Born in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, China, her ideology was shaped by her liberal-minded father, as well as her education from missionary schools in Shanghai.
In 1901, Sieh gave a speech in Shanghai that protested growing Russian influence in the Chinese government.
[2] At the age of eighteen, Sieh gave a speech in a theater in San Francisco's Chinatown to a crowd of both men and women, where she discussed the impact of female oppression, and in particular foot binding, the lack of access to education, and on the weakening of China's political influence and the growing effects of imperialism.
[1] She became a well-known activist in the San Francisco area, drawing crowds to her speeches in the hundreds and, sometimes, in the thousands.
[4] In 1905, she moved to Los Angeles and stayed with a fellow Chinese Empire Reform Association member.