[PW] Re: "Most admired woman in china"

[Suzanne Guinn]

You said "in China" but didn't say the person was Chinese. Could she
possible be referring to Gladys Aylward? She was a missionary that went to
China, and adopted Chinese ways (dress, etc.) She eventually won the respect
of the government officials and was commissioned to go around to all the
villages and make sure that the women's and girls' feet were no longer being
bandaged. She accomplished other things as well, but this is what she was
most well known for. She broke a lot of barriers that no woman or outsider
had ever done. She became highly respected by the Chinese gov't.

Suzanne Guinn, director
Hilda Kroeker Library
Calvary Bible College and Theo. Sem.
15800 Calvary Road
Kansas City, MO 64147

-----Original Message-----
From: project-wombat-fm-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org
[mailto:project-wombat-fm-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] On Behalf Of
Frances Hammond
Sent: Monday, August 07, 2006 4:56 AM
To: list at project-wombat.org
Subject: [PW] "Most admired woman in china"

Help!  We have a client trying to find the name of a woman who became known
as the "most admired woman in China".  The client is not very clear about
any details (and gets less clear the more I ask) however I understand the
aforementioned woman is not political (not Madam Chiang or any of Mao's
wives) and was held up as an example (possibly from a survey or list),
probably in the 1950's (but may be later) (Not Hillary Clinton who you find
if you search the web!).  I've had a preliminary hunt through our resources
on Chinese women but short of reading them all from cover to cover I'm not
having much luck - possible she's one of the women designated an
"Agricultural production heroine of the North East"  (a publication quoted
in Delia Davin's "Women's work : women in party in revolutionary China") but
I can't find the sobriquet "most admired" anywhere.  Possibly tied in to
reform of marriage laws and the reduction of infanticide of girl-children
(client has mentioned the infanticide bit).  I've also had a bit of a hunt
through our Ebscohost databases and Encyclopedia Britannica without any joy
and I'm not keen on reading through the "Biographical dictionary of Chinese
Women" on what is possibly a wild goose (or should that be swan?) chase.

Anyone have any ideas?  

Frances Hammond
Reference Librarian
Business Specialist
State Reference Library
State Library of WA

ph: 08 9427 3456
email: frances.hammond at slwa.wa.gov.au

If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have asked for a faster
horse... Henry Ford


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