Between the 19th and mid-20th centuries, numerous women in the Canton Delta of Southern China chose to remain unmarried. Empowered by their involvement in the thriving silk industry, they rejected the traditional submissive roles of wives and the constraints of a patriarchal feudal system. Instead, they forged a path of collective autonomy within their sisterhood. These radical women were known as Comb Sisters. This interdisciplinary thesis examines the Comb Sister movement through the two spatial dimensions: the geographical context of the delta and their communal living architecture, Gupouks (spinster’s houses).
Yingjia Tan, born in 1996 in Foshan of the Canton Delta, China, is a researcher and architect based in Munich. This website is the subject of her master thesis Herland in the Canton Delta, Comb Sister Collective and Their Living Space.
contact: vickatam1996@gmail.com