Women as Writing Subjects in High Qing China

Chengjuan Sun, Ph.D. (2008), Harvard University, is Professor of Chinese at Kenyon College. She has published articles and translations on Chinese literature and Asian women’s writings and gender studies, including “From Amused Indulgence to Serious Instruction: Two Poetic Subgenres on Girlhood” (Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, and Reviews, 2014) and “The Hidden Blessing of Being a Last Ruler: Anecdotes and the Song Dynasty Interpretation of Li Yu (937-978) lyrics” (Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, and Reviews, 2012).

• AcknowledgmentsList of FiguresIntroduction1 From the Feat of Preservation to Moral Packaging2 The Xingling Ideal and the Innovative Reinscription of Female Experience3 Exploiting the Mid-Qing Conditions of Wifehood, Widowhood, and Motherhood for Self-Empowerment4 Conjugal Love and the Assertion of Wifely Admonitions5 Chaste Widowhood and the Celebration of Self-Reliance and Autonomy6 Veneration of Maternal Teaching and Promotion of Girls’ Education7 Moral Agency, Female Virtue, and Historical Justice: Wang Duan’s Scholarly and Historical Writings8 An Overview: Structure, Sources, and DisclaimersPart 1: Xi Peilan (1762–c.1831)1 Xi Peilan’s Remedy to Yuan Mei’s Xingling Poetics and Refashioning of Conjugal Poetry1 Xi Peilan’s Critical Acceptance of Xingling Aesthetics2 Moral Scrutiny in Xi’s Evaluations of Female Characters3 The Xingling-Inspired Conjugal Poetry and the Problem of Conveying Marital Love4 Blending Conjugal Love with Wifely Admonition: Xingling Refashioned5 Conjugal Love and Romantic/Erotic Poetry: Two Contrasting Approaches6 Zhen (Admonitions) and Two Different Understandings of Qing7 ConclusionPart 2: Luo Qilan (1756–c.1813)2 Poking Holes and Reclaiming the Boudoir: Luo Qilan’s Playful Poems in the Perfumed Cosmetic Case Style1 Reconciling Xianglian with Women’s Writing2 Poking Holes in the Imagined Femininity: Luo’s Xianglian Verse Done in Jest3 Reinscribing Boudoir and Femininity: Pride in Perseverance, Self-Reliance, and Productivity4 Conclusion3 The Song of a Lone Crane: Luo Qilan’s Exaltation of Widowhood and Female Agency1 Widowhood, Leisure, and Women’s Writing2 From a Widowed Swan to a Transcendental Crane: Reinscribing Solitude3 The Emotional Arc of a Happily Married Wife and Faithful Widow: Luo’s Imitation of “Yan Terrace”4 Conclusion4 From Amused Indulgence to Serious Instruction: Maternal Teaching and Girls’ Education1 Celebrating “My Cherished Daughter”: Its Origin and Evolution2 “Tutoring My Daughter”: A Matter of Pride and Anxiety3 Poems on the Paintings of Tutoring the Daughter: The Case of Luo Qilan4 An Interlude: The Choice of Adopting a Daughter and Its Potential Benefits5 One Painting, Varied Responses6 ConclusionPart 3: Wang Duan (1793–1839)5 Transposing Chunqiu into Poetry: Wang Duan’s Writing on History1 Putting It in Perspective: Wang Duan and Historical Scholarship in the Reigns of Qianlong and Jiaqing2 A Lifelong Fascination with History and Recurring Anxiety3 At a Crossroads: Juxtaposing Comparable Moments in History4 The Repurposed Prefaces: A New Form of Historical Writing5 Conclusion6 Female Martyrdom, Historical Justice, and Local Memory: Wang Duan’s Poems on the Zhangwu1 Setting the Stage: The First Poem2 The Revisionist and the Localist Perspective3 Exemplars of Loyalty: Redeeming the Vilified Zhangwu Men4 The Murky Matter of Female Martyrdom5 Eulogizing Exemplary Women: A Remedy for the Suppression of Local History6 ConclusionConclusionBibliographyIndex