Miss Zhao's suicide

The exact logistics of the story have been told many ways, and the true facts are likely impossible to know. Some sources alleged that she used a dagger, and others a razor. The exact reasoning for her hesitation regarding the marriage, as well as her motivation for suicide, were also obscured. The most commonly reported theory is simply that Miss Zhao heard a rumor that her fiancé was very ugly, and perhaps too old for her as well. Another suggested that she discovered that he had a daughter from his previous marriage, which made him a less desirable husband. It was also rumored that Miss Zhao had been engaged previously to a man from the Xu family, but that her fiancé died before they were married. This theory went that the ghost of her first fiancé had come to her and asked her not to go through with the marriage. Yet another rumor claimed that Zhao had become concerned with the ongoing gossip that Wu had been caught for illegal activities in Hankou, Hubei and was hence sentenced to jail. As a result, she had asked to delay the marriage until she knew the truth about the situation. However, the groom ended up returning to Changsha, Hunan the day before marriage, and the groom's family decided to reject the bride's request.[3] Another rumor that is reported in varying degrees is that Miss Zhao's father had slapped her on the morning of her wedding, because she expressed her hesitation to marry Mr. Wu, and was difficult while getting ready for the wedding. Some say that it was this slap, combined with the pressure to marry, that pushed Miss Zhou over the edge. When interviewed, her father denied that this happened.[4]

Mao Zedong was at Changsha when this incident occurred. Mao immediately reckoned the importance of this event. From the third day after the incident, Mao drafted numerous articles that were published in Da Gong Bao to comment on this incident.[6]

In his writing, "Miss Zhao's Suicide," Mao pin-pointed the cause of this incident to be the collective force of the society, Miss Zhao's family, and Miss Zhao's groom's family. Mao indicated that if any of these three causes was willing to respect Miss Zhao's personal wishes, her suicide could have been avoided. In his conclusive statement, Mao paraded Miss Zhao as a female youth who sacrificed her life for liberty and love, and he asked the entire society to call out the injustice that women had faced.[7]

In an article he wrote four days after the incident, titled “The Personality Problem of Miss Zhao,” Mao argued that the traditional system of family and marriage was suppressing individuals' personality ("人格", or personal dignity). Mao believed that Miss Zhao committed suicide because she found death to be more preferable to the absence of freedom. Mao urged his readers to celebrate Miss Zhao as a martyr for freedom, and condemned Miss Zhao's parents for their oppressive behaviors.[8]

In the essay "The Evils of Society and Miss Zhao", Mao responds to critics of Miss Zhao, who disapproved of her decision to commit suicide. While Mao condemns suicide as an act, he encourages readers to consider why someone might turn to suicide, as opposed to other options. Particularly, he responds to the idea that Miss Zhao should have run away instead; he points out that there are very few public places for single women to go. He argues that Miss Zhao's decision to commit suicide was the result of a larger systematic problem. In his mind, a woman's parents should not force them to marry. However, even if her parents fail her and try to force her into a marriage she does not want, society as a whole should provide her other options besides suicide (i.e. make it easier and more acceptable for a young woman to be in the world alone).[9]

In another writing, "Concerning the Incident of Miss Zhao's Suicide," Mao briefly outlined his own vision for an ideal marriage system. Mao believed that the prior system of marriage allowed men to abuse women for giving birth and childbearing, for which he claimed are acts critical to human survival. He argued that the key to achieving women's own independence was embedded in the presence of love, rather than money, within marriage. Mao proposed ways to help women to be free and independent after marriage: he argued that "a woman must never marry before she is physically mature"; "a woman must be adequately prepared in knowledge and skills to live her own life" before marriage; and "a woman must prepare herself for living expenses after childbirth." In the end, Mao suggested the possibility of establishing "public child support," which he argued could contribute to having marital relationships centered on love.[10]

Mao wrote two other, related essays in the days immediately following the death of Miss Zhao. The first, titled “The Marriage Question” (November 19, 1919), advocated for the end of arranged marriages by parents. The second, titled “Against Suicide” (November 23, 1919), rejects suicide as a practice, but encourages readers to consider why individuals pursue it.[11]

Tao Yi

Tao Yi was a famous female writer in early twentieth century China. Tao graduated from the Zhounan Women's School, and was regarded as an influential figure in the academia of Changsha, the city where the incident occurred.

Tao Yi published her writings regarding to "Miss Zhao's Suicide" on Nü Jie Zhong, or Women's Bell, under the pseudonym Si Yong. In her writing "Commentary on Miss Zhao's Suicide," Tao criticized the traditional marriage system for being responsible to Miss Zhao's suicide. She indicated that Miss Zhao's suicide was not a special, unique incident; there are countless other young women being forced to death under this wicked system. Moreover, Tao emphasized the lack of decision power owned by women in determining their own life, which made many of them choose a sudden death over a cruel life.[12]

Despite both criticized the traditional marriage system, compared to Mao's argument, Tao believed that the significance of "Miss Zhao's Suicide" should have been more centered on reforming the marriage system instead of loving for freedom. Tao argued that if Miss Zhao "were just a passive person trying to protect her own freedom, then why did she not commit suicide at the time she hid the knife, or while she rode in the sedan with her family to her sister's home? Why did she wait till she was in her bridal clothes, and sitting in her bridal sedan, to commit suicide?" Tao argued that her action of committing suicide on her trip to her groom's house should be interpreted as her deliberate attempt to protest against the vile marriage system.[12]

Another notable suicide in China pertaining to the issue of women's oppression, was that of Xi Shangzhen in 1922. Her motives for killing herself were unclear, though many contend that it had to do with a problem with her boss, Tang Jiezhi. In fact, it was in his office that Xi Shangzhen hung herself with the cord of an electric tea kettle. She had recently lost money on the stock market, and it has been speculated that this economic loss is what spurred conflict with Tang Jiezhi. This case received substantial media attention due to its proximity with high-profile characters; Tang Jiezhi had been a prominent May Fourth activist. It was also one of the first prominent suicides of the “new woman”; Xi Shangzhen killed herself in the workplace likely due to economic matters, rather than in the home due to domestic matters. Many activist groups held up Xi Shangzhen as an example of what can happen to oppressed women. One group of male New Culture activists published an entire book of essays simply titled "Xi Shangzhen."[13]

Li Chao was a student at the Beijing Women's Higher Normal School, who died of frail lung disease on August 16, 1919. Hu Shih, a literary scholar who taught at Beijing University at the time, wrote a long essay about Li's life story after close examinations on Li's personal diaries and letters. Hu's essay made this ordinary death into a public event that caught nationwide attention. In his essay, Hu attributed the cause of Li's death to her depression, which resulted from her lack of tuition for continuing her education. Hu heavily criticized Li's family for not supporting her to seek education solely because of her gender (her brother even claimed after her death that she did not deserve pity). Hu saw the death of Li as an epitome for the oppressive traditional family system, and believed that Li's case could be applied to a myriad of Chinese women.[14] Since Hu's essay on Li Chao came out only a few weeks after Miss Zhao's suicide, the story of Li Chao quickily spread to Hunan, and was immediately compared to Zhao Wuzhen by the New Culture activists. These activists considered both Li and Zhao as women who sacrificed their life in order to protect their personality and liberation; both were granted with the same symbolic title as the "important martyrs in the history of Chinese feminism."[2]