Women Writers of Traditional China: An Anthology of Poetry and Criticism

Kang-i Sun Chang, Haun Saussy, Charles Yim-tze Kwong

Stanford University Press, 1999 - Literary Collections - 891 pages

This anthology of Chinese women s poetry in translation brings together representative selections from the work of some 130 poets from the Han dynasty to the early twentieth century. To measure the development of Chinese women s poetry, one must take into account not only the poems but also the prose writings--prefaces, biographies, theoretical tracts--that framed them and attempted to shape women s writing as a distinct category of literature. To this end, the anthology contains an extended section of criticism by and about women writers.

These poets include empresses, imperial concubines, courtesans, grandmothers, recluses, Buddhist nuns, widows, painters, farm wives, revolutionaries, and adolescent girls thought to be incarnate immortals. Some women wrote out of isolation and despair, finding in words a mastery that otherwise eluded them. Others were recruited into poetry by family members, friends, or sympathetic male advocates. Some dwelt on intimate family matters and cast their poems as addresses to husbands and sons at large in the wide world of men s affairs. Each woman had her own reasons for poetry and her own ways of appropriating, and often changing, the conventions of both men s and women s verse.

The primary purpose of this anthology is to put before the English-speaking reader evidence of the poetic talent that flourished, against all odds, among women in premodern China. It is also designed to spur reflection among specialists in Chinese poetry, inspiring new perspectives on both the Chinese poetic tradition and the canon of female poets within that tradition. This partial history both connects with and departs from the established patterns for women s writing in the West, thus complementing current discussions of "feminine writing.

Contents

• Genealogy and Titles of the Female Poet: 1
• From Ancient Times to the Six Dynasties 222589: 17
• Tang 618907 and Five Dynasties 90760: 46
• Song Dynasty 9601279: 86
• Yuan Dynasty 12641368: 115
• Guan Daosheng: 126
• Wu shi: 140
• Ming Dynasty 13681644: 150
• The Sixteenth Century: 171
• The Seventeenth Century: 266
• Fang Weiyi: 284
• Xiang Lanzhen: 290
• Cao Jingzhao: 302
• Shang Jinglan: 314
• Wang Wei: 320
• Ma Ruyu: 329
• Qing Dynasty 16441911: 337
• Ji Yinghuai: 366
• Wu Shan: 383
• 15: 388
• Wang Hui: 396
• 17: 397
• Chen Susu: 421
• The Sisters Zhang Xueya and Zhang Xuedian: 435
• Ye Hongxiang: 448
• Xu Yuanduan: 465
• Jin Yi: 485
• Shen Ke: 498
• The Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries: 552
• Sun Yunhe: 564
• Zhao Wopei: 572
• Zhuang Panzhu: 583
• Gu Taiqing: 589
• Wu Zao: 601
• 59: 611
• Zuo Xixuan: 616
• Qu Huixiang: 627
• 66: 637
• Xu Zihua: 657
• Female Critics and Poets: 669
• 49: 679
• 52: 686
• Male Critics and Poets: 719
• 56: 743
• 46: 767
• 35: 776
• 38: 798
• A Note on SongLyrics with a Glossary of TuneTitles: 809
• A Chronological Chart of Chinese History: 825
• 76: 826
• Bibliography: 851
• Index of Names: 871
• 195: 885

Bibliographic information

• Title: Women Writers of Traditional China: An Anthology of Poetry and Criticism; Law, Society and Culture in China
• Authors: Kang-i Sun Chang, Haun Saussy, Charles Yim-tze Kwong
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Stanford University Press, 1999
• ISBN: 0804732310, 9780804732314
• Length: 891 pages
• Subjects: Literary Collections / Asian / General; Literary Criticism / Asian / Chinese; Literary Criticism / Women Authors; Poetry / Anthologies (multiple authors); Poetry / Asian / General