In March 2015, the arrest and detention of five activists in China brought international attention to the feminist movement in that country, which had already been battling gender discrimination, sexual harassment, violence against women, and homophobia for many years. While the West has only recently turned its attention to the “Feminist Five” and their fellow activists, China has a long and deep history of feminist thought and action. This exhibit seeks to make visible the work of recent feminist activists in China, to share their work with a broader audience, and to spark interest in the history and present of feminist activists, advocates, and scholars in China. This digital exhibit is a faithful representation of a physical exhibit of the same name, which was hosted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Research on Women and Gender from January through June 2016. The exhibit (English) consists of 40 images depicting street actions and online campaigns initiated by young feminist activists, raising awareness and demanding government actions around issues of domestic violence, sexual harassment, education and employment equality, rights of sexual minorities and marginalized groups , and so on. At the opening of the physical exhibit on January 26, 2016, Lü Pin, the curator of the exhibit and a long time feminist activist and researcher, remarked on the creative and subversive strategies of the young feminist activists: “That’s why this was a story about visibility from the very beginning. First of all, they wanted people to have to notice this issue. Second, they wanted people to have to notice this group of people. ‘Noticing the issue’ was not just about making the issue of women’s rights become well-known, more importantly, it meant that the issue had to be accepted as a public issue that society would acknowledge as something that was very important. This was not something for women, or something private. Next, as we all considered this to be an important matter, the government had to respond. Thus, in this process, communication or media was very crucial, because it could amplify the power of the unknown.” Using materials from the physical exhibit, this digital exhibit was created by librarians from University of Michigan Liangyu Fu (Chinese Studies) and Meredith Kahn (Women’s Studies), who created additional descriptive information for the images, as well as a bibliography of relevant sources. Go to Exhibit: https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/aboveground.

On the 57th anniversary of Lin Zhao's death, we at the China Unofficial Archives hope to highlight several key additions to our collection of works about Lin Zhao, in memory of one of the most important freedom fighters and thinkers in Chinese history.

​​“我们与平权”微信公众号是一个发起于2016年11月的草根项目，该公众号每周推送一篇原创文章，基于社会性别视角分享个人故事和观点，推荐影视作品与书籍；每两周举办一次线下活动就特定性别话题进行深入讨论，以期使更多人了解日常生活中的性别问题，并结成社群解决问题。

This is the fourth issue of the “Our Stories” series published by WeChat public account “We and Equality,”, a compilation of 20 oral narratives from Chinese people who lived through the COVID-19 pandemic firsthand, and a personal reflection by the author of this issue, Qiao Yilin. The editors hope to “document the history of ordinary people, to combat the forgetting that should never have happened, and to present the real experiences, feelings, and voices of all of us–to help us remember what has happened to us.” The interviewees in this volume are diverse, including those of different ages, educational background, ethnicities, physical and mental status, sexual orientations,marital status, and mobility. They shared their own memories of the pandemic, including facing threats to their survival due to food shortage, not being able to take anti-depression medication due to the lockdown, international students having a hard time returning to China, people with hearing impairments facing various inconveniences, and the discrimination faced by those who had recovered from COVID-19Although primarily focusing on experiences and feelings during the pandemic, many interviewees shared additional personal stories that provided useful background information for readers to understand their situation during the pandemic. In addition to these personal narratives, “We and Equality” also published a 44-question “Women's Mental Health Questionnaire” on WeChat, asking about respondents’ experience during the pandemic, including their sense of belonging, care/housework commitments, sleep quality, emotional and mental status, feeling about quarantine, lockdown, illness or death of loved ones, and attitudes towards the government’s COVID-19 policies. The questionnaire received a total of 453 valid responses. Based on the responses, “We and Equality” has compiled a bilingual data analysis report. ”We and Equality" is a grass root project started in November 2016. Through the WeChat public account, they publish articles weekly to raise awareness and share knowledge on gender-related issues in China. They also organize in-person activities bi-weekly where people gather for in-depth discussion, and foster a community to promote gender equality.

A film deemed as a "prophecy" for Hong Kong, through its sharp insight, outlines the contours of a Hong Kong without its freedoms.

