Kang Keqing (
1910-
1982) was the wife of the famed
Communist military strategist, General
Zhu De (
ARA Chu Teh). She was a
revolutionary, military
commander, and fighter for
women's rights. She was one of the thirty women participants in the
Long March (
1934-
1936) out of 130,000 total. Around 30,000 marchers survived, of whom nineteen were women. Kang was renowned as the toughest of the female
Chinese on the march, always carrying at least one
rifle with her. A
good shot, Kang was once spontaneously elected by three hundred male
soldiers to lead them into a
skirmish.
When
Mao referred to the overwhelming
temerity of the women on the March, few doubted that he especially meant Kang. However, there was more to Kang Keqing than her wartime skills. Fierce and forthright, she later championed women's rights and went so far as to advocate the
right of
women to seek out and "punish" those who abuse or
rape women.