Shen Jilan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Shen Jilan
|
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
申纪兰
|
|||||||||
Shen in 2012
|
|||||||||
| Delegate to the National People's Congress | |||||||||
| In office 15 September 1954 – 28 June 2020 |
|||||||||
| Chairman | Liu Shaoqi→Zhu De→Song Qingling (acting)→Ye Jianying→Peng Zhen→Wan Li→Qiao Shi→Li Peng→Wu Bangguo→Zhang Dejiang→Li Zhanshu | ||||||||
| Vice Chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the Changzhi People's Congress | |||||||||
| In office 1983–1993 |
|||||||||
| Director of the Shanxi Women's Federation | |||||||||
| In office 1973–1983 |
|||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | 29 December 1929 Pingshun County, Shanxi, China |
||||||||
| Died | 28 June 2020 (aged 90) Changzhi, Shanxi, China |
||||||||
| Political party | Chinese Communist Party | ||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||
| Parents | Song Jinshui (father) Wu Quanxiang (mother) Shen Hengtai (stepfather) |
||||||||
| Occupation | Politician | ||||||||
| Awards | Order of the Republic (2019) | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 申紀蘭 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 申纪兰 | ||||||||
|
|||||||||
Shen Jilan (Chinese: 申纪兰; pinyin: Shēn Jìlán; December 29, 1929 – June 28, 2020) was an important Chinese politician. She was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and used to be a farmer. She held many important government jobs. She was first elected to the 1st National People's Congress in 1954. What made her truly special was that she was re-elected for every meeting of the National People's Congress for the next 65 years. No one else has ever done this! Because of her long service, some people called her the world's longest-serving congresswoman.
Contents
Her Amazing Life Story
Shen Jilan was born in Pingshun County, Shanxi province, on December 29, 1929. Her father, Song Jinshui, passed away when she was young. In 1934, her mother, Wu Quanxiang, married Shen Hengtai, who was a doctor. Shen Jilan grew up in Pingshun County.
Starting a Cooperative Farm
In 1943, Shen Jilan joined a special effort. She worked with Li Shunda to help set up a new way of farming in Xigou village. This was a "mutual aid" group. Farmers worked together and helped each other. This teamwork made their farms successful. This success helped Shen become well-known in the Communist Party in the 1950s.
In 1952, the Communist Party encouraged her to make the cooperative even bigger. It grew to include 26 different farms. This was the first large farming cooperative in the People's Republic of China. Shen Jilan was chosen as the deputy president of this new, bigger group. She also started a group for women farmers to work together.
Fighting for Fair Pay
In 1954, Shen Jilan made a very important suggestion. She proposed adding a rule to China's first constitution. This rule was about "equal pay for equal work." It meant that men and women should get paid the same amount for doing the same job. Her idea was accepted and became part of the law.
She explained why this was so important in an interview in 2018: "Men got 10 work points a day, but we only got a maximum of five points no matter how much work we did." To show how unfair this was, she organized a competition. Male and female workers competed to see who could spread more fertilizer. The women workers won! This helped show that women's work was just as valuable.
A Long Career in Politics
In 1953, Shen Jilan joined the Chinese Communist Party. She became famous because of how successful her farming cooperative was. In 1954, she was elected to the 1st National People's Congress. She was one of only four women chosen from Shanxi province. Out of 1,226 people at that first meeting, only 147 were women.
Shen Jilan was the only person ever to be elected to every single session of the National People's Congress. She was re-elected all the way up to the 13th National People's Congress in 2018.
Later Life and Legacy
From 1973 to 1983, Shen Jilan was the director of the Shanxi Women's Federation. After ten years, she returned to her home village of Xigou. During this time, China was starting to develop a market economy. Shen Jilan became an entrepreneur (someone who starts businesses) in her local area. She helped set up a metal plant, a walnut oil factory, and a food cannery. She also played a big part in a plan to plant more trees in Xigou.
In 2008, Shen Jilan was chosen to carry the Olympic torch before the 2008 Summer Olympics. She also donated 10,000 Chinese yuan to help people after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
In 2013, she talked about internet regulation. She said she didn't "follow the trends among the young." But she believed that hearing different ideas was a good thing about the National People's Congress. In 2019, she received China's highest honor, the Medal of the Republic. There is even a museum in Xigou dedicated to her life.
Some people who wanted more democracy had different opinions about her. This was because she always voted with the party. For example, she voted for the Hong Kong national security law in 2020.
Shen Jilan passed away on June 28, 2020, at the age of 90. She died from stomach cancer.
Personal Life
Shen Jilan was married to Zhang Hailiang. He was a veteran of the Korean War. Later, he became a director in the Changzhi city government. They had three children: one son and two daughters.
