Xiang Jingyu was born on September 4, 1895, at Xupu, Hunan province.
Her father Xiang Ruiling was the richest merchant in the locality and in his late years was the president of the county commerce chamber.
When only six or seven, Xiang Jingyu had been very attracted to a story about the legendary Chinese heroine Hua Mulan who had enlisted in the army, disguised as a man to replace her father, and had won awards for her brilliant military merits.
To continue her education, in 1908 Xiang Jingyu went to Changde, where she often read newspapers edited by revolutionaries and listened to her brother's opinions about the revolutionary activities of foreign countries.
In the 19206, Xiang Jingyu was engaged in the women's liberation movement, primarily in Shanghai, but also in Beijing (Peking) and Guangzhou (Canton).
It was September 4, 1895, the last years of the Qing (Ch'ing) dynasty, and China was deep in crisis.
The tendency to absorb all things Western prevailed throughout China.
By this logic, educated women were vital in the preservation of China.
This theory, cherished by Xiang Jingyu until the age of 25, imbued her with persistence and courage.
Studying hard at Hunan Provincial Number One Girl's Normal School, she became one of the school's finest students.
Strict standards of morale and behavior were self-imposed; she even criticized herself for "giggling following others" in her diary.
The character and ideals she acquired through study and self-cultivation, which were traditionally advocated by Chinese culture, encouraged her belief that it was her duty to rekindle China.
In 1916, Xiang Jingyu completed her study at Zhounan Girl's School and decided to return to her hometown and teach.
Xiang Jingyu, then 20 years old, took over as principal.
She also succeeded in liberating most of the girls in the area from the monstrous practice of foot-binding.
Many of the school's pupils went on to higher education.
More embarrassing, the commander of the local garrison tried everything possible to marry her, although he was repeatedly refused.
For this purpose, she traveled to Beijing, then returned to Changsha and organized the French work-study program in Hunan province.
Xiang Marries And Becomes A Revolutionary On the ship sailing to France, she met Cai Hesun.
Thus, in France, she became a revolutionary.
Based in Shanghai, she threw herself into the women's movement both in the south and north.
The Women's Movement In China Xiang Jingyu set a clear course for the women's movement in China.
Believing that educated women were the backbone of the women's movement, she emphasized the importance of mingling with female students in colleges and universities to cultivate leaders for the women's movement.
She also believed that the massive force of laboring women should form the nucleus of the women's movement, so she set up public schools for girls and night schools for working women.
In addition, she led several women workers' strikes.
Through her strenuous efforts, the women's movement in China changed its image; it ceased to be a movement for Christian women or privileged women of the upper classes and became instead a powerful, large scale movement that included all strata of Chinese society.
In 1924, cooperation between Nationalists and Communists offered conditions for a united women's movement in China, and Xiang Jingyu became the head this movement in Shanghai.
In November of that year, Dr. Sun Yat-sen went to Beijing and appealed to the government to hold the national assembly to formulate a constitution; soon thereafter, a movement appeared all over the country demanding the convening of the national assembly.
Xiang Jingyu proposed the formation of a united national women's organization, and the China Women's Federation declared its founding in 1925, signifying that the women's civil rights movement had taken on a nationwide scale.
That same year, the Communists dispatched her to study in Moscow.
Returning in 1927, she was assigned to work in Wuhan.
But in July, when the cooperation between the Nationalists and Communists collapsed, the Nationalists launched a massacre of Communists and left-wing Nationalists.
Xiang Jingyu, who persisted in working under dangerous circumstances, was eventually arrested and killed the following year.
She was 33.
Xiang Jingyu married Cai Hesun at the age of 25. Children: daughter Cai Ni, son Cai Bo.
