Divine, Demonic, and Disordered: Women Without Men in Song Dynasty China by Cheng, Hsiao-Wen

Divine, Demonic, and Disordered: Women Without Men in Song Dynasty China

Female chastity stirs trouble in medieval ChinaA variety of Chinese writings from the Song period (960-1279)--medical texts,...
€71,85 EUR
€71,85 EUR
SKU: 9780295748320
Product Type: Books
Please hurry! Only 225 left in stock
Author: Hsiao-Wen Cheng
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Subtotal: €71,85
10 customers are viewing this product
Divine, Demonic, and Disordered: Women Without Men in Song Dynasty China by Cheng, Hsiao-Wen

Divine, Demonic, and Disordered: Women Without Men in Song Dynasty China

€71,85

Divine, Demonic, and Disordered: Women Without Men in Song Dynasty China

€71,85
Author: Hsiao-Wen Cheng
Format: Paperback
Language: English

Female chastity stirs trouble in medieval China

A variety of Chinese writings from the Song period (960-1279)--medical texts, religious treatises, fiction, and anecdotes--depict women who were considered peculiar because their sexual bodies did not belong to men. These were women who refused to marry, were considered unmarriageable, or were married but denied their husbands sexual access, thereby removing themselves from social constructs of female sexuality defined in relation to men. As elite male authors attempted to make sense of these women whose sexual bodies were unavailable to them, they were forced to contemplate the purpose of women's bodies and lives apart from wifehood and motherhood. This raised troubling new questions about normalcy, desire, sexuality, and identity.

In Divine, Demonic, and Disordered, Hsiao-wen Cheng considers accounts of "manless women," many of which depict women who suffered from "enchantment disorder" or who engaged in "intercourse with ghosts"--conditions with specific symptoms and behavioral patterns. Cheng questions conventional binary gender analyses and shifts attention away from women's reproductive bodies and familial roles. Her innovative study offers historians of China and readers interested in women, gender, sexuality, medicine, and religion a fresh look at the unstable meanings attached to women's behaviors and lives even in a time of codified patriarchy.



Author: Hsiao-Wen Cheng
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Published: 01/31/2021
Pages: 244
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 9.00h x 5.80w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780295748320

About the Author

Hsiao-wen Cheng is associate professor of East Asian languages and civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania.


Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, simply login to your account, view the order using the "Complete Orders" link under the My Account menu and click the Return Item(s) button. We'll notify you via e-mail of your refund once we've received and processed the returned item.

Shipping

We can ship to virtually any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations.

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. The weight of any such item can be found on its detail page. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound.

Related Products

Recently Viewed Products