Awakening of Literati and Emergence of New Women and Their Predicament in Late Qing Dynasty ——A Case Study of FU Cai-yunin A Flower in an Ocean of Sin

In order to cope with the domestic trouble and foreign invasion, the literati in late Qing Dynasty had taken a quantity of measures, among which women's liberation was an important one. This led to the emergence of new women. Most of them had received schooling education, contacted with the theories concerning women's rights, and even stayed in foreign countries. And this can bee seen in some novels of late Qing Dynasty. The heroine FU Cai-yun of the novel A Flower in an Ocean of Sin can be called the pioneer of the new women. She is strikingly characterized with thick individualism. She goes after libido bravely, can easily be adapted to the external environment. Moreover, she is encouraged enough to challenge the patriarchal society. Nevertheless, the new women were also facing plight. Though the objects of women's liberation were women, the dominant power was held by men, and women were still in subordinate place. At the same time, the term “new women” is somewhat derogatory in some novels of this period.