Du Junhui

Du Junhui (15 September 1904 – 7 February 1981), also known by her pen name Lu Lan, was a Chinese women's rights activist and an early theorist of the Feminism in China. She served as an alternate executive member of the First All-China Women's Federation, a delegate to the 8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, and a member of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd National Committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. She was also a standing committee member of the 4th Guangdong Provincial CPPCC. Du was the wife of Korean independence activist and was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation by the South Korean government in 2016.

Life Du Junhui was born in Guangzhou on September 15, 1904. In 1926, she graduated from Sun Yat-sen University, becoming one of the first female university graduates in Guangdong Province. That same year, she joined the Guangdong Women's Emancipation Association and became an active member of the organization. In 1926, Du planned to study abroad in Japan. While attending Japanese language classes at Sun Yat-sen University, she met Kim Seong-suk, a Korean independence activist, a member of the Chinese Communist Party, and her Japanese instructor. Kim introduced her to many aspects of Marxist-Leninist ideology. Later, in 1926, Du departed for Japan to further her studies. At the time, Japan had more readily available Marxist-Leninist publications than China. While in Japan, she began reading original Marxist texts, publications of the Communist International, and progressive literature from various countries. Due to financial difficulties, she returned to Guangzhou in 1927. In December 1927, Du participated in the Guangzhou Uprising. After the uprising was suppressed, she helped Kim Seong-suk evacuate Korean soldiers who had fought. In January 1928, Du returned to Japan, where she joined the Anti-Japanese Alliance of Chinese Students in Japan. In June of the same year, she returned to China to do revolutionary work in Shanghai and officially joined the Chinese Communist Party. After the full-scale Second Sino-Japanese War outbreak, Du followed her husband to cities such as Wuhan and Chongqing. She held positions such as board member of the Wartime Childcare Association of China and director of the Chongqing Temporary Nursery. In Luzhou, Sichuan, she founded and directed the Seventh Nursery.

Family From the back row, second from right: Kim Seong-suk; second from left: Du Junhui; far right: Park Geon-ung (brother-in-law of composer Zheng Lücheng). Front row, from right: Park Yi-ran (daughter of Zheng Feng'en and Park Geon-ung), Du Jian, and Du Lian (sons of Kim Seong-suk and Du Junhui). Du Junhui was married to Kim Seong-suk, a Korean independence activist and member of the Chinese Communist Party. The couple married in Shanghai on November 4, 1929, and had three sons. Following Japan's surrender in 1945, Kim returned to Korea alongside senior members of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, while Du chose to remain in China. Du and Kim were also close to composer Zheng Lücheng and his brother-in-law Park Geon-ung. Zheng, who came to China in the 1930s, was welcomed and supported by the couple, who treated him like family. Zheng later joined the Korean National Liberation League led by Kim. In 1937, with assistance from Du Junhui—especially her efforts—Zheng received introduction letters from Pan Hannian and Xuan Xiafu, as well as travel funds from Li Gongpu, which enabled him to reach the revolutionary base in Yan'an.