Over the first half of the twentieth century, the lives of millions of urban Chinese were transformed by new ideas, new objects, new jobs, new leisure pursuits, new forms of transportation, new architecture: in a word, new -life-styles- and habits of mind. What did these changes mean to ordinary people? The essays in this book examine how prevailing discourses on nationalism, feminism, democracy, individualism, socialism, and the like emerged and were absorbed into the lived experiences and material culture of ordinary Chinese. Only from intimate personal experiences with forces ranging from...