Elegant Figures A Century Long Journey Of Hakka Women’S Empowerment

Author: Chiang Chen-yin
Publication Date: November 2025

Spanning over a century, Elegant Figures traces the transformation of Hakka women from objects of observation to agents of empowerment, weaving together cross-cultural perspectives with local lived experiences.

The narrative begins in the nineteenth century with Western missionaries’ ethnographic accounts—an early “outsider’s gaze” that captured Hakka women’s unbound feet and visible participation in agricultural labor. The book then explores the evolution of gender norms, ritual traditions, and cultural innovations within Hakka society, alongside representations of women in literature.

Interwoven throughout are life stories of midwives, craftswomen, professionals, and new immigrant women—showing how Hakka women have shaped their communities through knowledge, economic autonomy, and civic participation.

Set within the global framework of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), this work illuminates how Hakka women’s struggles and achievements articulate a distinctly local response to universal principles of gender equality.

Ultimately, Elegant Figures argues that true equality must extend beyond legal or institutional reform—it must challenge the stereotypes and structural constraints embedded in everyday life and cultural tradition. This ongoing journey toward transformative equality reminds us that only by drawing strength from local cultural practice can women redefine the social norms that shape our shared future.