Surprise Castle
The Fox Spirit, the Stone Maiden, and Other Transgender Histories from Late Imperial China

The Fox Spirit, the Stone Maiden, and Other Transgender Histories from Late Imperial China - Hardcover

$153.99

Choose Option

The Fox Spirit, the Stone Maiden, and Other Transgender Histories from Late Imperial China

Hardcover

$153.99
$140.00
Paperback

Paperback

$38.99
Quantity
01

Pay over time for orders over $35.00 with

Availability:In StockContributor:Matthew H. SommerPublish date:2024-03-19Pages:384
Language:EnglishPublisher:Columbia University PressISBN-13:9780231214124ISBN-10:023121412XUPC:9780231214124Book Category:History, Social ScienceBook Subcategory:Asia, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ StudiesBook Topic:China, Transgender StudiesSize:9.00 x 6.00 x 1.00 inchesWeight:1.6116Product ID:SCBGDYFTFZ

In imperial China, people moved away from the gender they were assigned at birth in different ways and for many reasons. Eunuchs, boy actresses, and clergy left behind normative gender roles defined by family and procreation. "Stone maidens"--women deemed physically incapable of vaginal intercourse--might depart from families or marriages to become Buddhist or Daoist nuns. Anatomical males who presented as women sometimes took a conventionally female occupation such as midwife, faith healer, or even medium to a fox spirit. Yet they were often punished harshly for the crime of "masquerading in women's attire," suspected of sexual predation, even when they had lived peacefully in their communities for many years.

Exploring these histories and many more, this book is a groundbreaking study of transgender lives and practices in late imperial China. Through close readings of court cases, as well as Ming and Qing fiction and nineteenth-century newspaper accounts, Matthew H. Sommer examines the social, legal, and cultural histories of gender crossing. He considers a range of transgender experiences, illuminating how certain forms of gender transgression were sanctioned in particular social contexts and penalized in others. Sommer scrutinizes the ways Qing legal authorities and literati writers represented and understood gender-nonconforming people and practices, contrasting official ideology with popular mentalities. An unprecedented account of China's transgender histories, this book also sheds new light on a range of themes in Ming and Qing law, religion, medicine, literature, and culture.
Language:EnglishPublisher:Columbia University PressISBN-13:9780231214124ISBN-10:023121412XUPC:9780231214124Book Category:History, Social ScienceBook Subcategory:Asia, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ StudiesBook Topic:China, Transgender StudiesSize:9.00 x 6.00 x 1.00 inchesWeight:1.6116Product ID:SCBGDYFTFZ
Matthew H. Sommer is the Bowman Family Professor of History at Stanford University. He is the author of Sex, Law, and Society in Late Imperial China (2000) and Polyandry and Wife-Selling in Qing Dynasty China: Survival Strategies and Judicial Interventions (2015).
Publisher: Columbia University Press

Free shipping on orders over $75. Standard shipping takes 3-7 business days. Returns accepted within 30 days of purchase.

Recently Viewed

View All