Xiang Jingyu

Xiang Jingyu (, – , née Xiang Junxian) was one of the earliest female members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and described by Chairman Mao Zedong as the only female founder of the CCP, widely regarded as a pioneer of the women's movement of China.

Xiang sought to unite the various women's movements in China around women workers and principles of anti-imperialism. She worked to support labor strikes including those which were part of the May Thirtieth Movement.

In 1928, the Kuomintang (KMT) arrested and executed her.

Early life Xiang Jingyu was born in Xupu, Hunan province on 4 September 1895. Her father was Xiang Ruiling, may have been of the Tujia ethnicity, a successful businessman, and her mother was Deng Yugui, who died when Xiang Jingyu was young. She had ten siblings. Her brother, Xiang Xianyue, who had studied in Japan, was a leader of Tongmenghui in West Hunan. Xiang Xianyue founded a primary school in Wenchangge in 1903. Xiang Jingyu (then named Xiang Junxian) attended this school because of the influence of her brother and became the first girl who studied in a school in the imperial era of China. Xiang Jingyu was versed in both classical education and modern education. The French officials turned her over to the Nationalist government in April. The KMT police executed her by firing squad on 1 May 1928.

Commemoration Mao Zedong praised Xiang's legacy as a revolutionary.

A statute on Tortoise Mountain in Wuhan honors Xiang.

Personal life She had two children with Cai Hesen: Cai Ni (蔡妮) and Cai Bo (蔡博).