Chen Hengzhe, China's first female professor: Write an article criticizing women's surnames

Chen Hengzhe is the first female writer in the history of modern Chinese literature and the first female professor in modern Chinese history.

　　Chen Hengzhe was deeply influenced by his uncle who had studied abroad in his early years, and was full of interest in Western science and technology, especially medicine. She followed her uncle to Guangzhou at the age of 13 to study for medical school, but was not admitted because she was under 18 years old. Later, in 1911, he went to Shanghai and entered the Patriotic Girls' School. In 1914, she was admitted to the international student class of Tsinghua School, and the following year she became the first batch of female college students selected by Tsinghua university to study in the United States at public expense.

　　During his studies in the United States, Chen Hengzhe studied Western history at Washa Women's University in New York, with a minor in Western literature, and received a bachelor's degree in literature in 1918. He continued his studies at the University of Chicago, pursuing a graduate degree, and received a Master of Arts degree in English in 1920.

　　He teaches at Peking University

　　In September 1920, Chen Heng returned to China, and after returning to China, he married Ren Hongjun. After marriage, Chen Hengzhe faced the problem of finding a job, fortunately with the help of his friend Hu Shi.

　　Hu Shi first contacted Cai Yuanpei, president of Peking University, and explained the situation to him. Cai Yuanpei learned that Chen Hengzhe was a female master who had returned from studying in The West, and that Peking University was planning to recruit female students at that time, so he immediately agreed. Hu Shi then contacted Zhu Xizu, director of the Department of History at Peking University, and Zhu Xizu also agreed. However, it was difficult to arrange courses for Chen Hengzhe, because Chen Hengzhe asked to teach Courses on Western History, but at that time, the Department of History of Peking University had already arranged a course for a teacher to teach Western history, and it was inconvenient to resign halfway. Hu Shi also knew Zhu Xizu's embarrassment, so he had to say: "Madam Chen came back from abroad, and teaching Western history can be more suitable." Zhu Xizu replied: "Let her first teach the western history of the past hundred years, or teach English, and let her choose." However, if we want to teach Western history, we have to wait until next year to discuss it. Hu Shi agreed.

　　Chen Hengzhe taught a small history of the Western Era (equivalent to the modern and contemporary history of the world now taught in the history department of the university) and English classes at Peking University. In this way, Chen Hengzhe became the first female professor at Peking University and the first female professor in China. Subsequently, Chen Hengzhe also transferred to Sichuan University, Southeast University and other universities as a professor with her husband, and also focused on Western history.

　　Vernacular writing

　　In 1917, Chen Hengzhe created the vernacular short story "One Day", which described the life of a freshman in an American women's college in a day, and published it in the "Quarterly Newspaper of Students Studying in the United States" under the pseudonym "Sha Fei", which predates Mr. Lu Xun's vernacular novel "Diary of a Madman" published in 1918.

　　Chen Hengzhe also published poems such as "Wind" and "Moon" during his study abroad, such as the poem "Moon" that reads: "The first moon drags light clouds, laughing in the cold forest." I don't know how to look good, but I have reflected the clear stream. The poem "The Wind" reads: "At night, I smell knocking on the window, and I see the moon as water." Manyo is flying wildly, singing pine nuts. "The two poems are elegant and timeless, and have been well received by Hu Shi and others. After returning to China, she successively wrote vernacular novels and essays published in publications such as New Youth, among which the more influential one was an essay called "Canal and Yangtze River" Dialogue:

　　The Yangtze River meets the canal at an intersection

　　RIVER: Where are you from?

　　Jiang: I'm from Shushan.

　　He: I heard that the Shu Mountains are steep, the cliffs are like walls, and the sharp stones are like knives, how did you come here?

　　JJ: I chiseled them through, flattened them, and struggled to get them down.

　　……

　　RIVER: Really? Poor River! So why are you struggling?

　　JJ: Why struggle? I'm here to make my life!"

　　River: Creation? I don't understand. My life is given to me by people.

　　JJ: You don't understand the meaning of life. Your life is made up of man, and destroyed by man, but my life is something that no one can destroy.

　　This article is not long, but it is full of tension and urges people to forge ahead, and the word "life-making" can quite express Chen Hengzhe's outlook on life and world that is not willing to be mediocre.

　　In addition, Chen Hengzhe has also published vernacular poems such as "People Say I'm Crazy" and the white drama script "Old Couple". Because of her smooth and natural writing, lively and delicate language, she soon gained the title of talented woman, becoming the first female writer in the history of modern Chinese literature.

　　Advocate for women's independence

　　Chen Hengzhe began to actively follow and support the women's independence movement after the May Fourth Movement. She has published articles such as "The Position of Women under the Retro and Dictatorial Forces" and "Fundamental Discussion on Women's Issues", and once criticized the phenomenon that women had to take the surname of their husbands as soon as they got married: "Married women are really a big problem with their own names and surnames. Say that you are willing to keep your name and surname, and people can say that you are not cooperating with your husband; say that you are only a wife of a certain surname from the customary, but when you see a name that represents your personality, you cannot help but feel a kind of sadness. That's why I often say that the best thing to do is for a woman who stands on her husband's shoulders alone, a woman who has nothing but to be someone's wife, to simply be a wife of a certain family; if you call her why she is a lady, don't you think it's a little sarcastic? ”

　　In real life, Chen Hengzhe is also extremely strong in the fight for women's equal rights. At one rally, the president of the meeting called her "lady" instead of "sir," and she immediately rolled up her sleeves and left, surprised by the full seat.

　　After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chen Hengzhe arrived in Sichuan with her husband Ren Hongjun and served as a professor at Sichuan University. During this period, she published articles in the Independent Review, attacking Sichuan's maladministration and corruption, especially the phenomenon of Sichuan female students at that time on the grounds of "preferring to be heroic concubines, not being mediocre wives" as the reason for competing to become concubines of upper-class figures, but it also angered the local elite upper echelons, causing her and her husband to resign and leave one after another.

　　Chen Hengzhe's works are rich and his research is extensive. His works include the short story collection "Little Raindrop", "Hengzhe Prose Collection" (volume 1 and volume 2), "Renaissance History", "Western History" (part 1 and 2), and the English book "The Autobiography of a Chinese Woman", especially "Western History" is the most influential.

　　After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chen Hengzhe was a member of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consult He died of pneumonia in Shanghai in 1976 at the age of 86.