Gail Hershatter is a very representative figure in the field of Western Chinese women's history research。She traveled mountains and wading，Deeper into Chinese cities and small villages，With the unique insights of historians，Use cross -disciplinary research methods，Create a group of very good history of modern women in modern Chinese。At the same time, she also witnessed the research of Chinese women's history in the United States from scratch、Development process from edge to mainstream。Recent，He Xiao shared with reporters the results and feelings of her research on modern women in modern Chinese in 25 years。

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"China Social Sciences": How do you associate with China，How do you embark on the path of studying Chinese history?

He Xiao: The story of my Chinese and my China is closely related to the development of the relationship between China and the United States。I was originally interested in China in China，I think that generation has the same feeling，At that time, the outbreak of the Vietnam War made us understand some topics about Asia and China。When I was in college，It coincides with China and the United States to carry out "ping -pong diplomacy"、Then American President Nixon Visit China，As if you can see news reports and pictures about China everywhere，And different from the previous one is，These reports and pictures are mostly positive content。I also started to participate in the study class of Chinese history and language at that time。1975 I went to China for the first time，In just three weeks，I visited several cities in Beijing and northeast，I feel that I still feel my intention，I really want to continue to stay in China。After returning to the United States，I started to continue studying for a doctoral degree at Stanford University，Finally, after the normalization of China and the United States in 1979, go to Tianjin Nankai University to study and study。

Two years in Tianjin，I have a lot of gains。At that time, Deng Xiaoping proposed "emancipating the mind、Seeking truth from facts "，I can also feel the active social atmosphere of Tianjin。Before going to Tianjin，I don't know enough about some Chinese history and political issues in China，Later, Bet365 app download through the life and study there，Communicate with Chinese people，I found that many problems have their own complexity，Can't generalize。Two years in Nankai，I met many "three -year -old" college students，They are in American history、World history is very interested。When I was in class，Students will ask me how Americans think of Washington、Lincoln and Roosevelt? But in the United States at that time，Students are not so strong for China。Perhaps because there was no chance to understand at that time，So Americans do not care about the history of other countries，Therefore, I decided to return to the United States to teach students Chinese history and culture，Let them know more about China。

My major is Chinese history，I am also very interested in the history and women's problems of Chinese labor。I checked a lot of old newspapers and information in the library of Tianjin，Cycling Bicycles visited the old workers' families，Later, I completed my first book "Tianjin Workers: 1900-1949"。There are some in this book specifically introduced Tianjin female workers。The United States in the same era also because of the rise of the second wave of feminist movements，Female history as a discipline study in the university just emerged。

　　Do the most grounded research

"China Social Sciences": Your book "Gender of Memory" is well received，It takes the oral history of rural women as the first -hand material，Record the impact of the transformation of rural society on women's lives with an academic context。Why do you choose rural women in China in the 1950s and 1960s as research objects? There are reports that you have prepared for this book for 15 years，Gathering a large number of oral information for elderly women in rural areas in Shaanxi Province，Visited more than 70 rural women，What kind of feelings do those field surveys bring you?

He Xiao: Before starting to write this book，Chinese women I am concerned about，Whether it is ordinary workers or prostitutes，All women in the city，Rural women in China，Whether it is before liberation or after liberation，I don't know it at all。So I contacted and kept committed to protecting women's rights and interests、Gao Xiaoxian, Researcher of Shaanxi Women's Federation who promotes gender equality，Go to the rural areas of Shaanxi to collect oral historical information，I hope to start from a female perspective，Exploring the impact of the transformation of rural society on women's lives。

The survey was intermittently carried out for ten years，We visited several villages，The objects bet365 live casino games of the interviewees are women aged 65-75，A considerable one of them is no longer alive。Study these elderly women in rural Shaanxi to study modern Chinese history，Especially the history of Chinese women in the early days of Chinese liberation is important，Because they have memories of life before liberation，experience of changing life after liberation。If you don't hurry up, master the first -hand information，If you don't hurry up, master the first -hand information。Chinese young historians should also actively do "oral history"，Especially those elderly people who can't write，"Oral" is the only way they witness history，These oral materials will become extremely precious historical information in the future。