On New Year's Day 2018, Beihang University graduate Luo Xixi took the lead in breaking China's silence on the issue of sexual harassment when she publicly reported on social media that Beihang professor Chen Xiaowu had sexually harassed her. This was the first major event in China’s #Metoo movement, which has since spread from colleges and universities to other fields. #Metoo provoked an unprecedented discussion in China, and the issues of feminism and sexual harassment attracted a rare and widespread attention, with a variety of complaints, comments, studies, and advocacy articles springing up all over the internet. <i>#MeToo in China Archives 2018.1-2019.7</i> is a compilation of sexual harassment-related articles written between January 2018 and July 2019. This archive is massive, totaling more than 2,500 pages, and is divided into three main volumes: “#Metoo in Higher Education”, “#Metoo in other fields”, and “#Metoo discussions’. Volume I and Volume II consist of individual #Metoo cases, arranged in chronological order. Articles in volume 3 can be broadly categorized into general reviews, investigative reports, personal stories, advocacy and activism, tools and resources,etc. During the #Metoo movement, many liberal public intellectuals questioned the movement, likening it to big-character posters during the Hundred Flowers campaign, and arguing that it might lead to the proliferation of wrongful convictions. It triggered heated debates, and this archive also contains a number of related articles. The process of compiling this archive itself became an act of resistance, given the severe repression on freedom of expression and social movements. The editorial team faced tremendous challenges in collecting articles that had been deleted or published as images to bypass online censorship. It spent a great deal of time and personnel piecing together scraps of information and transcribing words in images. Reading traumatic personal stories - including those about the hardships in seeking remedies - caused psychological trauma for the editors themselves. Nevertheless, #Metoo has also a process of collective healing, in which women with shared experiences saw each other, realized the structural problems behind sexual violence, and gained the strength to move on and push for change. Finally, during the compilation process, the editorial team also benefited from archiving efforts made by other websites and individuals, demonstrating that the rescue and preservation of people’s history is a collective and collaborative task. This archive is published on https://chinesefeminism.org/.

Since 2012, a group known as the “Young Feminist Activists”, has emerged in China. They often use performance art in public to promote gender equality issues; they question injustice, and engage in policy advocacy to advance women’s rights. They make use of social media and the internet to provoke public debate, build public support, and mount pressure for social and self-transformation in China. Their direct actions created new space for activism in China's tightening political environment. This article provides a detailed overview of the actions initiated by the young feminist activists between 2012 and 2019. These actions cover a wide range of gender issues, including but not limited to sexual assault/harassment, gender-based violence, gender equality in employment and schooling, gender stigma and stereotyping, marriage autonomy, and lesbian rights and interests. These actions have not only raised the public's awareness of gender equality, but also promoted the introduction of gender equality legislation and policies. A turning point came In 2015 when five young feminist activists were arrested and detained for 37 days for planning to hold an anti-sexual harassment campaign on March 8, Interantional Women's Day. Since then, young feminist activists have almost completely lost their space on the streets. However, as can be seen from this article, feminist activism did not disappear, but sustained and continued in a variety of ways, including the creative use of social media and leveraging transnational solidarity and action. In the article, the author says, “Young feminist activists should not be forgotten by the public, especially in an environment where censorship has intensified in the past years, civil society has nearly collapsed, and it is extremely difficult for people to speak out. While there is a seeming increase in discussion of feminism in domestic social media, it has been severely depoliticized, feminist activists are marginalized and stigmatized, and their voices silenced. Therefore, it is particularly important to tell the stories of young feminist activists and popularize knowledge about the domestic feminist movement. It is important to let more people see the spirit and achievements of the new generation of Chinese feminists, and understand the important gender issues they have promoted.” The article is accompanied by numerous images, videos and links to other resources for further reading.

Introducing the first volume of the China Unofficial Archives book series--Mr. Xiang Chengjian’s autobiography, <i>Return From Purgatory: A Memoir of Surviving China’s Great Famine and the ‘Sparks’ Case</i>.

“On Freedom of Speech” is a treatise by Hu Ping. It was first published in 1979. A revised version was published in 1980, when Hu ran for local elections at Peking University. The treatise was later published in Hong Kong in 1981 and again in a Chinese journal in 1986. Multiple publishing houses in China made plans to distribute the treatise in book form, but China’s anti-liberalization campaign prevented the books from publishing. “On Freedom of Speech” explains the significance of freedom of speech, refutes misunderstandings and misinterpretations of freedom of speech, and proposes ways to achieve freedom of speech in China. This document, provided by the author, also includes the content of the symposium held after the publication of “On Freedom of Speech” in 1986, as well as the preface written by the author in 2009 for the Japanese translation of this treatise.

