Quote by Ding Ling: “Women are human beings, and they have the same rights as men.”

This direct and fundamental statement asserts the inherent equality of women, challenging prevailing patriarchal norms prevalent in her society. It champions the basic principle that women, as human beings, are entitled to the same freedoms and opportunities as men.

Published in 1942 as 'Thoughts on March 8th,' this essay by Ding Ling, then a prominent figure in Yan'an, critiqued the gender inequality within the Communist Party itself, sparking controversy but affirming her unwavering feminist convictions.

Chinese feminist writer and Communist Party member whose fiction explored gender, politics, and social transformation in twentieth-century China. Born in Hunan in 1904, she became famous with her bold portrayals of female interiority and was awarded the Stalin Prize for Literature in 1951 before being purged during the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1957. She was rehabilitated after Mao's death.