Most of the information I obtained from the book and newspaper information is mostly national policy at the macro level，and these away from Beijing、Unsudit rural women can integrate macro policies into daily life，Give me the most grounded information。For example，"Great Leap Forward" period，Although they don’t understand what the "Great Leap Forward" is，But I think that eating the cafeteria is good，Not good is that their husbands are going to exercise，They have to do housework、Bringing children，Also go to the field for farming。Although hard，But they still think that New China is good，At least you don't need to be frightened and fear，Life status is much stable than before the founding of New China。When reviewing my life，Most of them are very proud，Think that you are "very capable"; but you will also show fatigue and grievances，Think that your child "can't suffer"、"I don't understand"，Don’t understand their efforts。I recorded the memories of these women in the war era in the book、Struggle between various customs in the new and old society、Thoughts in the Revolution, etc.，By listening to the story they tell them，Explore the deepest things in the heart of Chinese women。For example，After losing her husband，willing to gain respect with the idea of ​​"from one to the end" with the old society、Improve social status，I am also willing to accept the idea of ​​gender equality，Let them also be respected。

To make the content more expressive，I try to write directly in their language as much as possible。These women usually do not talk about objects，So I am willing to answer our questions。Unfortunately，Although I know Chinese，But I don’t understand dialects，Can't fully understand all their meanings。

"China bet365 best casino games Social Sciences": The research of women's history is often interdisciplinary，What do you think of this characteristic?

He Xiao: The characteristics of the interdisciplinary research of women's history are only good for me。For example, "Gender of Memory" gathers the knowledge of many disciplines，The person who interviewed our interview is not a display product without life，but a lively object，Therefore, we need to use a lot of history、Knowledge and research methods of anthropology and psychology。I am also glad to "steal the teacher" different analysis tools from other disciplines，Let me not be limited to the profession of historian。

"China Social Sciences": Your work "The Happy Lives" has been translated into Chinese，This book benefits from the rich theoretical exploration of the second half of the 20th century，There will be seemingly ordinary "prostitutes" problems and national consciousness、Political Power Relations、Commercial and economic benefits、Social reform、National Psychology、Social gender structure and other core issues are linked。Please talk about the creation of this book。

He Xiao: When I was doing a survey in Tianjin，The discussion of women's characters, especially "Iron Girls" in the society, is enthusiastic and rich。Emily Honig, a colleague from Stanford University, collected a large number of "Tianjin Daily"、"Wen Wei Po" and other media articles，See how Chinese people discuss women's problems。Later, the book "Personal Voice: Chinese Women in the 1980s"。And when I am published "Tianjin Workers: 1900-1949", I am published when collecting information，It is found that data shows that in the early 1930s，Tianjin's female workers in the prostitute industry in the prostitute industry are more than in other industries。But few scholars pay attention to this issue，Some scholars don't even understand，I think this is not a historical problem。But I still think that since there is a large amount of data exist，It proves that it is a very important part of Chinese women's modern history。And the prostitute industry，Not too much like other industries has its own historical records。I thought about many ways when I collected the information，Do not let go of some tabloid columns when reading the previous newspapers。In addition、The memories of people who have been engaged in the prostitute industry are all my resources。"Dangerous pleasure" is very thick，Time span continues from the late Qing Dynasty to the early 1990s。Later facts indicate，This topic has always existed，Now Bet365 app download more and more scholars have begun to pay attention to this social problem。

　Chinese Women's History Research: Learn all about

"China Social Sciences": Why do you think modern Chinese women's research is very important in the study of modern Chinese history?

