92早稲田教育評論 第 36 巻第１号Furthermore, the establishment of the school faced great opposition from both the Mongolians and the Japanese, who believed that Mongolian women did not need education. At the time, more than 90 percent of Mongolian women were illiterate, and only a small number of upper-class women had cultural knowledge. Primary education was not widespread, and the number of students enrolled in secondary schools was extremely small. As a result, in the absence of students voluntarily joining the Xing’an Girls Academy, they were forcibly recruited from each banner. Two students were sent by the Horqin Left-Wing Rear Banner, four by the Horqin Left-Wing Front Banner, and more than a dozen from military families and other elite groups were added to the first batch of students. Students were not required to pay tuition and living expenses. The age of the students varied from 10 to 17–18 years. Their level of education also varied; some were illiterate, some had 2–3 years of elementary education, and some had 4–5 years of education.Sobud was 13 years old and in the sixth grade of elementary school when she joined the Xing’an Girls Academy as a first-year student with a recommendation from the Horqin Left Front Banner. In the first term, she was joined by Bao Mingyue and Bao Ruilan. In the second term, there were Bao Pilan and Bao Mingfeng. Regarding her experience, Sobud said the following: We were all away from home for the first time, riding a train for the first time, seeing electric lights for the first time, entering a city for the first time, and everything was new. The student dormitories had Japanese-style tatami mats with about 10 students living together. The food was simple: corn cakes, fried rice, and fried potatoes with Chinese cabbage. Discipline at the school was strict, and students were not allowed to go out during normal times, but only when they had something to do, and only with the permission of the dormitory prefect. The content of education mainly consisted of cultural lessons （mathematics, Mongolian literature, Japanese literature）, technical family lessons （sewing, knitting, cooking）, and lessons on civil etiquette. In the beginning, the female students did not understand Japanese, which made it difficult for them to follow the lessons as all the classes were taught in Japanese.There occurred two incidents during her school time that left a great impression on Sobud. The first was the strike against the housekeeping training. The students took turns to work the day shift, cleaning the classrooms and the dormitory. However, under the guise of “housekeeping training” （apprenticeship in housekeeping）, they had to take care of children, clean, and cook at the house of the Japanese teacher, Eiichi Kotani, and were reprimanded if they did not do well. Dissatisfied with this unjust practice, the students went on strike and refused to take part in the “housekeeping training,” protesting, “we entered this school to study, not to work for free. If you do not abolish this system, we will go home.” Consequently, the school canceled the program. The students rejoiced in their victory and returned to their classes.The second incident concerned an arranged marriage in class. One day, during a Japanese class, a Mongolian military officer who was also a teacher brought two or three Mongolian soldiers to the class. They had come to see a potential bride. One of the prospective brides was Li （pseudonym）, the
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