Yin Zhengxie

Qing Dynasty feminist scholar who critiqued foot-binding and advocated for women's intellectual equality.

Yin Zhengxie (1791–1853), a lesser-known Confucian scholar from Anhui Province, challenged gender norms in China's late imperial era. His essay 'On the Abolition of Foot-Binding' (1833) argued that the practice crippled women physically and intellectually. Read his works at JSTOR.

Yin advocated for co-education and reinterpreted Confucian classics to support women's literacy. He claimed that historical figures like Ban Zhao proved women's intellectual parity with men—a radical stance when most elites dismissed female education. Explore his ideas in Cambridge University Press publications.

Though his proposals were ignored by the Qing government, they influenced 20th-century reformers. Yin's manuscripts resurfaced during the May Fourth Movement, becoming a reference for modern Chinese feminism.