Cixi approves formal women’s education, a groundbreaking first for China.
On September 17, 1907, Empress Dowager Cixi approved the Regulation for Women's Education, an edict advocating for the formal education of women in China. This decree was a groundbreaking move, establishing the state's role in women's education and mandating the creation of female schools. It represented a progressive step towards gender equity, challenging traditional norms that limited women's roles to domestic spheres. Cixi's edict was instrumental in affirming educational reform as a vehicle for broadening women's social and intellectual participation in a rapidly changing world.