Citizens of beauty : drawing democratic dreams in Republican China

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. "Through drawings of beautiful women published in popular media, Citizens of Beauty introduces readers to the dramatically changing Chinese social world at the turn of the twentieth century. China's most famous commercial artists promoted their sketches of idealized women through journals, newspapers, and distinct compendia called One Hundred Illustrated Beauties. The genre drew upon a centuries-old tradition in which publishers produced illustrated books of beauties and virtuous women that were steeped in traditions of morality, desirability, and literary cultivation. By comparing illustrations produced in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Citizens of Beauty reveals the shifts in foundational values organizing Chinese society that would bring forth the democratic citizenry of the Republic. Modern beauties were freed of Confucian moral constraints and even "good women" forged productive, independent lives that included careers. Changes in the Illustrated Beauties genre reveal how ordinary readers of books and newspapers were able to imagine these social transformations. Citizens of Beauty is the first book to explore the One Hundred Beauties illustrations as a tool for comparing social ideals during the shift from imperial to Republican times and to show how images of women expressed ordinary people's desire for democratic, technological modernity. The book contextualizes the social and political significance of the aestheticized female body through its comparison of images from one genre as it underwent rapid and radical change"-- Provided by publisher