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"Living Fossils of China's Last Feudal-Bound Community" Fades Out
When coming across Liu Bilan at an art exhibition in Europe, few would recognize the misery hidden behind her intelligent and capable appearance: having been sold by her parents in childhood, and having experienced a long and tear- filled arranged marriage.
Liu Bilan, 48, is now the chief-artist and general manager of a stone-carving company in Hui'an county of south China's Fujian province.
"For 20 years I have never walked hand in hand with my husband, nor have we eaten a meal together at the same table," She said.
"Like other women in Hui'an in Fujian, for a long time, I thought that the pain in my life was just my destiny."
However, Liu who had never contemplated divorce, left her husband three years ago. Her divorce did not bring as much censure as she was afraid it might.
Liu's story is one of the many similar ones among the so-called "Hui'an Women", living in the coastal Hui'an county and described by some writers as "living fossils of China's last feudal-bound community" for their low family status and handed-down feudalistic consciousness imposed on them from history.
"Due to relatively inconvenient traffic conditions and historic habitude, the 'Hui'an Women' act and dress very differently from the surrounding people," said Chen Guohua, an expert on folklore.
"Their clothes are very beautiful, characterized by yellow bamboo hats, colorful headbands that envelops half of the face, short blue shirts that don't cover their bellybutton's, and bloomers made by black silk fabric," he said.
"But the unfortunate thing was that their marriage's used to be arranged completely by their parents, and affected by the old feudalistic consciousness and pressed from both their husband and their husband's family. They used to dare not to eat until they were full, to sleep as much as they need or even to talk to other men."
"The good news is that now, this situation has basically changed," the scholar noted.
According to his latest survey of six towns or townships with most of the "Hui'an Women", free courtship and having freedom to arrange their own marriage has prevailed among the youngsters.
In Dazuo Village in Hui'an, several dancing and singing halls are open until late at night and young girls are often seen walking hand in hand with their boyfriends.
"There were once a dominant organization called 'sisters' union' in Hui'an, which caused a lot of women committing group suicide, said sociologist Jiang Weixin, "But now, this organization has disappeared with such social activities like watching movies and going out to work to improve their living conditions."
"Actually the Hui'an women, walking out of the shadow of the feudal-bound, have quickly become artists of life," Jiang said, noting that almost all young girl's take small mirrors with them so that they can touch up their appearance while working.
Nowadays, women officials, artists, managers and writers have become popular in Hui'an County, the Hui'an Women are no longer to men's subordinates in their families.
According to Wang Feng, a local historian, women had a low social status in history because of their low economic status, and now, "the over 20 years of economic reform and fast development have laid a solid base for women in Hui'an to strive for their equal rights with men."
The latest statistics show that more than 40 percent of the total income in Chongwu Town in the county was brought about by women.
Some 8,000 of the total 20,000 rural women are now working in modern factories, with 400 having been appointed as managers.
The county is now building a folk museum, with a 20-meter-tall stone sculpture of a Hui'an Woman standing before the museum. According to the sponsors, the museum will be symbolized as the last and only end-result of all old, feudalistic concepts left from history.
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