Most of history has documented women as having what are considered ‘minor roles’ in the place of democracy. The truth is that it is the women’s input that most often carries the day. It is in their social networks, in the organisational skills and emotional intelligence that have rightly put women at the centre of history and revolutions.
Kenya’s history and anti-colonial struggle is no different. Many great stories have been told about Mekatilili Wa Menza, Wangu Wa Makeri. They defied the society norms to lead their communities.
Post -independence Kenya also has women who have made significant contributions and sacrifices, fighting for women's empowerment, gender equality, environmental conservation, or just showing up and being the best in what they do, in different spheres of life. We celebrate Wangari Maathai, Grace Onyango, Phoebe Asiyo, Charity Ngilu, Martha Karua, Catherine Ndereba, Faith Kipyegon, and Lupita Nyongo as Kenyan heroes.
In China, one woman, Wang Huiwu, was also at the centre of a different kind of revolution. She was born in Zhejiang Province, Eastern China, in July 1898. In 1911, at the end of the revolution that ended the Qing Dynasty led by Huang Xing. Wang Huiwu dropped out of the school she was enrolled in by her father in Jiaxing due to financial woes. She set up her own primary school, teaching about new ideas and new customs. She was strongly opposed to child brides and women’s foot binding, where the feet of girls were tightly tied to alter their body shape.
In 1819, Wang Huiwu went to Shanghai in pursuit of women's independent liberation. She met Xu Zonghan, the spouse of Huang Xing, who organised for her to do secretarial work for the Shanghai Federation of Women's Circles. It was during her time here that Wang Huiwu met Li Da. They got married in 1920. Li Da would later become one of the founders of the Communist Party of China.
Wang Huiwu’s marriage to Li Da placed her at the centre of the activities of the Communist Party of China. In 1921, when the first congress of the Communist Party of China failed to conclude in Shanghai, she was the one who gave the suggestion to have the meeting in Jiaxing, her hometown and a place she knew too well, as she had also studied there.
She also had friends in government in Jiaxing and could provide solutions in case the meeting was to be disrupted. To ensure the plan worked, she went ahead of the delegates in Jiaxing to plan for the location of the meeting and accommodation for the delegates. She also planned for the delegates’ meals. Wang Huiwu was so efficient and meticulous in her planning that by the time the delegates arrived in Jiaxing from Shanghai by train, she was already at the station to welcome them.
To protect the delegates from the prying eyes of the authorities, she asked the hotel to hire a painted boat cruise, where the meeting would be held. During the meeting, she dressed up as a singer and kept watch. When another cruise ship would approach, she would alert the delegates to stay alert. This plan by Wang Huiwu was genius. It led to the conclusion of the First National Congress and the establishment of the Communist Party of China.
This is a woman who, despite not becoming a member of the Communist Party of China, contributed immensely to history as an insider to the events in the party’s first National Congress. She made great contributions to the history of the Chinese people, to the Communist Party of China and to the cause of Chinese women's liberation.
Wang Huiwu died in Beijing in 1993 at age 96, leaving a legacy as a revolutionary heroine.
