Director's Pick: Daughters of Canton Delta

January 11, 2024
Director's Pick
Daughters of Canton Delta
At least since the early 19th century, some women in the Pearl River Delta have chosen not to marry, choosing instead to join communities of zishunu 自梳女, or “self-combed women.”
At first, these women moved into all-female houses and took vows to remain celibate; most earned money working in sericulture or in silk weaving and sent some of it home to their natal families. Over time, the practice spread via emigration to Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, and became more varied. Some of the women became domestics or factory workers, and lived with their employers, in factory dormitories, in apartments or in communities for religious women (some of whom may have been married at an earlier stage in their lives) rather than in communities dedicated to zishunu. In old age, some returned to their natal communities and lived in the home of a brother; others remained in female communities, often cared for by a younger zishunu.
Some view these women as rejecting mainstream Chinese family conventions by women seeking greater freedom and independence; others see them as an option within mainstream culture, which emphasizes a woman’s role as a daughter and member of her extended natal family, rather than as a wife and mother. Either way, the lives of these women represent a fascinating, distinctive and sometimes even heroic phenomenon, and has drawn the attention of scholars, artists, and social activists.
Speakers
Kurt Tong
Artist
Chen Jialu
Artist
Moderator
Kenneth Pomeranz
Faculty Director
The University of Chicago Francis and Rose Yuen Campus in Hong Kong
Curator
Amanda Sun
Arts For Good Foundation
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▬ Content of the Webinar ▬
Opening - 0:00
Speaker Introduction - 01:23
Introduction - 06:43
Kurt Tong's Sharing - 14:38
Chen Jialu's Sharing - 38:24
Discussion - 1:08:12