In the name of the Red Cross Society of China: Women’s activism and humanitarian aid during the war (1937-1945)

Abstract

The participation of Chinese women in humanitarian aid from the War of Resistance to the Second World War is an issue that remains to be thoroughly investigated. What role did women play in humanitarian work during the turbulent years of the war? By analyzing the power relations and humanitarian activities in the Red Cross, the paper intertwines with issues concerning the meaning of gender and state in modern China, assessing women’s role within the Chinese Red Cross, particularly nurses in designing aid programs, and how significant it was. One woman played a special role in the growth of military nursing assistance for Chinese troops: Zhou Meiyu. Specifically, the Chinese Red Cross Medical Relief Corps had a major task in supporting the training of military medical personnel and Zhou was particularly successful in establishing a valid medical expert in the new education programs. Women in the Red Cross not only tended to the wounded and comforted soldiers but also helped in the logistical coordination of relief work, raising support for the Chinese war effort through their propaganda and fundraising efforts. The paper draws on different examples to illustrate how, breaking down gender boundaries, humanitarian war services in wartime were promoted, and how women’s work and relationships with Western women served as a window on which gender shaped the meanings of humanitarianism, war and nation-building in modern China, while offering the opportunity to re-discuss the social values and traditional roles of women.