All of China loves Zhang Guimei as a girls’ education pioneer. So why is her biopic making some people see red?
- Zhang Guimei, 66, founder of China’s first free public high school for girls, is a household name nationwide
- A biopic was welcome news but a pre-screening has sparked controversy, with feminists and the communist state on either side of the divide
Even the authorities love her. They held her up as a “role model” for President Xi Jinping’s anti-poverty campaign and praised her as “a ray of hope” for the country, with her story written into a history of the People’s Republic published two years ago. A picture of her sits on the bookshelf in Xi’s office.
However, a new film based on her inspirational life has sharply divided opinion between the public and the state.
When Zhang founded her boarding school in a remote area of China’s southwestern Yunnan province 15 years ago, many of the local girls would drop out early to marry or earn a living, while the boys were encouraged to get an education.
She battled to raise funds, argued with parents, drilled the girls in a harsh military style, all in the hope that they would go to college and be able to turn their lives around.
Over the years, the Huaping Girls’ High School has helped more than 1,800 students from impoverished families, with many of them going on to have professional careers, a feat that had once seemed impossible.
