On body in modern Chinese thoughts and culture : An analysis based on gender studies

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Developing my recent research on the anti-footbinding movement and the eugenic idea which had prevailed from the West to Asia from late 19^<th> century to early 20^<th> century under historical conditions related to national policy and model of family, I examined how body of modern Chinese women had shaped and had been trained or controlled to be nationalized throughut the period in which nation was built and involved in the world oriented by social Darwinism while China was in danger of losing her territory. In this study, taking the gender studies approach, I analyzed various representations in new media such as magazines and newspapers and pointed out new women had to make use of eugenics and birth control both of which were national control over people's reproduction to fight against Confucian patriarchy. Observing postcards, on which bodies of footbounded women were illustrated, sent by the Westerners from China to Europe, I also found the eyes of Empire or Orientalist. The similar eyes could be found not only in Chinese intellectuals who internalized the West and looked down footbounded women, who took time to liberate their feet, as the symbol of 'Chinese backwardness' but also in intellectual women who partly internalized the men and stepped out of private sphere to public sphere to some extent. Fox example, both Chinese men and women who were highly educated looked down Korean people colonized by Japanese rather than accused Japanese of injustice.