their joy that many parents in China today are naming their newly borns “Te-Ti”, which means “got land”. No Revenge This reform also proves one other thing. There are fifteen million landowners in China, who have one of the blackest records in the world of starving, ill-treating and killing peasants. Yet they are not forfeiting their lives, they are not being imprisoned, they are being given land and the right to labour. Already nurseries are being built in all the cities as quickly as possible. Some children from a Peking nursery greeted our Conference. They came down the two central aisles dancing, their cheeks shining like rosy apples. They came on to the platform and greeted us with this song: Dear sisters, mamas and aunts, We are children from the Central Nursery; We have made you some small gifts— Please keep them for remembrance’s sake; We wish you all good health, And please tell all the children everywhere We love them very much, Madame Chu Teh told the Conference of the enormous task which faced them, and of what had already been done. She ended her speech by saying, “All this is but a drop in the ocean, but we have ample courage and belief that we can do the job.” Startling Contrasts That sentiment is the outstanding one in China today, and everywhere we went we saw full evidence of it. We saw it in Shanghai, that city of startling contrasts, where 12 === [PDF page 13] === brand new cars mix with rickshaws, pulled or pedalled by men thin as rails, where great modern blocks of flats on the Bund tower over innumerable sampans on the Woochow Creek, on which are herded together countless Chinese families. “Dogs and Chinese” In this city’s centre is a race track belonging to the British. Until recently, outside the track, a notice read: “Dogs and Chinese not admitted.” We went into Shanghai’s factories, from which have poured great profits in the past. The Sung Sing No. 9 Textile Mill is typical. In this factory cotton is spun and woven. There are 5,700 workers employed, of whom 4,275 are women. The spindles and looms are modern, mainly produced in Lancashire. There was no dust-removing. machinery and little ventilation, apart from some open windows in the roof. The workers were covered with a fine white fluff, like a perpetual snow storm. The doors between the rooms were narrow, and I shuddered to think what might happen in case of fire. Four Families This factory, like many others in China, is still owned by private capital. The only factories and buildings nationalised so far are those which previously belonged to owners who went over to the Japanese, or who are perpetuating war against the Chinese people with the support, financial or otherwise, of foreign goveraments. Outstanding amongst such people are “the Four Families”, as they are called in China—Soong, Kung, Chiang, and Chen—who controlled the Kuomintang, and in the past ten years wrung over ten billion American dollars in profits from their holdings in China. Banks Nationalised The banks are nationalised, currency can only be issued by the Government, and gambling in stocks and shares is forbidden. Those, and they are many, who still have their factories and workshops can get loans and raw materials from the Government. They can extend their premises. They can draw their profits. In return, they must produce what is needed by the people, they must pay trade union rates of wages, they must recognise the trade unions, and they cannot victimise a worker for trade union or political activities. 13 === [PDF page 14] === The property and persons of foreigners is protected. The days are past in China when workers could be hired for long hours for a pittance, when they could suffer corporal punishment, and when children could be employed. The days of vast profits are gone, but trade and commerce can flourish on the basis of full equality between peoples and nations. Already in all factories, meals are improving. To protect the workers from the inflation brought about by the war (a very small inflation compared to that of Kuomintang days), workers are paid on the basis of “parity units”. That is, agreement is reached that so much work equals a given amount of rice, edible oil, cotton cloth and coal briquettes, and workers receive the amount of money equal to these things. People’s China The people of all classes said to us time and again: “China's backwardness is our legacy. We are still a poor people, we have much to learn. But China at last belongs to her people. We can work and we will iearn. Come back in five years and you'll see a tremendous difference.” Already the women of China are serving in very responsible positions. Madame Sun Yat-sen, widow of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who led the Chinese Revolution in 1911, is one of the Vice- Presidents of the new Republic. She is a beautiful, softly spoken woman, who has courageously worked for the Chinese people, despite every obstacle and threat. Women Ministers The Minister of Health and the Minister of Justice are both women. There are over twenty women in high Government posts, In the first Parliament there are sixty-nine women M.P.s. C. K. Wong, chairman of the rural area of Shantung, has been working for many years organising women. The province of Shantung practised the binding of girl babies’ feet on a much wider scale than other parts of China. She herself has partly bound feet; that is, her feet were bound as a baby, but before she had finished growing they were unbound, so that she is only semi-crippled. The women of Shantung, despite this hideous handicap, worked heroically against the Japanese and Kuomintang. They tended the wounded, made clothes and bandages, and transported to the front line hundreds of tons of food every day. C. K. Wong was the leader of this work. So millions are working and learning in China today, working 14 === [PDF page 15] === Soong Ching-ling, widow of China’s early revolutionary leader, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, is a Vice-Chairman of the People’s Central Government to build and learning to manage their own country. But they haven’t forgotten how to laugh and sing. In Tientsin, we went to.a concert, which was typical of many, a combination of the old and the new. A girl danced an agile dance, keeping a long piece of silk in the air by flicks of her wrists and weaving it into the most lovely patterns. Children from the schools danced and sang, with everyone joining in the chorus. A young boy and his three sisters did a breathtaking stunt cycling act. Stirring Climax The climax was the evergreen favourite, the North Shensi Waist Drum Dance. This dance is one of the most stirring and fascinating things I have ever seen. The dancers weave intricate designs, and do some amazing athletic feats, and the drums keep perfect time. During the dance they improvise songs. Songs and dances play a vital part in China today, both as an expression of joy and as a means of education, when illiteracy is 15 === [PDF page 16] === so widespread. Theatre and dance troupes tour the villages, and in this picturesque way bring news of world events, and fight against all types of backward ideas, strengthening the confidence of the people in their cause. One of the favourite songs in China today is “Unity is Strength”. Its words are: Unity is strength, It is like iron, It is like steel, But it is harder than iron, It is stronger than steel Against the fascists. We now have democracy And are facing the sun, Liberty is shining on New China Like a radiant light. That song sums up China today. The people are solid and united. They are confident, happy, and determined on a full, free life. They have difficulties and shortages, but above all they have won their freedom. Nothing can turn back the clock, no one can enchain and enslave them again. Together for Peace The women of Asia appealed to the humanity in the hearts of the millions of women in Britain. In that appeal they urge us to stand side by side with them that peace may be won. Let us gather inspiration and confidence from the women of Asia, who in face of what seemed to be insuperable difficulties have won through to freedom in so many countries. Our work and will for peace, linked with theirs, will then be victorious and the black night of war will be abolished from the history of mankind, JAN TODAY THE PROGRESSIVE MONTHLY PRICE FOURPENCE Published by the British Committee, Women’s International Democratic Federation, 8 Broxash Road, London, $.W.11. Printed by Farleigh Press Ltd. (7.U. all depts.), Beechwood Rise, Watford, Herts.—(8147)