A Rebellious Spirit in Imperial China

Born on March 20, 1891, in Guangdong to an aristocratic Qing dynasty family, Zheng Yuxiu defied convention from childhood. When presented with foot-binding cloth at age five—a brutal rite of passage for girls—she refused despite family pressure. “Big-footed women will never marry!” elders warned, but Zheng, who later dissolved an arranged engagement at 13 by writing directly to her fiancé, cared little for tradition. Her defiance culminated in a bold escape to Tianjin’s Christian-run Chongshi Girls’ School in 1905, marking her first step toward radicalization.

From Tokyo Radical to Bomb Courier

The 1907 wave of Chinese students flocking to Japan transformed Zheng. By 1908, introduced by Liao Zhongkai, she joined Sun Yat-sen’s Tongmenghui (Revolutionary Alliance). When morale faltered after failed uprisings, the 25-year-old Wang Jingwei proposed assassinating Qing regent Zaifeng to reignite momentum. In 1909, Zheng smuggled a volatile mercury-triggered bomb into Beijing—hidden under her skirts—while quipping, “If it couldn’t explode, it wouldn’t be a bomb.” Though the plot failed, Zheng’s role in the 1912 plot to kill Yuan Shikai (aborted when targets shifted to royalist Liangbi) cemented her reputation. Her sister’s lover, Peng Jiazhen, ultimately died killing Liangbi, a strike historians credit with hastening the Qing collapse.

Exile and Academic Ascent in Paris

Fleeing Yuan’s retaliation in 1914, Zheng reinvented herself as “Su Mei” at Paris’ Sorbonne. By 1918, she advised China’s delegation as a diplomatic attaché—a landmark for women in governance. Her defining moment came at the 1919 Versailles negotiations: as Chinese students barricaded diplomats opposing the humiliating treaty, Zheng confronted delegate Lu Zhengxiang (or Yue Zhaoyu, per accounts) with a rose stem pressed like a gun: “Sign this, and my ‘pistol’ answers.” China’s refusal to sign, influenced by her brinkmanship, became a nationalist rallying cry.

Shattering Glass Ceilings in Law and Politics

After becoming China’s first female law PhD (1924)—amid whispers her mentor Wang Chonghui ghostwrote her thesis—Zheng co-founded Shanghai’s Wei-Zheng Law Firm in 1926. Exploiting French Concession loopholes, she became China’s first female lawyer, winning landmark cases like Meng Xiaodong’s 1927 divorce from Mei Lanfang, securing an unprecedented 40,000-yuan settlement (≈$1M today). Her 1929 Civil Code draft granted women property rights, surname retention, and divorce protections—radical for Republican China.

Political Twilight and Exile

As wife to diplomat Wei Daoming (later Taiwan governor), Zheng facilitated Song Meiling’s 1943 U.S. tour before Chiang Kai-shek sidelined them in 1948. Fleeing to Brazil, then Los Angeles, she battled cancer and obscurity until her 1959 death. Wei, though remarrying, chose burial beside her—a testament to their partnership.

Legacy: Beyond the “Assassin” Myth

Dubbed “China’s First Female Assassin,” Zheng’s true legacy lies in her legal and political breakthroughs. From smuggling bombs to drafting gender-equal laws, her life mirrors China’s turbulent modernization—a feminist pioneer erased by polarized histories, now ripe for rediscovery.