Last night (March 26), PKU-DSLLH 32th was successfully held at the Lingang Performing Arts Center. Xia Xiaohong, former professor of Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Peking University (PKU) and Distinguished Professor at Henan University (HENU), was invited to deliver a special lecture titled The Tragic Deaths of Women in the Late Qing Dynasty and Emerging Social Changes(《晚清女性之殇与社会新变》).
In the lecture, Prof. Xia took women’s issues as an important window into social transformation in the late Qing Dynasty. Centering on the unnatural deaths of three women—Hui Xing(惠兴), Hu Fanglan(胡仿兰), and Qiu Jin(秋瑾)—as the core thread, she offered an in-depth analysis of a series of social upheavals triggered by these incidents and dissected the many emerging trends in late Qing society layer by layer.
Prof. Xia combines profound historical insight with warm humanistic care, embedding the vivid realities of individual fates into the grand narrative of social transition, lending warmth and intellectual tension to academic inquiry. This lecture not only reconstructs the arduous course of late Qing women’s struggle for the right to education, bodily rights and human dignity, but also reveals how emerging forces such as newspapers, associations and laws reshaped the power structure of traditional society.
During the interactive session, the audience actively posed questions. A senior undergraduate student asked why Professor Xia chose the tragic deaths of women in the late Qing as an entry point to study developments and changes across various fields of late Qing society. A young woman working in Lingang also shared her concerns and reflections on the “new dilemmas facing modern women.” Prof. Xia responded to both questions with patience. The entire discussion not only extended the historical depth of the lecture but also connected the audience’s concerns and reflections on contemporary issues.
Tang Hao, Member of Party Working Committee of Lin-gang Special Area and Full-time Deputy Director of Lin-gang Special Area Administration , attended the event and presented a commemorative plaque to Prof. Xia. More than 500 citizens attended the lecture on site.
Before the event, Prof. Xia visited Peking University International Sci-Tech Innovation Center at Lin-gang Special Area, China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (PKU-IICSH, or the Center) on site, toured the Party and Mass Service Center on the first floor, and gave kind guidance on the development of PKU-IICSH.
PKU-DSLLH is a series of lectures initiated by PKU-IICSH, jointly with the Office of Science and Technology Development and Office of Humanities Social Sciences, Peking University under the initiative and support of Lin-gang Special Area Administration. It is deeply involved by units such as Peking University Press and the Peking University Alumni Association. Relying on Peking University's profound academic accumulation and expert resources in the fields of humanities and social sciences, it focuses on economic development, humanistic art, and social governance.
Since August 2023, well-known professors or experts from Peking University was invited to Lingang Special Area monthly to give special lectures and have in-depth exchanges with the builders of the Lingang Special Area, promoting the aggregation of high-quality humanities and social science resources from Peking University in Lingang, effectively enhancing the cultural image and urban competitiveness of the Lingang Special Area, and better meeting the diverse and high-quality spiritual and cultural needs of the people. The PKU-DSLLH has become an important cultural brand activity in the Lingang Special Area, allowing every Lingang striver to release their youthful passion, pursue their youthful dreams, and achieve all-round development in the nourishment of culture, and outlining a richer cultural texture and injecting stronger spiritual strength into the Young City for the Youth.
