Teacher Keng's Heritage A Survey of Chinese Women Scientists S. V. Meschel James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, 5640 S. Ellis Ave., Chicago, IL 60637 I t is not the aim of the author nor is i t possible within the scope of this paper to present a comprehensive history of Chinese women. There are many studies available in Western languages, especially in English, about the life and status of Chinese women throughout history (1-19). Since China is a vast country incorporating many groups of fundamentally divergent cultures and environments, it may not even b e a p p r o s a t e to refer to Chinese women as a unified entity. This paper focuses entirely on women scientists in China, excluding the many eminent personalities of Chinese origin who made their homes and contributions in other lands. I n the ancient time period of China there is evidence for a fundamentally matriarchal society in which women were highly regarded. However, by approximately 1100 BC a patriarchal system evolved and the social status of women deteriorated. I n subsequent centuries religion, cultural tradition, and social pressures further contributed to keep women physically confined and intellectually repressed. In such social climate it is not surprising that there is a scarcity of documentary evidence depicting significant women personalities. One of the difficulties in tracing accomplished women is that the genealogical records for families often exclude the female members. Despite the repression throughout the centuries, deeds of extraordinary women have been recorded by histonans. We find evidence for the existence of well-respected poets, artists, and even military commanders and rulers (5, ti, 9, 10.18.19, In the histow o f c h i n e ~ women e as in the Weste& world many of the iamous personalities were women of the aristocracy-empresses, princesses, etc. unmarried women-single, widow priestessesTaoist and Buddhist nuns wives and daughters of famous men While the available literature mentions and describes in glowing terms the achievements of the few women in the arts and the government, practically none are cited who contributed to the scientific knowledge of China. This paper is intended to add to the study of Chinese women another dimension; in addition to the knowledge about legends of virtuous maidens, chaste widows, talented concu-
bines and valiant soldiers, it endeavors to recognize the creative participants of the scientific culture. Status of Women Confucius, whose teachings provided the fundamental ethics for traditional Chinese society, had few positive notions about women. Throuehout the life cvcle women passed from the dominance father to husband to son in ~ e r ~ e t usubservience. al Women had verv little authoritv except over the children and female memhem of the family. Women lacked most of the lwal and orooertv rights. The AD) lines from a poem by the p o e < ~ u~ s u a i3rd"cenltury n captures the mood well: (15)
. .
6
How sad it is to be a woman Nothing on earth is held so cheap. Women attained status by providing the family with sons. That female children were considered more a liability than asset is expressed by the following lines, also by Fu Hsuan (15): No one is glad when a girl is born By her the family sets no store.
Foot binding was one of the best known a d s symbolizing subservience of women. Remarriage of widows was frowned upon and many girls betrothed in childhood were forced to remain single if the child-groom died. However, frequently widows embarked on careers oftheir own. Some widows became Taoist nuns which also gave them more independence in life. The oppression of women was not uniform throughout China. Northern and Southern regions differed in the degree of demands in passivity. Han Chinese and other ethnic communities also varied in the observance of the rigidity of social customs. In some families of scholars a favorite daughter was often educated as if she were a son. Several of the alchemists I will cite later on and certainly Wang Zhenyi, the astronomer, attained their education thanks to this cultural phenomena. Despite the several thousand-year old tradition of subservience, the personal courage and patriotism of Chinese women shows as a golden thread throughout their history (10, 15).The legendary Mu-lau, for example, fought as a soldier for 12 years in place of her father. She is remembered as an able fighter, a fierce soldier of 100 battles (Wei
Volume 69 Number 9 September 1992
723
