EBOOK
About
Until the 1980s, a common narrative about women in China had been one of victimization: women had dutifully endured a patriarchal civilization for thousands of years, living cloistered, uneducated lives separate from the larger social and cultural world, until they were liberated by political upheavals in the twentieth century. Rich scholarship on gender in China has since complicated the picture of women in Chinese society, revealing the roles women have played as active agents in their families, businesses, and artistic communities. The essays in this collection go further by assessing the ways in which the study of gender has changed our understanding of Chinese history and showing how the study of gender in China challenges our assumptions about China, the past, and gender itself.
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Reviews
"Insightful and provoocative . . . This edited volume is an enlightening and delightful reading for a wide range of scholars."
Yu Zhang
"This anthology sets a new benchmark for the creative and rigorous use of a broad range of sources to extend the scope of gender-focused enquiry in Chinese late imperial history. It will be read with benefit by students and scholars of comparative modernities, comparative gender issues, as well as Chinese social and political history."
Anne E. McLaren
"This collection of groundbreaking essays delivers enough inspiration not only for expanding gender-related historic studies in new directions, but also for questioning some of the well-established assumptions within the academic field, as well as popular gender stereotypes."
Justyna Jaguścik