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,...