Citizens of Beauty

Drawing Democratic Dreams in Republican China

By: Louise Edwards

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Paperback | 15 May 2020

At a Glance

Paperback
232 Pages

Age
22+

Dimensions(cm)
15.3 x 22.8 x 1.7

Paperback

$91.75

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In the early twentieth century China's most famous commercial artists promoted new cultural and civic values through sketches of idealized modern women in journals, newspapers, and compendia called One Hundred Illustrated Beauties. This genre drew upon a centuries-old tradition of books featuring illustrations of women who embodied virtue, desirability, and Chinese cultural values, and changes in it reveal the foundational value shifts that would bring forth a democratic citizenry in the post-imperial era. The illustrations presented ordinary readers with tantalizing visions of the modern lifestyles that were imagined to accompany Republican China's new civic consciousness.

Citizens of Beauty is the first book to explore the One Hundred Illustrated Beauties in order to compare social ideals during China's shift from imperial to Republican times. The book contextualizes the social and political significance of the aestheticized female body in a rapidly changing genre, showing how progressive commercial artists used images of women to promote a vision of Chinese modernity that was democratic, mobile, autonomous, and free from the crippling hierarchies and cultural norms of old China.

Industry Reviews

"Clearly written and delightfully illustrated, this study is an excellent resource for Chinese history and women's studies classes."

* Choice *

"Writing in brisk and engrossing prose, Louise Edwards... presents an important opportunity to consider how gendered bodies carried the burden of the diverse roles and the desire for recognition within an emerging public sphere."

* China Review International *

"[T]his slim volume packs a powerful punch...Citizens of Beauty is brilliantly conceived, coherently organized, and lucidly presented...It is a true pleasure to read, for general and specialized audiences alike. The book provides a lucid window into modern Chinese history and covers a range of important topics, including but not limited to visual representations of women, transformation of political culture, and processes of modernization."

* Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies *

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