Women As Writing Subjects in High Qing China : : Reconfiguring the Poetics of Feminine Propriety.

• Superior document: Women and Gender in China Studies ; v.14
• Author: Sun, Chengjuan.
• Place / Publishing House: Boston : : BRILL,, 2024.; ©2024.
• Year of Publication: 2024
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Women and Gender in China Studies
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (233 pages)

This study investigates how mid-Qing gentry women exploited prevailing literary and intellectual thought and state ideology for self-expression and self-empowerment. It aims to go beyond a rigid dichotomy between compliance and resistance and examines their gendered revision of literary convention.

Table of Contents

Front Cover -- Half Title -- Series Information -- Ttile Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Figures -- Introduction -- 1 From the Feat of Preservation to Moral Packaging -- 2 The Xingling Ideal and the Innovative Reinscription of Female Experience -- 3 Exploiting the Mid-Qing Conditions of Wifehood, Widowhood, and Motherhood for Self-Empowerment -- 4 Conjugal Love and the Assertion of Wifely Admonitions -- 5 Chaste Widowhood and the Celebration of Self-Reliance and Autonomy -- 6 Veneration of Maternal Teaching and Promotion of Girls' Education -- 7 Moral Agency, Female Virtue, and Historical Justice: Wang Duan's Scholarly and Historical Writings -- 8 An Overview: Structure, Sources, and Disclaimers -- Part 1 Xi Peilan (1762-c.1831) -- Chapter 1 Xi Peilan's Remedy to Yuan Mei's Xingling Poetics and Refashioning of Conjugal Poetry -- 1 Xi Peilan's Critical Acceptance of Xingling Aesthetics -- 2 Moral Scrutiny in Xi's Evaluations of Female Characters -- 3 The Xingling-Inspired Conjugal Poetry and the Problem of Conveying Marital Love -- 4 Blending Conjugal Love with Wifely Admonition: Xingling Refashioned -- 5 Conjugal Love and Romantic/Erotic Poetry: Two Contrasting Approaches -- 6 Zhen (Admonitions) and Two Different Understandings of Qing -- 7 Conclusion -- Part 2 Luo Qilan (1756-c.1813) -- Chapter 2 Poking Holes and Reclaiming the Boudoir: Luo Qilan's Playful Poems in the Perfumed Cosmetic Case Style -- 1 Reconciling Xianglian with Women's Writing -- 2 Poking Holes in the Imagined Femininity: Luo's Xianglian Verse Done in Jest -- 3 Reinscribing Boudoir and Femininity: Pride in Perseverance, Self-Reliance, and Productivity -- 4 Conclusion -- Chapter 3 The Song of a Lone Crane: Luo Qilan's Exaltation of Widowhood and Female Agency -- 1 Widowhood, Leisure, and Women's Writing.

2 From a Widowed Swan to a Transcendental Crane: Reinscribing Solitude -- 3 The Emotional Arc of a Happily Married Wife and Faithful Widow: Luo's Imitation of "Yan Terrace" -- 4 Conclusion -- Chapter 4 From Amused Indulgence to Serious Instruction: Maternal Teaching and Girls' Education -- 1 Celebrating "My Cherished Daughter": Its Origin and Evolution -- 2 "Tutoring My Daughter": A Matter of Pride and Anxiety -- 3 Poems on the Paintings of Tutoring the Daughter: The Case of Luo Qilan -- 4 An Interlude: The Choice of Adopting a Daughter and Its Potential Benefits -- 5 One Painting, Varied Responses -- 6 Conclusion -- Part 3 Wang Duan (1793-1839) -- Chapter 5 Transposing Chunqiu into Poetry: Wang Duan's Writing on History -- 1 Putting It in Perspective: Wang Duan and Historical Scholarship in the Reigns of Qianlong and Jiaqing -- 2 A Lifelong Fascination with History and Recurring Anxiety -- 3 At a Crossroads: Juxtaposing Comparable Moments in History -- 4 The Repurposed Preface: A New Form of Historical Writing -- 5 Conclusion -- Chapter 6 Female Martyrdom, Historical Justice, and Local Memory: Wang Duan's Poems on the Zhangwu -- 1 Setting the Stage: The First Poem -- 2 The Revisionist and the Localist Perspective -- 3 Exemplars of Loyalty: Redeeming the Vilified Zhangwu Men -- 4 The Murky Matter of Female Martyrdom -- 5 Eulogizing Exemplary Women: A Remedy for the Suppression of Local History -- 6 Conclusion -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index -- Back Cover.