ABSTRACT
Warrior, 'maid-in-waiting' and victim - these are the three roles assigned to women in war. However, in the history of warfare, women warriors are in short supply, - the saints and sacrificial lambs predominate. l Those women who do choose to fight 'claim a place for themselves among those men who have achieved the respect of their fellow citizens for their willingness to risk their lives for the sake of their country or their ideals'. 2
This was certainly the claim of the Chinese patriot, warrior, educationalist, feminist and revolutionary, Q!u Jin, a woman who sought to project a masculine image in order to acquire independence, equality and power by transference. She created a dramatic visual language to make her political point and to establish her desired political identity. Her system of iconic signs was strongly masculine. She was her own visual propaganda, a feminist who rejected the feminine - the perceived source of inferiority, oppression and servitude. Her chosen self-image was direct, simple, clear. It was her statement of both desire and intent. To other radical women, it was an invitation and an incantation. On both levels it worked. To them she was a woman for her time: 'In a world of symbols defeat was ... transformed into triumph.'3 This was precisely the fate of Qiu Jin.
