Ding Xuan 丁璇, a lecturer from China Women’s Development Foundation, a government-owned nonprofit organization, sparked a controversy on Weibo (in Chinese) last week when she delivered a speech to college students in Jiangxi Province that urged women to hold on to their virginity before marriage. Her key points included:
- A woman’s best dowry is her virginity.
- Showing too much skin is a sign of vulgarity. It not only invites slanderous gossip, but also causes diseases, misfortunes, unexpected financial ruin, as well as loss of virginity.
- It is an insult to our ancestors if our bodies, which our parents have taken good care of, are abused by many men like dirty rags.
Ding has been giving speeches about feminine virtues across the country for years — for example, this speech posted to Weibo (in Chinese), which includes these nuggets of moralism:
- Non-virgins are no different than prostitutes.
- Some women get plastic surgeries in order to seduce men.
Internet users bashed Ding by calling (in Chinese) the values she holds “retrograde” and “feudalistic.” One Weibo commenter wrote, “What time are we living in? I thought the Qing dynasty was dead. Am I wrong?” Several days after the backlash, Ding responded (in Chinese), “I was saying those things for women’s good.”
See more about social media discussions in China in our weekly WeiWatch article.
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Chinese fashion designers flock to city of T-shirts and flip-flops / NYT (paywall)
“In moving to Xiamen, Ms. Wang became the latest addition to a small but robust community of up-and-coming young Chinese fashion designers who have forgone the glamour of cosmopolitan Shanghai and Beijing in favor of off-the-beaten-path Xiamen.” -
Targeted in crackdown, Moutai liquor is once again the toast of the town / SCMP
“‘At least, in high-end and private clubs and restaurants, businessmen and officials are consuming Moutai’s classic Feitian label again,’ said a state banker in Guangzhou, who refused to be named.” -
Common wild bird now endangered thanks to Chinese gourmets / SCMP
“Yellow-breasted buntings are considered a delicacy in southern China, where they are thought to boost sexual vitality.” -
Award-winning short story Folding Beijing will now be a movie / Star 2
Author Hao Jingfang says her Hugo Award–winning science fiction short story will be adapted into a movie. - A group of South Koreans is suing China for polluting the air over Seoul / TIME
