略论清末国民意识中的性别与权利之关系——以女子参政权为中心的考察

The Relationship between Gender and Right in the National Consciousness in the Late Qing Dynasty——An Investigative Survey Centered in Women's Right to Participation in Politics

清末关于国民意识中性别与权利之关系的问题,存在着正反两股相悖的思想潮流:一是少数男性女权主义者,尤其是个别先进女性,提出“女国民”的概念,认为女性当然具有相应的参政等方面的权利。二是大多数人在探讨近代国民意识时,或是有意无意地忽视性别这个问题,或是贬低甚至否定女性的国民资格及其相应的参政等方面的权利。文章认为,论者探讨清末女权思潮时,往往有片面夸大之处,因而并不能全面反映客观真实的历史,更无法解释复杂历史的矛盾纠葛。其实,清末人对于女权的提倡与压制并存,双方的力量是极不成比例的,这样正反相悖的两股思想潮流,正是民初女子参政权运动得以兴起与终至失败的思想根源。

There appeared in the late Qing Dynasty two diametrically opposite trends of thought in respect of the relationship between gender and right in the national consciousness. One was that a small number of male feminists, particularly a few progressive women, put forth the 'female national' concept, in the belief that women undisputedly should enjoy participation in politics and other rights. The other was that, while discussing the national consciousness in modern times, most people either neglected, consciously or unconsciously, the gender issue, or played down, even negated, women's capacity as nationals and corresponding rights such as participation in politics. The author of this paper holds that, while discussing the feminist trend of thought in the late Qing period, some people tend to exaggerate out of proportion, therefore cannot put historical events in the true light, still less can they interpret the entangled contradictions in history. As a matter of fact, the protagonists of feminism existed side by side with its opponents in the late Qing period and the strength of the two sides was disproportionate. These two diametrically opposite trends of thought were the ideological root cause of the rise of the movement for women's participation in politics and its end in failure in the early period of the Republic of China.