Lei Jieqiong | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 雷洁琼 | |||||||||
 Lei in the 1920s | |||||||||
| Chairperson of theChina Association for Promoting Democracy | |||||||||
| In office 1987–1997 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Ye Shengtao | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Xu Jialu | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | (1905-09-12)12 September 1905 | ||||||||
| Died | 9 January 2011(2011-01-09) (aged 105) Beijing, China | ||||||||
| Party | China Association for Promoting Democracy | ||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||
| Parent(s) | Lei Zichang, Li Peizhi | ||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Southern California | ||||||||
| Profession | Sociologist | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 雷潔瓊 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 雷洁琼 | ||||||||
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Lei Jieqiong (Chinese:雷洁琼;Wade–Giles:Lei Chieh-ch'iung; 12 September 1905 – 9 January 2011), also known asKit King Lei,[1] was a Chinesesociologist, activist, and politician. Educated in the United States, she taught atYenching University,China University of Political Science and Law, andPeking University inBeijing andSoochow University,St. John's University,University of Shanghai, andAurora University inShanghai. She was a cofounder ofZhongzheng University inJiangxi during theSecond Sino-Japanese War.
She co-founded theChina Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD), one of the eight legally recognized non-Communist parties in China. After performing manual labour during theCultural Revolution, she served as Vice-Mayor of Beijing (1977–1983), vice-president of theAll-China Women's Federation, Vice-chair of theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference (1986–1988), Vice-chair of theNational People's Congress (1988–1998), and Chair of the CAPD (1987–1997).
Lei Jieqiong was born 12 September 1905[2] inGuangzhou during the lateQing dynasty, with herancestral home inTaishan,Guangdong.[3] Her grandfather went to the United States during theCalifornia Gold Rush and became a prosperous businessman, but left his third son Lei Zichang (1875–1926) in Guangdong to receive a traditional Chinese education.[4] Lei Zichang won ajuren degree[1] before theXinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911. He then studied law in Beijing and became a lawyer and magazine editor in Guangdong. Lei Jieqiong was born to Lei Zichang and his wife Li Peizhi.[4]
Lei's father provided her with a progressive education and sent her to study inCalifornia when she was 19.[4] After learning English, she studied chemical engineering at theUniversity of California and Far East studies atStanford University before graduating from theUniversity of Southern California in 1931 with a master's degree insociology.[2][4] While a student, she supported herself by teaching Chinese to Chinese-American children.[1]
In 1931, Lei returned to China and became a lecturer at the Sociology Department of Yenching University (later merged with Peking University). AsJapan invaded Manchuria andencroached upon North China, Lei and her students joined theDecember 9th Movement to demand that theNationalist Government resist Japanese aggression.[4]
After theMarco Polo Bridge incident in 1937, the Japanese occupied Beijing and launched a full-scale war to invade China. Lei went toNanchang, Jiangxi Province to join the National Salvation Movement. She served in a women's advancement group which cared for wounded soldiers and was awarded the rank ofcolonel. She also taught at a women's training class at theJiangxi Political Movement Institute, one of whose two deans wasChiang Ching-kuo, the future President of theRepublic of China. When Nanchang fell to the Japanese in 1939, she moved toJi'an in southern Jiangxi, where she became a friend of the Communist leaderZhou Enlai.[4]
In 1933, Lei published an article advocatingfamily planning. During the Sino-Japanese War, she wrote many essays based on her studies of women's lives, careers, and struggles in wartime. They were later published in the two-volumeSelected Works of Lei Jieqiong.[4]
In 1940, Lei helped to found Zhongzheng University (nowNanchang University). A year later, she went to Shanghai where she became a professor at Soochow University and also taught at St. John's University, University of Shanghai, and Aurora University. In 1945, she cofounded the political party China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD) and would serve as its chairwoman decades later.[4]
After the end ofWorld War II in June 1946, the Shanghai Union of People's Associations sent 11 representatives, including Lei, to capitalNanjing to petition theKuomintang government not to resume thecivil war against the Communists. When they arrived atXiaguan train station in Nanjing, they were assaulted by thugs and injured. TheXiaguan incident raised an outcry in Chinese media, which blamed the KMT government for the attack. Zhou Enlai visited them in the hospital.[4] At the end of the year, Lei returned to Yenching University and became a professor of sociology.[4]
After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Lei held high-ranking positions in theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and theNational People's Congress (NPC) for over 40 years. She also served as vice-dean of Beijing College of Political Science and Law (nowChina University of Political Science and Law).[4]
During theCultural Revolution, she and her husband were sent to perform manual labour in ruralAnhui province, but Zhou Enlai managed to relieve them of "reform through labour".[4]
After the Cultural Revolution, Lei served as a law professor at Peking University and was appointed Vice-Mayor of Beijing (1977–1983).[3][4] She also served as vice-president of theAll-China Women's Federation, Vice-chair of the CPPCC (1986–1988), Vice-chair of the NPC (1988–1998), and Chair of the CAPD (1987–1997).[3][4]
Lei taught at Peking University until the age of 100.[3] She died on 9 January 2011 at the age of 105.[3]
In 1941, Lei Jieqiong marriedYan Jingyao [zh], also an American-educated sociologist and cofounder of the CAPD. They did not have children. He died in 1976.[4]
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