Women’s history has been one of the most exciting fields of Chinese studies for the past several decades, and no period has received more attention than the Qing with its rich sources. Bret Hinsch draws on this scholarship and his own studies of earlier periods to sketch the many facets of women’s lives in this key period. Concise, readable, and lively, this book makes an excellent introduction to an important subject.
— Patricia B. Ebrey, University of Washington
In this well-written study of women’s history during the Qing dynasty—based on a wealth of primary and secondary sources in Chinese, Japanese, and Western languages—Bret Hinsch explores how issues of family and marriage, political and economic power, education, and morality affected female lives. Readers will appreciate Hinsch’s analysis of how the complexities of political events, social problems, and evolving intellectual trends of the last decades of Qing rule influenced the changing ideals of Chinese womanhood in the early twentieth century. This volume is full of rich insights which will not only be appreciated by undergraduates but also by general readers who want to know more about the roles of women in Chinese history.
— Harriet Zurndorfer, Leiden University
Women in Qing China is a concise, well organized, and balanced narrative designed to be used by instructors who teach women’s and gender history in China. It is also of great value to anyone who is interested in learning more about what scholars have revealed in the last few decades about women’s lives in Qing China.
— Nan Nü: Men, Women and Gender in China