📝 What changed on paper
Choice of husband, an end to child marriage and concubines, and an equal right to divorce.
Change Under Mao, 1949-63 » Changes in the Role of Women in Mao's China
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section B, Breadth study B4, Key topic 3
- How women were treated in China before 1949
- What the Marriage Law of 1950 changed
- How foot binding was finally stamped out and how women's work and Party roles grew
- Why change in practice was slower than the laws promised
For centuries, most Chinese women had few rights. A girl's family often chose her husband, and she moved into his family's home when she married. Rich men could take concubines. Many girls were married as children. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) said this old system was unfair, and that China could not be modern while half its people were held back. After 1949 it set out to change the role of women.
Key terms:
- Arranged marriage: a marriage chosen by the families, not by the bride and groom.
- Concubine: a woman kept by a married man as a secondary partner, with fewer rights than a wife.
- Foot binding: the old custom of tightly wrapping a girl's feet to stop them growing, which caused lifelong pain and made walking and working hard.
- Marriage Law (1950): the law that gave women and men equal rights in marriage.
- All-China Women's Federation: the organisation, set up in 1949 and led by the CCP, that spoke for women and explained the new laws to them.
🔒 Unlock Full Course Content
Sign up to access the complete lesson and track your progress!
Unlock This CourseWomen before 1949
Under the old system a woman was expected to obey her father, then her husband, then her son. Foot binding was a sign of status and a way to make daughters marriageable. The Republic of China had banned foot binding in 1912, and Chinese reformers had campaigned against it for years. Yet the custom carried on in many villages, because a ban is hard to enforce in a huge, poor country. In the countryside, where most people lived, little had changed.
The Marriage Law, 1950
The Marriage Law came into force on 1 May 1950. It was one of the first big laws of the new People's Republic. It said:
- No arranged marriages. Both the bride and the groom had to agree.
- No child marriages. There was a minimum age for marriage (20 for men and 18 for women).
- No concubines.
- Women and men had equal rights in the family, and both could get a divorce.
Divorce was the most shocking part for many villagers. Women now had an equal right to ask for one, and many used it to escape violent or forced marriages. The Women's Federation and CCP officials toured villages explaining the law, using plays, posters and meetings.
🏡 What changed in the village
Slowly. Many families, and many husbands, still believed the old ways were right.
Ending foot binding
The 1912 ban had never fully worked. Under the CCP, local officials and the Women's Federation pushed much harder. They taught that binding was cruel, told families to stop binding daughters, and urged women to unbind their feet. Fewer and fewer girls had their feet bound. Foot binding was in practice stamped out in the 1950s, though many older women lived on with the damage already done to their feet.
Women at work and in the Party
The CCP wanted women to work outside the home. Women were half the population, and a country trying to industrialise needed their labour. The government said that women who earned their own money would be more equal, and a slogan of the time said that women held up half the sky. Women worked in the fields, in textile mills and in other factories, and more girls went to school.
Women also joined the Party and the local government. The Women's Federation gave many a voice. Some women became officials and local leaders.
The limits of change in practice
The new laws were bold, but real life lagged behind.
- Old attitudes survived. In many villages families still arranged marriages, and a woman who asked for a divorce could be pressured or attacked by her husband's family. Local officials, who were mostly men, did not always enforce the law.
- Women were paid less. On collective farms, work was measured in work points. Women usually earned fewer points than men for work of the same value.
- The double burden. Women who worked outside the home still did most of the cooking, cleaning and child care. Their working day was far longer than men's.
- Few women reached the top. Senior posts in the Party and government stayed mostly in the hands of men.
Change and continuity
Women's lives changed more under Mao than under any government before. The law gave them rights, foot binding ended, and millions went out to work. But the Party's main aims were to build socialism and a strong economy, and it often valued women's labour more than women's equality. Many old attitudes, especially in the countryside, continued.
Common mistakes
- Saying that the Marriage Law ended unfair treatment overnight. The law was strong, but enforcing it was slow and patchy.
- Writing that foot binding began in 1912. The 1912 date is when it was banned. It was ended in practice in the 1950s.
- Forgetting the limits. A good answer always explains both what changed and what did not.
Exam-style question
Explain two causes of the Communist government's decision to change the role of women in China in the early 1950s. [8 marks]
Remember: one cause alone cannot score more than half marks. Explain how each cause led to the decision.
Model answer
One cause was the CCP's belief that the old family system was unfair and had to go. The Party argued that arranged marriages, child marriages and concubines kept women under the control of men and were a sign of an old-fashioned China. It had promised equality for women, so soon after taking power it passed the Marriage Law, which came into force on 1 May 1950 and banned all three and gave women an equal right to divorce. The Party believed that a new China needed new family relationships.
A second cause was the need for women's labour and support. Women made up about half of the population, and the government wanted to build industry and farming quickly. Women who were free to work outside the home could add their labour to the economy, and the government said that women held up half the sky. Winning the loyalty of women also helped the new government to gain support in the villages, which is why the CCP-led Women's Federation, set up in 1949, was used to explain the new laws to villagers and win women's support.
What lifts this to the top level: each cause is backed by a precise fact and the answer shows how the cause led to the decision.
Exam tip
Start each paragraph with "One cause was..." and end it with a sentence that links the cause back to the question, such as "This led the government to...".
Recap
- The Marriage Law (1 May 1950) banned arranged and child marriages and concubines, and gave women an equal right to divorce.
- Foot binding, banned in 1912, was finally stamped out in the 1950s.
- More women worked outside the home and joined the Party, and the Women's Federation spoke for them.
- Change was limited by old attitudes, lower pay, the double burden and few women in senior posts.