On 23 January 2020, the Chinese government imposed a lockdown in Wuhan. On February 1, Zhang Zhan took a train from Shanghai to Wuhan. From then until her arrest by the Shanghai police on May 14, Zhang Zhan continued to document the situation in Wuhan on video at the frontline of the pandemic. On February 7, she launched a YouTube channel under her real name and released her first video, “Claiming the Right to Freedom of Expression,” in memory of Dr. Li Wenliang and in solidarity with citizen journalists Chen Qiusi and Fang Bin, who had been taken away for reporting on COVID-19. She said in the video: “If Chinese citizens still do not have the right to freedom of expression,then we are all Li Wenliang." On the same day, Zhang Zhan received a phone call from Shanghai's state security agency threatening to quarantine her if she continued to speak out online, but she did not give in. By the time she was arrested, Zhang Zhan had posted 122 videos on <a href=”https://www.youtube.com/@%E5%BC%A0%E5%B1%95-y3p/featured”>her YouTube channel</a>. In her videos, she traveled around Wuhan at the height of COVID-19, documenting empty streets, the roar of funeral home incinerators late at night, the desperation of patients with no place to turn for medical care, the arbitrary deprivation of residents’ freedom of movement, and the chaotic and hypocritical nature of government policies. These videos show the world the reality of Wuhan in the early days of the outbreak, making thema precious historical record.

This book is a collection of writings from the late 1990s regarding political system reform in China. The editors state in the afterword: “This book has collected nearly all, if not all, of the articles discussing political system reform in recent years. From this, we can see the research achievements and level of people’s understanding of political system reform in recent years.” The articles in the book cover a wide range of topics, from political system reform to democracy, the rule of law, constitutional government, freedom, rights, and economics. Although the articles in the book were all published independently before, Political China was soon banned by the authorities after its publication, and the Today China Publishing House soon shut down under official pressure.

<i>The Architects of Sheep Village</i> is a children’s book in the <i>Sheep Village</i> series. This book describes the building of civil society in Hong Kong and the authorities’ crackdown on Hong Kong’s civil society after the 2019 social movement. The <i>Sheep Village</i> Series Children’s Picture Books The <i>Sheep Village</i> series is a group of six children's books published by the General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists. The six books are titled <i>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i>, <i>Voting Day in Sheep Village</i>, <i>Sheep Village Daily</i>, and <i>The Architects of Sheep Village</i>. <i/>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i>, and <i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i> were published in Hong Kong between 2020 and 2021, while the other three were not formally published and were mainly distributed on the Internet. On July 22, 2021, the national security unit of the Hong Kong Police arrested five board members of the Hong Kong General Union of Speech Therapists, including its president Lai Man Ling and its external vice president Yeung Yat Yee Melody, as well as the union's three other board members, Ng Hau Yi Sydney, Chan Yuen Sum Samuel, and Fong Tsz Ho, on the charge of conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications. The five defendants were denied bail and remanded in custody for nearly a year before trial. On September 10, 2022, Judge Kwok Wai-kin sentenced the five defendants to 19 months in prison. The <i>Sheep Village</i> case was the first case involving the charge of conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications since Hong Kong’s handover in 1997.

<i>Sheep Village Daily</i> is a children’s book in the <i>Sheep Village</i> series. This book describes the loss of press freedom in Hong Kong and the forced shutdown of Hong Kong’s <i>Apple Daily</i>. The <i>Sheep Village</i> Series Children’s Picture Books The <i>Sheep Village</i> series is a group of six children's books published by the General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists. The six books are titled <i>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i>, <i>Voting Day in Sheep Village</i>, <i>Sheep Village Daily</i>, and <i>The Architects of Sheep Village</i>. <i/>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i>, and <i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i> were published in Hong Kong between 2020 and 2021, while the other three were not formally published and were mainly distributed on the Internet. On July 22, 2021, the national security unit of the Hong Kong Police arrested five board members of the Hong Kong General Union of Speech Therapists, including its president Lai Man Ling and its external vice president Yeung Yat Yee Melody, as well as the union's three other board members, Ng Hau Yi Sydney, Chan Yuen Sum Samuel, and Fong Tsz Ho, on the charge of conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications. The five defendants were denied bail and remanded in custody for nearly a year before trial. On September 10, 2022, Judge Kwok Wai-kin sentenced the five defendants to 19 months in prison. The <i>Sheep Village</i> case was the first case involving the charge of conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications since Hong Kong’s handover in 1997.

<i>Voting Day in Sheep Village</i> is a children’s book in the <i>Sheep Village</i> series. This book outlines Hong Kong’s pro-democracy primaries in 2020 and the subsequent jailing of the primaries’ organizers. The <i>Sheep Village</i> Series Children’s Picture Books The <i>Sheep Village</i> series is a group of six children's books published by the General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists. The six books are titled <i>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i>, <i>Voting Day in Sheep Village</i>, <i>Sheep Village Daily</i>, and <i>The Architects of Sheep Village</i>. <i/>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i>, and <i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i> were published in Hong Kong between 2020 and 2021, while the other three were not formally published and were mainly distributed on the Internet. On July 22, 2021, the national security unit of the Hong Kong Police arrested five board members of the Hong Kong General Union of Speech Therapists, including its president Lai Man Ling and its external vice president Yeung Yat Yee Melody, as well as the union's three other board members, Ng Hau Yi Sydney, Chan Yuen Sum Samuel, and Fong Tsz Ho, on the charge of conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications. The five defendants were denied bail and remanded in custody for nearly a year before trial. On September 10, 2022, Judge Kwok Wai-kin sentenced the five defendants to 19 months in prison. The <i>Sheep Village</i> case was the first case involving the charge of conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications since Hong Kong’s handover in 1997.

