{"product_id":"the-singsong-girls-of-shanghai-weatherhead-books-on-asia","title":"The Singsong Girls of Shanghai (Weatherhead Books on Asia)","description":"\u003cp\u003eDesire, virtue, courtesans (also known as singsong girls), and the denizens of Shanghais pleasure quarters are just some of the elements that constitute Han Bangqings extraordinary novel of late imperial China. Hans richly textured, panoramic view of latenineteenthcentury Shanghai follows a range of characters from beautiful singsong girls to lowerclass prostitutes and from men in positions of social authority to criminals and ambitious young men recently arrived from the country. Considered one of the greatest works of Chinese fiction, The Singsong Girls of Shanghai is now available for the first time in English.Neither sentimental nor sensationalistic in its portrayal of courtesans and their male patrons, Hans work inquires into the moral and psychological consequences of desire. Han, himself a frequent habitu of Shanghai brothels, reveals a world populated by lonely souls who seek consolation amid the pleasures and decadence of Shanghais demimonde. He describes the romantic games played by singsong girls to lure men, as well as the tragic consequences faced by those who unexpectedly fall in love with their customers. Han also tells the stories of male patrons who find themselves emotionally trapped between desire and their sense of propriety.First published in 1892, and made into a film by Hou Hsiaohsien in 1998, The Singsong Girls of Shanghai is recognized as a pioneering work of Chinese fiction in its use of psychological realism and its infusion of modernist sensibilities into the traditional genre of courtesan fiction. The novels stature has grown with the recent discovery of Eileen Changs previously unknown translation, which was unearthed among her papers at the University of Southern California. Chang, who lived in Shanghai until 1956 when she moved to California and began to write in English, is one of the most acclaimed Chinese writers of the twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Han, Bangqing \/ hardcover","offer_id":47844716577013,"sku":"SONG0231122683","price":14.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/5804\/8501\/files\/61wdTk1RZkL.jpg?v=1773817941","url":"https:\/\/ergodebooks.com\/products\/the-singsong-girls-of-shanghai-weatherhead-books-on-asia","provider":"Ergodebooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}