Women's Poetry of Late Imperial China: Transforming the Inner Chambers

摘要

Xiaorong Li has written an illuminating study of Chinese women's poetry from the late Ming to the early Republic, focusing on the trope of the gui ("boudoir" or "inner quarters"). She takes the poetry once labeled by Liang Qichao and Hu Shi as the trivial, boring and insignificant scribblings of privileged women, and reveals the many ways women, from the late Ming into the early 20th century, transformed the gui trope from the sentimental projections and erotic fantasies of male authors into the meaningful expression of women's views and experiences, reflecting their growing sophistication and political consciousness. One of the strengths of the book is Li's sure-handed treatment of both the literary conventions of Chinese women's poetry and the historical contexts in which women wrote.