Wang Zhenyi: A True Hero

If you imagine a world in which bravery and selflessness are needed the most, but in least supply, curiosity and intelligence discouraged, and the critics of this system publicly tortured, then you have described China under the Qing Dynasty. But enter into it a young girl who is all of these things, and the world is a much better place. Wang Zhenyi should be considered a true hero because in the face of terrifying odds she never backed. Helping to shape an early forgotten world of science and change the lives of many many people. Zhenyi bravely rebelled against the sexist customs of the day by daring to educate herself, and others. She was born into the late 1700s in China, a hard time for anyone to be educated, but especially for women. Ignoring this, Zhenyi spent much in her time in her grandfather’s

She started to write poems directed against the feudal and sexist times of the day. These poems weren’t written in the usual script of the day which generally featured a flowery and delicate way of writing (cite). Instead they were unusually direct. Calling out the sexist double standards in addition to the harsh conditions in which chinese peasants lived in. Zhenyi 's poems were earth shattering at the time. Wang Zhenyi had seen much of these problems herself. Not only did she have to deal with these double standards as a scientific woman in the 1700s but she also saw much of China when she visited it with her father. It was because of this attachment that she was willing to risk death in a variety of horrifying ways. If you grew up in a world in which those who went against the Dynasty would have their hamstrings severed. Or be cut thousands of times all over their body, and then left to bleed out, in the street, would you speak out? I know I wouldn’t. Zhenyi was a voice for those who had none and for those who needed it most and because of that it is hard not to look up to