Shen Zijiu

Born1898

Died26 December 1989 (aged 91)

Shen Zijiu
沈兹九
Shen Zijiu, photographed c. 1949
Personal details
Born	1898 Hangzhou, Qing Empire
Died	(1989-12-26)26 December 1989 (aged 91) Beijing, People's Republic of China
Party	Chinese Communist Party

Shen Zijiu^[a] (Chinese: 沈兹九; pinyin: Shén Zījiu; 1898 – 26 December 1989), also known by the alias Chenyan, was a Chinese editor and politician.

Shen Zijiu was born in 1898 in Hangzhou, Qing China.^[1] Her father was a silk merchant.^[2] She attended the Provincial Girls Normal School in Zhejiang and was among her cohort's top performers.^[3] Following a short stint as an elementary school teacher, Shen enrolled at Beijing University where she would complete her undergraduate degree in philosophy.^[1] After graduating from university, Shen's husband, whom she had married at age 17, died of typhoid fever.^[1] Entrusting their daughter to her mother's care, Shen left for Tokyo, Japan in 1921 and studied art at the Ochanomizu University for four years.^[1]^[3] Returning home in 1925, Shen resumed her teaching career at various schools, including the Nanjing Huiwen Girls' High School, the Jiangsu Songjiang Girls' High School, and the Zhejiang Normal School for Women.^[3]

Later years

Dissatisfied with being a widow, Shen remarried but found her second husband, Xu Qingyu (徐庆誉), too much of a male chauvinist; the relationship ended in divorce in 1931.^[3]^[4] After her father's company filed for bankruptcy, Shen moved to Shanghai where she was recruited as assistant editor and Japanese translator for the Chinese-language current affairs journal Shishi leibian (时事类编) published by the Zhongshan Culture and Education Bureau.^[3] In Shishi and elsewhere, Shen would occasionally use the pseudonym "Chenyan"^[5] or simply sign off as "Zi".^[4] In Shanghai, while keenly following the May Fourth Movement, Shen acquainted herself with leftists and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members alike; with their support, she became founding editor of the women's magazine Funü shenghuo (妇女生活) in 1935.^[3] The magazine ran anti-Japanese propaganda and rallied Chinese women to support the National Salvation Movement; Shen herself was the deputy secretary general of the executive committee of the Association of Shanghai Women's National Salvation Movement.^[3]

Shen attracted public attention with the launch of Funü; in her newfound capacity as a leading women's rights activist, she attended a women's conference at Mount Lu organized by Soong Mei-ling and thereafter chaired the New Life Movement Women Supervision Committee's cultural affairs group, with an interest in mobilizing female factory workers for the anti-Japanese resistance.^[3] Shen officially joined the CPC in 1939 and was posted to Singapore in 1941 to assist with journalist Hu Yuzhi's anti-Japanese work.^[3] In February 1942, as the Battle of Singapore was being fought, the couple, now married, fled to Indonesia together with Yu Dafu; Shen recorded her wartime experiences in a series of articles later compiled into a book entitled Exile on the Equator (流亡在赤道线上).^[6] After spending some four years in hiding, the couple returned to Singapore to establish the New South Seas Publishing Company (新南洋出版社), which catered to the overseas Chinese with publications as New Women (新妇女) and Below the Winds (风下). Shen was also the director of the women's group at the Malaya-based branch of the China Democratic League (founded 1947).^[7] Returning to China via Hong Kong in 1948, Hu Yuzhi became the first director of the People Republic of China's State Publishing Bureau, while Shen was appointed editor-in-chief of Women of New China (新中国妇女).^[7] The following year, she travelled to Hebei to help organize the inaugural All-China Women's Congress that would be held in the capital.^[7]

v t e 3rd Central Committee of the China Democratic League
December 1958 – October 1979
Chairperson	Shen Junru^{[note 1]}→Yang Mingxuan^{[note 2]}
Vice Chairpersons	Yang Mingxuan Ma Xulun Shi Liang Gao Chongmin Hu Yuzhi Deng Chumin Chen Wangdao Wu Han Chu Tunan
Secretary-General	Min Ganghou^{[note 3]}→Hu Yuzhi (concurrently)^{[note 4]}
Standing Committee Members	Qian Jiaju Wang Dezi Tian Yiping Liu Qingyang Hua Luogeng Wu Hongbin Li Wenyi Li Xiangfu Wang Shiming Shen Zijiu Xin Zhichao Zhou Jianren Zhou Xinmin Jin Yuelin Xu Shouxuan Zhang Guofan Liang Sicheng Xu Jie Xu Chongqing Tong Dizhou Min Ganghou Huang Yanpei Wen Jiasi Sa Kongliao Zhang Bojun
↑ Shen Junru died in June 1963. ↑ Yang Mingxuan was elected Chairperson of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League at the Fourth Plenary Session of the Fourth Central Committee in December 1963. ↑ Due to illness, Min Ganghou was replaced by acting Secretary-General Xu Shouxuan in 1961, and by acting Secretary-General Li Wenyi in July 1963. Min Ganghou resigned from the post of Secretary-General in December 1963. ↑ In December 1963, Hu Yuzhi, Vice Chairperson, was appointed concurrently as Secretary-General by the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League.

