New Walk Premiere: Republican Ladies and the Women of Dashilar
Beijing Postcards is proud to announce our latest themed Walk-and-Talk, “Republican Ladies and the Women of Dashilar. This new theme will be featured at our Themed Saturdays all through March.
When the 6-year-old emperor Puyi abdicated in 1912, change was upon Beijing. Suddenly, the old patriarchal structures of society were no longer kept in place. At the top of society, Republican ladies would enjoy freedom and opportunity like never before. Newspapers, cigarette packages and movies inspired a whole new idea of what it meant to be a woman.
During the Qing Dynasty, women were not allowed to have conventional jobs. The guilds of traditional trades kept women out. This prompted the newspaper The Peiyang Pictorial News to run a series of drawings entitled “The 360 Female Trades” as a sarcastic comment on the state of affairs. The paper mockingly included female “trades” such as bizarre professions like professional criers, prostitutes, opium pipe holders, and many more.
At the bottom of society, however, it was not curiosity that drove women out of the courtyards. It was poverty, and to the astonishment of Republican bystanders, women could now be seen doing “men’s work”, laboriously pulling rickshaws in the dusty streets of the capital.
Beijing Postcards found these pictures while conducting archival research, and we used some of the visuals in our new line of tote bags.
Some would say that it was about time that change caught up with the old capital. Other places in China had long before embraced the ideas of modern society. In Shanghai, female intellectuals, actresses, suffragettes and others were already leading the charge in actively moving away from the traditional passive subordinate role of women and creating entirely new notions in the process.
Our poster girl: Caricature of modern Chinese women: “a woman smoking outside withher hands in the pocket” - La Politique de Pekin 1914
These new ideas began to shine through the cracks in the structure of the old society. Even though Beijing had done everything to resist the change, the foundation of traditional Chinese society was crumbling and the whole house was bound to fall.
This new Walk-and-Talk will take place in the old Beijing neighborhood of Dashilar - a place was traditionally known as the “melting pot” in Beijing society. Dashilar was at the center of development as new modern storefronts, newspaper houses, brothels and movie theaters sprung up and became important vehicles of change.
To test your knowledge of history, we have also included a small quiz here, and we'll pick one winner who will get a ticket for this walk!
Question: For more than 100 years women were not allowed to become actresses in Beijing - when were women allowed on stage?
The Walk-and-Talk will be available on the following dates:
14:00-16:30 Saturday, March 9
15:00-17:00 Saturday, March 16 (Talk in Shanghai)
14:00-16:30 Saturday, March 23
11:00-13:30 Saturday, March 30
To register, please scan the QR code, and select your preferred date.
Click 'Read More' below to check our upcoming events calendar.
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