... convent), a memoir by Mao Xiang 冒襄 (1611–93), titled after the burial place of his beloved first concubine. This brief work, first published in the 1650s, narrates the courtship and marriage of Mao Xiang and the famed courtesan Dong Xiaowan 董小宛 (1624–51) from 1639 to 1651, during the tumultuous years...

... artists are painter Xia Xiaowan, whose disturbing oils have something of the flavor of Hieronymus Bosch, and Su Xinping, whose lithographs taunt the viewer with fleeting shadows and enigmatic architecture. Even though the artists all strike vaguely dissident stances, they reveal diverse backgrounds. Two...

... not discuss them directly. For instance, Xia Xiaowan insists too defensively that his work will never become dated, even in the West. This plaintive remark reveals the high level of anxiety about international art trends and markets common among such painters. For classroom use, this can be a provocative...

..., with melodious dramatic songs cheering up one's senses, was something to be remembered forever. (Mao 1931:31-32)" Mao Xiang's concubine, Dong Xiaowan, whom he first met in 1639 when he went up to Nanjing to take the provincial examinations, was one of the most accomplished courtesans of the Qinhuai quarter; she...

... appear at 990 THE JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES all in a book on the Ming, and alongside the likes of Dong Xiaowan and Pan Jinlian, is in itself quite remarkable. Then again, this book breaks many boundaries, one of which is the one between Chinese studies and Chinese American literature. For indeed, myth...

... 2000 990 THE JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES all in a book on the Ming, and alongside the likes of Dong Xiaowan and Pan Jinlian, is in itself quite remarkable. Then again, this book breaks many boundaries, one of which is the one between Chinese studies and Chinese American literature. For indeed, myth...