v t e 4th Central Committee of the China Democratic League
October 1979 – December 1983
Chairperson	Shi Liang
Vice Chairpersons	Hu Yuzhi Deng Chumin Chu Tunan Su Buqing Hua Luogeng Peng Dixian Sa Kongliao Li Wenyi Fei Xiaotong Wen Jiasi
Secretary-General	Gao Tian
Standing Committee Members	Qian Jiaju Deng Chumin Ye Duyi Tian Yiping Shi Liang Feng Sutao Hua Luogeng Zhuang Mingli Liu Kaiqu Liu Simu Xu Jie Su Buqing Li Wenyi Wu Zuoren Wu Fuheng Wu Hongbin Shen Zijiu Shen Hongtao Zhang Bilai Luo Hanxian Luo Xiongcai Jin Yuelin Jin Xiru Zhou Xinmin Zhao Jinsheng Zhao Fangxiong Hu Yuzhi Wen Jiashi Fei Xiaotong Mo Naiqun Yuan Zhengting Qian Weichang Qian Duansheng Xu Shouxuan Gao Tian Tang Zhe Tan Jiazhen Huang Yaomian Sa Kongliao Peng Dixian Chu Tunan

v t e 5th Central Committee of the China Democratic League
December 1983 – October 1988
Honorary Chairperson	Chu Tunan^{[note 1]}
Chairperson	Shi Liang^{[note 2]} → Hu Yuzhi (Acting)^{[note 3]} → Chu Tunan (Acting)^{[note 4]} → Chu Tunan^{[note 5]} → Fei Xiaotong⁺
Executive Vice Chairperson	Fei Xiaotong^{[note 6]} → Gao Tian^{[note 7]}
Vice Chairpersons	Hu Yuzhi Chu Tunan^- Su Buqing^- Hua Luogeng Peng Dixian Sa Kongliao Li Wenyi Fei Xiaotong Wen Jiasi^- Qian Weichang Gao Tian Ye Duyi Tan Jiazhen Tao Dayong Qian Jiaju⁺ Guan Mengjue⁺ Luo Hanxian⁺ Ma Dayou⁺ Feng Zhijun⁺
Secretary-General	Ye Duyi → Wu Xiuping⁺
Standing Committee Members	Ding Shisun⁺ Qian Jiaju Ma Dayou Wang Jian (Beijing) Wang Jian (Hebei)⁺ Wang Danfeng⁺ Wang Jinling Kong Lingren⁺ Lu Leshan⁺ Ye Junjian Ye Duyi Ye Peida Tian Yiping Shi Liang Feng Zhijun Feng Yidai Feng Kexi Feng Sutao^- Zhu Dexi Hua Luogeng Wu Cangping Zhuang Mingli Liu Kaiqu Liu Simu Liu Dehai⁺ Guan Shixiong Guan Mengjue Chi Jishang Xu Jie Su Buqing^- Li Wenyi Yang Ming Yang Kuizhang Wu Hanjia Wu Tingqiu Wu Zuoren Wu Xiuping⁺ Wu Hongbin Wu Fuheng Shen Zijiu^- Xiao Qian⁺ Zhang Zhilian⁺ Zhang Qiaose Zhang Bilai Zhang Jiyu⁺ Zhang Chukun Lu Shijia Lu Zongda Chen Minzhi Chen Xinmin Lin Hengyuan^- Lin Zongcai Luo Hanxian Luo Xiongcai Jin Xiru^- Zhao Yiming⁺ Zhao Jinsheng Zhao Fangxiong^- Zhao Ruyi⁺ Zhao Chaogou Hu Yuzhi Wen Jiasi^- Zhu Rufang⁺ Fei Xiaotong Mo Naiqun Yuan Zhengting Gu Jingxin Qian Weichang Qian Duansheng Xu Shouxuan Gao Tian Gao Jingde⁺ Guo Qiaoran^- Tang Zhe Tan Jiazhen Nie Weiping⁺ Tao Dayong Huang Yaomian^- Sa Kongliao Chang Jiong Kang Zhenhuang⁺ Peng Shaoyi⁺ Peng Dixian Chu Tunan^- Pan Dakui^- Han Xuezhang⁺ Han Yizhi⁺ Dai Ailian⁺
Names marked with ⁺ were co-opted at the 4th Plenary Session of the 5th Central Committee on 9 January 1987; names marked with ^- ceased to hold office after that session. ↑ In January 1987, the 4th Plenary Session of the 5th Central Committee of the CDL elected Chu Tunan as Honorary Chairperson of the Central Committee. ↑ Note 1: Shi Liang passed away in September 1985. ↑ The 8th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 5th Central Committee decided that Vice Chairperson Hu Yuzhi would serve as Acting Chairperson. ↑ Following the death of Hu Yuzhi in January 1986, the 9th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 5th Central Committee selected Vice Chairperson Chu Tunan as Acting Chairperson. ↑ In December 1986, the 3rd Plenary Session of the 5th Central Committee elected Chu Tunan as Chairperson of the Central Committee. ↑ Note: In January 1986, the 9th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 5th Central Committee designated Fei Xiaotong as Executive Vice Chairperson. ↑ On 10 January 1987, the 14th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 5th Central Committee unanimously designated Gao Tian as Executive Vice Chairperson.

Later years

Final years

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