Grace Fong has written a wonderful history of female writers' participation in the elite conventions of Chinese poetics. Fong's recovery of many of these poets, her able exegesis and elegant, analytical grasp of what the poets were doing is a great read, and her bilingual presentation of their poetry gives the book additional power. This is a persuasive and elegant study. --Tani Barlow, author of The Question of Women in Chinese Feminism

In this quietly authoritative book, Grace Fong has brought a group of women poets back to life. Previously ignored by scholars because of their...

The author begins with a biography exploring the moral and aesthetic implications of Wu's life as a guest-poet" patronized by officials and aristocrats, and continues with a reconstruction of the historical and literary context needed for modern readers to grasp his poetic techniques.

Originally published in 1987.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books...