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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (2 results)

  • Article
Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review, Issue 13 (2014)
In the 1920s and 1930s, Chinese adapted scouting, which had originally been developed to masculinize British youth as future colonial troops. While Chinese families and teachers valued scouting as a form of outdoor recreation, Chiang Kai-shek and the Guomindang after 1927 connected scouting to preparation for military training. In addition to fostering masculinity among boys, the Chinese Scouting Association also directed Girl Scouts with new models of patriotic girlhood. The Guomindang promoted the distinct femininity of the Girl Scouts and channeled girls’ patriotism into nursing. As China entered World War II, Girl Scouts became significant symbols of patriotism in an increasingly militarized children’s culture. The Guomindang showcased Yang Huimin, a Girl Scout and heroine in the Battle of Sihang Warehouse, as a spokesperson for the Nationalist cause, but it could not fully control her public image. Keywords: Girl Scouts, scouting, gender roles, China, World War II
    Cover page: Engendering Children of the Resistance: Models of Gender and Scouting in China, 1919–1937
    • Thesis
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2013)

    The dissertation traces the sentimental value of childhood and the economic impact of preschool education from 1903 to 1953. According to state theorists and social reformers, by abolishing child labor and separating childhood from work, preschool education would facilitate the transition from a household to an industrial economy and would allow women to join the workforce. Long-term structural continuities undergird conflicts over the political indoctrination of children and their relationships to family hierarchies. Institutionally separated from their families, kindergartners could be trained as loyal Qing subjects, or Nationalist citizens, or Communist comrades. Each regime criticized alternative or older versions of early childhood socialization in order to shape future generations.

      Cover page: Precocious Politics: Preschool Education and Child Protection in China, 1903-1953
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