A woman who asked: why should girls be denied schooling?
Print Edition
DING Yuexin (1867-1953) was a Chinese pioneer in the education of women.
In 1905, she was teaching Chinese literature at Songjiang’s Jingxian School, founded by Yao Wenying and Song Zhanmei. Ding was very popular with students.
In 1907, Song died and his heartbroken wife Yao left Songjiang. Before her departure, she handed the school over to Ding.
Ding embarked on a series of reforms, encouraging friends to send their daughters to the school.
It was daring at the time because girls were traditionally trained at home to become good wives and mothers and were generally barred from formal education. Ding also offered reduced tuition for girls from poor families.
Ding’s daughter Wu Caizhi became the school’s first female student. In a short time, enrollment of girls reached more than 120 in four grades.
To expand her work, Ding rented a building in Songjiang’s center and turned it into a schoolhouse. She also opened a branch classroom in the east of the district.
From 1907 to 1917, Ding donated more than 12,000 yuan to the school by selling properties and jewelry she owned.
In 1908, Ding resigned and left school, broken by the stress of ever-growing management responsibilities and also the loss of her daughter, who died of lung disease after completing studies in Belgium.
Ding was scolded by her family, who said she should not have sent her daughter abroad alone.
“My daughter was weak, but so was my own country,” Ding explained at the time. “I had hoped she could make her contribution to China’s development after she graduated.”
Ding withdrew from life. She founded the Songjiang Buddhism Association and devoted herself to charity events until her death.
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