The Talented Women of the Zhang FamilyThe history of China in the nineteenth century usually features men as the dominant figures in a chronicle of warfare, rebellion, and dynastic decline. This book challenges that model and provides a different account of the era, history as seen through the eyes of women. Basing her remarkable study on the poetry and memoirs of three generations of literary women of the Zhang family—Tang Yaoqing, her eldest daughter, and her eldest granddaughter—Susan Mann illuminates a China that has been largely invisible. Drawing on a stunning array of primary materials—published poetry, gazetteer articles, memorabilia—as well as a variety of other historical documents, Mann reconstructs these women's intimate relationships, personal aspirations, values, ideas, and political consciousness. She transforms our understanding of gender relations and what it meant to be an educated woman during China's transition from empire to nation and offers a new view of the history of late imperial women. |
Contents
Jining Shandong 18931895 I | 1 |
Tang Yaoqing Guixiu 17631831 | 9 |
Zhang Qieying Poet 1792after 1863 | 62 |
Wang Caipin Governess 18261893 | 130 |
THE HISTORIAN SAYS | 165 |
ZHANG FAMILY CHRONOLOGY | 201 |
SELECTED POEMS AND SONG LYRICS | 219 |
NOTES | 227 |
REFERENCES | 279 |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS | 299 |
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Common terms and phrases
Anhui Aunt Bao Shichen Beijing birthday brother Caifan Caipin calligraphy capital Changzhou Chinese classical collected poems concubine cousins daughter death dowry dynasty elder elite family’s father female friends girls guan Guantao Guanying Guanying's guixiu household Huizhou husband Jiang jing jinshi knew Lady learning Lin Zexu literary lives Lower Yangzi Luan Lunying Lunying's marriage married Ming fa lu Miss mother move Nanjing official poet poetry preface Qi's Qian Qieying Qieying's scholars Shanbao Shandong Shen shi gao siblings sisters song lyrics stele story Sun Jie Taicang Taiping Rebellion talented women Tang Yaoqing Uncle Yuesun Wang Caipin Wang Xi Wanlin Wanying's wife woman writing wrote Wu Zan Wuchang Wujin Xinglüe Yaoqing’s ying young Yuan Yuzhou Zeng Guofan Zhang family Zhang Huiyan Zhang Lunying Zhang Qi Zhang Qieying Zhang Wanying Zhang Xun Zhang Yuesun Zhangqiu Zhaoluo Zhenjiang zhuan