Guangxi Women's Battalion Explained

The Guangxi Women's Battalion was a women's unit formed in 1938 in Guangxi, China.^[1] It was one of several corps that were founded following an appeal by Soong Mei-ling for women to support the Sino-Japanese War effort in 1937.^{[2] [3]} Similar units included: the Yunnan Women's Battlefield Service Unit,^[4] Zhejiang Women's Guerrilla Band,^{[5] [6]} Hunan War Service Corps,^[7] and others.

In Guangxi, an initial appeal aimed to recruit 1200 students (both men and women), but over 18,000 initially signed up. Of these 4,269 were selected for service, and of the women chosen, most trained as combat medics with the Fifth Route Army. Reports on the size of the battalion vary from 130 students,^[8] to 500,^[9] to 800. The battalion fought in southern China.

According to anthropologist Elisabeth Croll, the Guangxi Women's Battalion was "the most famous of the girls' military units" in China.

References

1. Book: Zhu, Pingchao. Wartime Culture in Guilin, 1938–1944: A City at War. 2015-10-30. Lexington Books. 978-0-7391-9684-7. en.
2. Book: Chung, Mary Keng Mun. Chinese Women in Christian Ministry: An Intercultural Study. 2005. Peter Lang. 978-0-8204-5198-5. en.
3. Book: Women of China. 2001. Foreign Language Press. en.
4. Book: Honig, Emily. Sisters and Strangers: Women in the Shanghai Cotton Mills, 1919-1949. 1992-03-01. Stanford University Press. 978-0-8047-2012-0. en.
5. Book: Siu, Bobby. Women of China: Imperialism and Women's Resistance, 1900-1949. 1982. Zed Press. 978-0-905762-58-6. en.
6. Book: The Chalice and the Blade in Chinese Culture: Gender Relations and Social Models. 1995. China Social Sciences Publishing House. 978-7-5004-1741-5. en.
7. Book: Croll, Elisabeth. Feminism and socialism in China. 2011. Routledge. 978-1-136-33732-1. Abingdon, Oxon. 828737579.
8. Yihong. Pan. 1997. Feminism and Nationalism in China's War of Resistance against Japan. The International History Review. 19. 1. 115–130. 10.1080/07075332.1997.9640778. 40108087. 0707-5332.
9. Book: Morgan, Robin. Sisterhood Is Global: The International Women's Movement Anthology. 2016-03-08. Open Road Media. 978-1-5040-3324-4. en.