<i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i> is a children’s book in the <i>Sheep Village</i> series. This book outlines the tension between Hong Kong’s healthcare workers and the Hong Kong government at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020. The <i>Sheep Village</i> Series Children’s Picture Books The <i>Sheep Village</i> series is a group of six children's books published by the General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists. The six books are titled <i>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i>, <i>Voting Day in Sheep Village</i>, <i>Sheep Village Daily</i>, and <i>The Architects of Sheep Village</i>. <i/>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i>, and <i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i> were published in Hong Kong between 2020 and 2021, while the other three were not formally published and were mainly distributed on the Internet. On July 22, 2021, the national security unit of the Hong Kong Police arrested five board members of the Hong Kong General Union of Speech Therapists, including its president Lai Man Ling and its external vice president Yeung Yat Yee Melody, as well as the union's three other board members, Ng Hau Yi Sydney, Chan Yuen Sum Samuel, and Fong Tsz Ho, on the charge of conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications. The five defendants were denied bail and remanded in custody for nearly a year before trial. On September 10, 2022, Judge Kwok Wai-kin sentenced the five defendants to 19 months in prison. The <i>Sheep Village</i> case was the first case involving the charge of conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications since Hong Kong’s handover in 1997.

<i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i> is a children’s book in the <i>Sheep Village</i> series. This book describes the incident in 2020 where twelve Hong Kong youths fled the city by boat but were intercepted by Chinese authorities and found guilty in Mainland Chinese courts. The <i>Sheep Village</i> Series Children’s Picture Books The <i>Sheep Village</i> series is a group of six children's books published by the General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists. The six books are titled <i>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i>, <i>Voting Day in Sheep Village</i>, <i>Sheep Village Daily</i>, and <i>The Architects of Sheep Village</i>. <i/>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i>, and <i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i> were published in Hong Kong between 2020 and 2021, while the other three were not formally published and were mainly distributed on the Internet. On July 22, 2021, the national security unit of the Hong Kong Police arrested five board members of the Hong Kong General Union of Speech Therapists, including its president Lai Man Ling and its external vice president Yeung Yat Yee Melody, as well as the union's three other board members, Ng Hau Yi Sydney, Chan Yuen Sum Samuel, and Fong Tsz Ho, on the charge of conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications. The five defendants were denied bail and remanded in custody for nearly a year before trial. On September 10, 2022, Judge Kwok Wai-kin sentenced the five defendants to 19 months in prison. The <i>Sheep Village</i> case was the first case involving the charge of conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications since Hong Kong’s handover in 1997.

<i>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i> is a children’s book in the <i>Sheep Village</i> series. This book outlines Hong Kong’s 2019 social movement and the relationship between Hong Kong and Mainland China by describing Hong Kong as a sheep village and Mainland China as a wolf village. The <i>Sheep Village</i> Series Children’s Picture Books The <i>Sheep Village</i> series is a group of six children's books published by the General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists. The six books are titled <i>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i>, <i>Voting Day in Sheep Village</i>, <i>Sheep Village Daily</i>, and <i>The Architects of Sheep Village</i>. <i/>The Guardians of Sheep Village</i>, <i>The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village</i>, and <i>The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village</i> were published in Hong Kong between 2020 and 2021, while the other three were not formally published and were mainly distributed on the Internet. On July 22, 2021, the national security unit of the Hong Kong Police arrested five board members of the Hong Kong General Union of Speech Therapists, including its president Lai Man Ling and its external vice president Yeung Yat Yee Melody, as well as the union's three other board members, Ng Hau Yi Sydney, Chan Yuen Sum Samuel, and Fong Tsz Ho, on the charge of conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications. The five defendants were denied bail and remanded in custody for nearly a year before trial. On September 10, 2022, Judge Kwok Wai-kin sentenced the five defendants to 19 months in prison. The <i>Sheep Village</i> case was the first case involving the charge of conspiracy to print, publish, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications since Hong Kong’s handover in 1997.

In 1989, how did Hong Kong journalists chronicle the democracy movement in Tiananmen Square and how did they keep its memory alive throughout the decades that followed?

The author of this book, Xiang Chengjian, is a survivor of the "Sparks" case. (For more details on the author, please follow the creator's hyperlink below.) This book is Xiang's critique and reflection on the theories and major works of Marxism. (The following PDF attachment comes in three parts.)