Overt & Covert Treasures：Essays on the Sources for Chinese Women's History

This is the first published volume on a variety of sources for Chinese women's history. It is an attempt to explore overt and covert information on Chinese women in a vast quantity of textual and non-textual, conventional and unconventional, source materials. Some chapters re-read well-known texts or previously marginalized texts, and brainstorm new ways to use and interpret these sources; others explore new sources or previously overlooked or under-used materials. This book is a valuable product witnessing the concerted effort of twenty some scholars located in different parts of the world.

Clara Wing-chung Ho is Professor of History at the Hong Kong Baptist University. She is the editor of several volumes including Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Qing Period, 1644-1911 (1998), and Windows on the Chinese World: Reflections by Five Historians (2009).

This gem of a volume is a repository of scholarly wisdom, from the bibliographic to the interpretive, by leaders in the field of Chinese women’s history. Ranging across disciplines, genres, and dynasties, the chapters dramatize the richness of China’s textual and visual records for students and scholars interested in gender relations. Sharp analytical perspectives defamiliarize familiar sources, from romantic reminiscence to journalistic illustration, from calligraphy to the classics. This work belongs on the reference shelf of every historian of China. ──Prof. Susan Mann, University of California, Davis The editor of this timely book has gathered some of the best and most influential historians of Chinese women together to reveal the significance and importance of their sources. The book is an invaluable resource and provides an insight into how top researchers write women’s history. ──Prof. Kam Louie, University of Hong Kong