dynasty, 386-557 AD). There are records of women's military units during the Tai Ping revolution as well as during the Boxer uprising, consisting mostly ofyoung girls or widows. Women fought in female battalions against the Japanese invaders. They were active in the revolutionary movement and helped establish the modern People's Republic. Their courage and patriotism were apparent in the interviews of the contemporary scientists. The status of women changed significantly during Mao Ze Dong's leadership of the People's Republic of China. Women were given the right to vote (3).New laws provided the right to property, inheritance, and choice in mamage. Prostitution and female infanticide were outlawed. Traditional views about women, however, are slow to change and the new laws enacted oRen met strong resistance es~ e c i a l l vi n the rural areas. Views concernine divorce changed radically from relative ease to more re&ictions. Divorce is considered an ideological failure rather than a personal problem. There is strong social pressure for counseling and informal conflict resolution. The importance of women's work has undergone major shifts since the 1950's depending on the needs of the industry and ideological changes. The following quotation from Mme Sun Yat Sen summarizes the position in the early 1970's: (12) Today in our muntry there are people's communes in rural places where women receive leas pay than men fbr equal work In production. In certain villages patnarchal ideas *till have their effect. Pro~ort~onatcl,: morr how than eirls attend school. Parents n&d the girlsw& do household war< Some even feel that eirls will eventuallv enter another familv and therefore it would not pay to send them to school Moreover, when grls are u, be mamed, thmr parents oRen ask for a cenam amount of money or various articles from the family of the would-be husband. Thus, the freedom of marriage is affected. Finally, as farmers want to add to the labor force in their families, the hirth of a son is expected, while that of a daughter is considered a disaonointment. This reoeated desire to have at least one son hd$ an adverse effec; on hrth control and planned birth. A woman wrth many chlldren around her nnturally findsit toodifficultta participate inany pruductivr labor Another thing hampering a working woman is her invalvement in household work. This prevents many women from full, wholehearted participation in public services. I t is clear that women continue t o bear a double burden of work and household tasks. Men are urged to help and they do to some extent. The worldwide conflict oftime to be sp&t nurturing the young and the old of the family and advancement opportunities in the career is felt keenly in China. Job transfers may result in losing the help of relatives in childcare and are more resisted by professional women than by men. Only highly paid professional women can afford some household help. In professional positions women are expected to give up some of their free time to take courses in political studies and to attend meetings. Such assianments are universallv more difficult for a woman with a family. In spite of much progress there is a ereat deal of improvement that should come forth. The following quotation illustrates Chou En Lai's opinion on this subject:
-
There are still a lot of old customs hindering progress. We must admit the hindrances and support the women-not throw cold water on them. Old customs take effort to overcome. Based on the documentary evidence generated by my own survey, Table 1shows a listing of Chinese women scientists of im~ortanceand re~utationin an ao~roximatelv chrono~o~icai order. I hope t i a t further stud& will add & this llstine. An examination of the Table 1 ~ e r m i t one s to make some meaningful inferences about ~ h n e s women e scientists and discern similarities with their countemarts in other areas of the World. One such similarity w o i d be
724
Journal of Chemical Education
Table 1. Some Women Scientists of China Name Se Lina- She Chun Yu Yen
Field inventor Medicine
Fang Pao Ku KO Keng Hsiedeng Li Shao Yun Thai Hsuan Nu Sun Pu-Erh Huang Daopo Shen Yu Hsiu Wang Zhenyi
Alchemy Aichemy Alchemy Alchemy Alchemy Alchemy Inventor Alchemy Astronomy, Geophysics Medicine Medicine Medicine Medicine Medicine Medicine
Ya Mei Kin Kien Yien Hsu Ah Mae Wong Hu King Eng Li Yuin Tsao Shih Mei Yu (Mary Stone) Zok Kyons Chang Lin Chiao Chi Anna M. Y. Chow Lin Lanying Wang Chengshu Xie Xide He Zehui Chen Ruyu Wu Su Xuan Li Guizhen Yei Shuhua Li Minhun Li Lin Chi Jishang Song JuanJuan Zheng Guangdi Wei Yu Cui Zhilan Chu Pac-Ying Wu Xijun Xu Gongqijao Chu Ming-Kai Song Muling Sun Juan Su Zu Fei Wang Quiaozhang Shen Tianhui Gao Xiaoxia Huang Liang Jiang Lijin Cao Yi Hu Qihena
Time period (century) 3000 BC Han dynasty (206 BG22 AD) 1st BC 3rd AD 10th 11th uncertain 12th 13th 15th 18th
Medicine Medicine Medicine Physics Physics Physics Physics Chemistry Botany Biology Astronomy Applied Mechanics Metallurgy Geology Chemicai Engineer Civil Engineer Electrical Engineer Biology Chemical Engineer Chemicai Engineer Biology Genetics Neurosurgery Ophthalmology Pediatrics Dentistry Chemistry Chemistry Chemistry Chemistry Chemistry Chemicai Enaineer
the relatively large number of women identified with alchemy and medicine. There is a n interesting parallel with the phenomena observed in the Western World in the near absence of women scientists between the 15th and 18th centuries, the burst of talent and emergence of comparatively significant numbers of talent a t the end of the 19th century through the present time (20).
