Montargis is a city about 100 kilometers south of Paris, in France. An event was held in Montargis on July 6 to commemorate the Chinese women pioneers who participated in the Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement which began in 1919. Nearly 200 participants from China and France attended.

During her remarks, Feng Ling, Vice-President and Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation, said progressive Chinese women, including Xiang Jingyu, Cai Chang and Ge Jianhao, had lived and studied in Montargis more than 100 years ago. Women from China and France have continuously deepened their friendship and cooperation since the countries formally established diplomatic relations in 1964. China always attaches great importance to women's all-round development and Chinese women's undertakings have reached all-round progress. Chinese women's active participation represents an indispensable part of Chinese modernization. Chinese women, who fulfill their self-development, tend to make greater contributions to the advancement of gender equality worldwide, Feng added. 

Montargis Mayor Benoit Digeon said Montargis has a significant and unique bond with China because of the Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement in which Chinese women had played their roles.

Marianne Bastid-Bruguière, a member of the Academy of Humanities and Political Sciences in France, said the Chinese women who participated in the movement presented a new look of progressive women from China, and they wrote a new and important chapter about women's liberation and development in contemporary Chinese history.

On July 6, two exhibitions opened in the assembly hall of Montargis' city government. One exhibition focused on "Chinese Women in Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement," while the other focused on the "60th Anniversary of Founding of China-France Diplomatic Relations." 

The commemorative event was cohosted by Memorial Hall of Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement in Montargis and Montargis Association for Friendship Between France and China.

Beginning in 1919, and for the next decade, thousands of young, progressive Chinese moved to France as part of the Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement. They worked in factories, in cities such as Paris, Lyon and Montargis, to pay for their studies. Some of those students developed an interest in Marxism, and they established one of the first groups of Chinese communists in France. 

The Diligent Work-Frugal Study Movement played an important role in China's history, and contributed to the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), in 1921, and the People's Republic of China, in 1949. The movement's legacy continues to inspire the younger generations.

Hundreds of Party pioneers, including Deng Xiaoping, Cai Hesen, Chen Yi, Li Fuchun and Cai Chang, studied in Montargis, where they learned about and began spreading Marxism.

(Source: Xinhua/Translated by Women of China)

Editor: Ye Shan