
Shen Cuizhen
Name | Shen Cuizhen |
Title | Chinese activist |
Gender | Female |
Birthday | 1901 |
nationality | People's Republic of China |
Source | https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104783174 |
pptrace | Link |
LastUpdate | 2025-07-10T11:48:20.813Z |
Shen Cuizhen, a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, learned embroidery from her aunt during her youth. She later graduated from the Nantong Women’s Work Training Institute and served as an assistant instructor. At age 20, she became the art teacher and head of the department at Suzhou Girls’ Vocational Middle School. In 1926, she married Zou Taofen; the couple mutually respected and loved each other, with Shen responsible for the family. In 1932, the Kuomintang persecuted Zou Taofen, forcing him into multiple periods of exile. Zou Taofen passed away from cancer in 1944. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, encouraged by Soong Ching-ling and Deng Yingchao, Shen participated in the Women’s Association and organized her husband’s writings. In 1949, she attended the National Women’s Congress as a delegate. After the founding of the People’s Republic, Shen worked with Soong Ching-ling at the China Welfare Fund, serving as director of the nursery. In 1951, she was appointed head of the Women and Children’s Welfare Department of the Shanghai Democratic Women’s Federation. She served as a member of the second to sixth sessions of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and vice director of the Shanghai Women’s Federation. In 1961, she joined the Chinese Communist Party. During the Cultural Revolution, she was persecuted but later restored to work. In 1978, Soong Ching-ling nominated her to become secretary-general of the China Welfare Institute, and she donated Zou Taofen’s relics to the Zou Taofen Memorial Hall. Throughout her life, Shen Cuizhen supported her husband’s revolutionary cause, actively participated in social welfare, and dedicated herself to the well-being of women and children, becoming a model for intellectual families in China.