Like women in many other cultures, women in China have been historically oppressed. For thousands of years, women in China lived under the patriarchal social order characterized by the Confucius teaching of “filial piety.” In modern China, the lives of women in China have changed significantly due to the late Qing dynasty reforms, the changes of the Republican period, the Chinese Civil War, and the rise of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Achievement of women's liberation has been on the agenda of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since the beginning of the PRC. Right after the Communist Takeover in 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong replaced the common use of the term "女人" [nüren] with "妇女" [funü] as he famously said "妇女 [funü] 能顶半边天" (Women hold up half the sky). "妇女" [funü] is a term for labouring women, which signifies the revolutionary role that women play in the liberation of China. The first celebration of "妇女节" (International Women’s Day) immediately after the establishment of CCP consolidated the representational strategies associated with "妇女" [funü]. During the Mao era, many policies were carried out to promote gender equality. The New Marriage Law passed on May 1, 1950 outlawed forced marriage and concubinage. The last few regional practices of foot-binding died out, with the last case of foot-binding reported in 1957. The Great Leap Forward, while focusing on improving total productivity, created work opportunities for women. However, they still remained as peripheral roles and rarely climbed up to positions of decision-making. The representation of women as "iron women" who worked restlessly in workplaces dismissed the unalleviated domestic burden that women were still forced to take and homogenized the individuality of women. Deng Xiaoping's economic reform since 1978 also had tremendous impacts on women in China. Women were especially disadvantaged during the economic-restructuring and many were laid off and discriminated against in the job market. On the other hand, women were able to break out from the homogenous group of "iron women" propagated during the pre-reform period and seek for individuality. Moreover, with the help of globalization, they became integrated to the international women's movement. In contemporary China, although women's rights in China have improved tremendously, women still suffer a lower status compared with men. Under CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, the gains of women have dropped compared to previous leaders. After witnessing the growing feminist movements in China, the government under Xi shut down