Changes

==Culture and fashion==

==Culture and fashion==

China in the 1920s and early 1930s was more than squalid tales of greed, corruption, and betrayal among the militarists. This was also the “high modern” period when all things modern and “scientific” were revered. Writers abandoned the refined style of Confucius in favor of idioms and constructions closer to [[Mandarin]], the spoken language of northern China. In 1920, language reformer [[Hu Shi]] published a volume of experimental poetry in the new style.<ref>Hu Shi, ''Expectations'' (1920).</ref> In 1921, this breakthrough was followed up by Lu Xun's vernacular classic ''The True Story of Ah Q''.<ref>In fact, books in Mandarin were already in wide circulation, albeit in a somewhat different form of the language. In seventeenth century, Jin Shengtan had edited and published ''Six Works of Genius'', a collection of works written in both Classical Chinese and in the Nanjing dialect of Mandarin. The style developed by Hu Shi and Lu Xun, referred to as ''báihuà'' ("plain speech"), is based on Beijing dialect.</ref> The shift from Classical Chinese to Mandarin can be compared to the shift from Latin to national languages that occurred earlier in Europe.<ref>Hsia, C.T., "The Early Period," ''A History of Modern Chinese Fiction'' (1999).</ref>

China in the 1920s and early 1930s was more than squalid tales of greed, corruption, and betrayal among the militarists. This was also the “high modern” period when all things modern and “scientific” were revered. Writers abandoned the refined style of Confucius in favor of idioms and constructions closer to [[Mandarin]], the spoken language of northern China. In 1920, language reformer [[Hu Shi]] published a volume of experimental poetry in the new style.<ref>Hu Shi, ''Expectations'' (1920).</ref> In 1921, this breakthrough was followed up by Lu Xun's vernacular classic ''The True Story of Ah Q''.<ref>In fact, books in Mandarin had long been in wide circulation, although these were written in a somewhat different form of the language. The style was popularized in the seventeenth century, when Jin Shengtan edited and published ''Six Works of Genius''. This was a collection of works written in both Classical Chinese and in the Nanjing dialect of Mandarin. The style developed by Hu Shi and Lu Xun, referred to as ''báihuà'' ("plain speech"), is based on Beijing dialect.</ref> The shift from Classical Chinese to Mandarin can be compared to the shift from Latin to national languages that occurred earlier in Europe.<ref>Hsia, C.T., "The Early Period," ''A History of Modern Chinese Fiction'' (1999).</ref>

There were campaigns against footbinding, concubinage, and other abusive practices toward women. By the 1930s, the the fashion-conscious "Modern Girl" had displaced the politically-oriented "New Woman."<ref>Ma, Yuxin, ''[http://books.google.de/books?id=TiVg_CP4rMAC&dq= Women Journalists and Feminism in China, 1898-1937]'' (2010). The term "modern girl" was popularized by the Japanese novel ''Naomi'' (1924) by Tanizaki Jun’ichirō.</ref> The product of mass advertising, women's magazines, and the influence of Japanese fashion, the Modern Girl had unbound feet, wore her hair bobbed or permed, and sported a tight-fitting ''qípáo''.<ref name=Dong>Dong, Madeline Y., "Who is afraid of the Chinese Modern Girl?", ''The Modern Girl Around the World: Consumption, Modernity, and Globalization'' (2008).</ref> Was she looking for love, or a chance to work her feminine wiles and con a sap out of his savings? Opinion was divided among writers of the time. The international city of Shanghai was the epicenter of high modern culture.<ref name="Dong" /> In the early 1930s, the Modern Girl outfit grew in popularity until it was practically a uniform. She could be from any class, rich or poor. Even young women in destitute Shanghai districts were somehow able to come up with money for cosmetics and clothing, although their families could barely afford to eat.<ref name="Dong" /> In rural China, cultural norms changed more slowly. The arranged marriage was cherished, the focus of the family remained the production of children who would worship the ancestors, and a girl was brought up to be "a good wife and a wise mother."

There were campaigns against footbinding, concubinage, and other abusive practices toward women. By the 1930s, the the fashion-conscious "Modern Girl" had displaced the politically-oriented "New Woman."<ref>Ma, Yuxin, ''[http://books.google.de/books?id=TiVg_CP4rMAC&dq= Women Journalists and Feminism in China, 1898-1937]'' (2010). The term "modern girl" was popularized by the Japanese novel ''Naomi'' (1924) by Tanizaki Jun’ichirō.</ref> The product of mass advertising, women's magazines, and the influence of Japanese fashion, the Modern Girl had unbound feet, wore her hair bobbed or permed, and sported a tight-fitting ''qípáo''.<ref name=Dong>Dong, Madeline Y., "Who is afraid of the Chinese Modern Girl?", ''The Modern Girl Around the World: Consumption, Modernity, and Globalization'' (2008).</ref> Was she looking for love, or a chance to work her feminine wiles and con a sap out of his savings? Opinion was divided among writers of the time. The international city of Shanghai was the epicenter of high modern culture.<ref name="Dong" /> In the early 1930s, the Modern Girl outfit grew in popularity until it was practically a uniform. She could be from any class, rich or poor. Even young women in destitute Shanghai districts were somehow able to come up with money for cosmetics and clothing, although their families could barely afford to eat.<ref name="Dong" /> In rural China, cultural norms changed more slowly. The arranged marriage was cherished, the focus of the family remained the production of children who would worship the ancestors, and a girl was brought up to be "a good wife and a wise mother."