Medicine
Sharing tradition with other ancient societies. women particip$ed in the healing professions of china. In the time period of approximately 1000 BC, women served as midwives, prepared herbal medicines, practiced surgery and anatomy, dissecting animals and humans (21). The first woman doctor mentioned by name who practiced during the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) is ChunYu Yen, also identified as an obstetrician (22). Chun Yu Yen was summoned to the I m ~ e r i aPalace l to treat the Queen. for whom she prescribed pill containing aconite as Bctive ineredient. Aconite was the dried root of a ~ l a nused t as a seiative. This plant and other members of the crowfoot familv were used as healina- herbs. There is some evidence that during the early 1300's women doctors were kven official recomition. They could apply for medical certifcation and after a detailedexamination, candidates were selected by the appropriate govemment officials. The successful candidates were recorded in the official list of physicians and subsequently were allowed to practice (23). A noteworthy Western parallel can be seen in the case of a n Italian woman physician, Virdimura. She was allowed to practice in the 14th century after passing a similar qualifying examination given by Court physicians (20). Admission of female students to medical school began centuries later in 1879 in Canton (24). . . The sentiment that the training of women doctors is a n important issue was expressed during a conference in 1917 in recoenition of the fact that Chinese women refer to be healediy a doctor of their own sex (25). The scarcitv of information reeardim women ~hvsicians is apparent not only in studies in ~ e & mlan&ages. M. I. Tine. an eminent doetor a t the turn of the 20th centurv
a
-
Chinese history mentions women writers, poets, artists, musicians, and even warriors, but does not record a single woman physician. In 1934, 16.9% of the medical students were women; however, the malelfemale ratio in practicing physicians was 1011 (27). A large portion of the literature regarding women doctors in China during the 19th and early 20th centuries refer to Western ~hvsicianssent bv missionarv oreanizations to practice ihLre (26, 28). A iotable exception is the eminent woman ~hvsician.Jamei Kin. who eraduated a t the head of her c& and received a n MD deGee from Cornell Universitv in 1888. Subseauentlv. she returned to China to practice in 1905. Jamei &n established a hospital in Tien Tsin and conducted research in micro~hotozraphv. She attempted to introduce modern clinicai tech;li&& there; however, encountering strong resistance against her reforms, she was forced to compromise many of these. Jamei Kin also organized a n extensive nursing program. She is also remembered as having been active in fighting the opium trade (29). Through the tumultous decades of the first half of the 20th century plagued with war, civil strife, famine, and destruction, women doctors distinguished themselves in serving their country. Some representatives of this era are Meigli Shie, (Mary Stone, MD, University of Michigan), and Helena Wong (MD, Tulane University) (30,31). A relatively recent article discusses the career of Lin Chiao-Chih. She was heading the Obstetrics Department a t Beijing's Capital Hospital till her death in 1983. Contrasting the studies of the pioneer physicians, this paper discusses ~rimarilvLin's ~oliticalinvolvement and ~ a r t i c ipation in high level gove;nment committees (32).
- -
Scientists and Inventors The first woman inventor mentioned by name is Se Ling She, wife of the Emperor Huang Te,who lived approximately 3000 BC. She is credited with inventing the weaving of silk (33,341. Many of the women scientists of the Ancient and Medieval time periods cited below were wives, sisters, or daughters of scientists. For example, an early practitioner of alchemy is known as Fang, Chheng Wei's wife, who lived approximately in the fmst century BC. We know about her existence through the author KOHung, who described her life in some detail (35).Fang came from a scholarly family skilled in alchemical nrocesses. She studied alchemv with Wu Ti's favorite spouses: Fang one of the Emperor was credited with the ahilitv to transform mercurv into silver. Unfortunately, the sil"ver-making process & not described. Her husband a t t e m ~ t e dto obtain the secret Drocesses from her, apparently k t h o u t success. ~ o w e v e r , h e r need to ~ r o t e cthe t secret from her husband. for which she enduredcruel punishment, was believed to be responsible for h e r insanity a n d death. KO Hung relates her misfortunes with compassion:
an
She would never divulge the art even though she were to be cut into pieces and dismembered. Chheng Wei obstinately kept on pressing her, however, until fmally she went mad, rushed out naked, smeared herself with mud and died. The date of Fane's death is estimated to be 45 BC. The Empemr became so annoyed upon hearing about Fang's demise that he had the husband, Chheng Wei, executed. In one of the most signiifican
