Statue of Qiu Jin 秋瑾 at Her Tomb
The Xiling Bridge 西陵桥 in the scenic West Lake 西湖 seems to be a popular place to be buried. On one end of of the bridge the famous poet Su Xiaoxiao 苏小小 was buried. On the other side, is yet another personality, in this case it is Qiu Jin 秋瑾. Once again, I scratch my head on hearing of these names since they seem to be unfamiliar to me. Maybe she was only locally known in Hangzhou.
Marker at the Tomb of Qiu Jin 秋瑾
Upon further research, it seems that Qiu Jin has been at the forefront of the women liberation movement in Chinese during a time when men practically ruled the country. In particular, she spoke against the tradition binding of women’s feet which was supposed to keep them small, but disfigured. She was also against the occupiers of the country, the Manchu and fought against them. She was martyred by government forces at the young age of 31 and is now buried at the foot of Xiling Bridge as she wished.
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