He Xiao: I always think that when teaching students in modern Chinese history，It is impossible to avoid the history of modern women。Chinese women's problems in the 20th century and politics at that time、Social and cultural change is closely linked。With the Reform Method of Wuxu、May 4th Movement as an example，Can you improve the status of women，In fact, it has become an important criterion for measuring whether the previous reforms in modern Chinese history.。

Starting from the end of the 19th century，Chinese intellectuals start to actively think about women's problems when thinking about China's future out of the way。Liang Qichao has actively promoted women's education，Taking "running female learning" as one of the signs of the strength of the transformation，Proposing women's self -sufficiency helps to change the poor situation of the country。Later, some elite knowledge women went to study in Japan，After returning home, I brought back advanced thoughts。

In fact， Early 20th century，In China and many other countries and regions，Social theorists think to see if a country is civilized、progress and opening up，You can observe the female status of this country。China has long realized the importance of increasing women's status，Gao Raid the banner of "women's liberation"，Payment of a series of laws to protect women's rights，Improve women's status。Open the newspaper of that period、Magazine and various historical information，You will find that women are wearing、Marriage、Education and other aspects of a lot。to this day，When we study China in the 20th century，How does the incident that causes the dynasty affects women? How does Chinese thinkers explain the needs of social and cultural changes by studying women's status?。

"China Social Sciences": academic development should be rooted in the soil of academic history。Your book "Chinese Women in the Long 20th Century" is such an academic history.，Some scholars call it "Guide to understand the 20th century Chinese women"。The book is based on the study of 650 books of Chinese women in the 20th century in the English world，Divided into three topics- "Women and marriage、Family and sex and social gender differences "、"Women and Labor"、"Modernity of Women and the Country" bet365 best casino games for comment。Can you talk about this book?

He Xiao: The editor of "Journal of Asian Studies" once asked if I would like to sort out English works of Chinese women in the 20th century，Let other scholars can use my article，Clear and intuitive understanding of this field。When I start to prepare the materials，I find a lot of resources，More than 500 books and articles in a short period of time。Another，Western research Chinese women have been 30 years，The gains of the past 30 years are not a clear academic article，At least one book。Chinese research is no longer limited to sinology and regional research，Female research is also greatly rich。Since the mid -1980s，Research on Chinese women rapidly，This emerging field is also from history、Anthropology、Sociology、Literature and other disciplines draw on inspiration and research methods。

In the United States、Europe，Study in ancient Chinese history、The results of modern history are very rich，But there is very little understanding of Chinese women。Speaking of women in Chinese history，Is there only characters like Wu Zetian and Cixi? In the past few decades，Social gender issues have attracted the most talented scholars in China's research field，Their research is in academic perspective、Explanation and descriptive details have rich results。I try to show readers not only showing the deepest academic accumulation in the research field，It is also pointed out that those fragmented and few scholars ask the research，I hope the 650 books cited by "Chinese Women in the Long 20th Century"，It shows that Chinese women's history research is a research field with extraordinary production capacity。

"China Social Sciences": How do you view the research of women in China? What kind of development has the history of Chinese women's history in the United States?

He Xiao: In the early 1990s，I participated in a Chinese Female Research Conference held by Harvard University，Digital Chinese scholars attended impressed me。Although we have different cultural backgrounds，But the same field of research，Discuss the work of each other、Exchange ideas，Very interesting。Since then，Chinese and American scholars have more and more exchanges in this field。The Chinese government has always attached great importance to women's problems and women's research。1995，The Fourth World Women's Conference of the United Nations is held in China。In the early 1990s, a number of female research centers established in various universities and research institutions in China，and maintain close contact with female research institutions bet365 live casino games and scholars from various countries and regions in the world。Ancient Chinese female literary works、The survival status of contemporary female migrant workers in China has once become sociology、Research hotspots in various disciplines such as literature，I also hope to see that one day women's history research can attract greater attention and resonance in China。

The 2070s，Due to the rise in the US human rights movement、The influence of the feminist movement，Chinese studies in North America gradually began to pay attention to discovering women's themes in Chinese history。When I start to enter this field，There are not many reference data documents，Probably a dozen books。Our batch of "pioneers" comes from different disciplines，The age is also different，But all have experienced the history of Chinese women's history in the United States、Each stage of continuous development and growth。The 1990s，The research on Chinese women's history in the United States has entered an independent and mature stage，In the mid -1990s, it became more and more diverse。