Between Gender and Genre：Tanci Texts at the Turn of the Twentieth Century*

ZHANG Yu

Abstract：The genre of tanci 彈詞has received increasing scholarly attention in recent years.Current research on tanci primarily focuses on full-length women-authored tanci fiction in late imperial China，when pre-modern gentry women thrived through composing tanci and reflected on their own experiences，thoughts，and feelings.Entering the twentieth century，women-authored tanci fiction gradually gave way to tanci written by male literati or intellectuals.By considering tanci as an inclusive and continuously evolving genre and directing our attention to a broader set of texts，this paper extends the research scope to explore the efforts to reform，revolutionize，and urbanize the genre in the modern era.This paper examines three groups of tanci writers and their texts：tanci writers before the mid-nineteenth century，particularly gentry women；late Qing tanci writers who advocated a strong nationalist theme；and tanci writers in the 1920s and 1930s whose works further commercialized the genre.This paper investigates the complexities of the interactions between literary genres and gender relations in particular by answering the following three integrated questions：Who were tanci writers？How did tanci writers of the new generation enrich the genre in the Republican period？And how did this old-fashioned genre help to（re）shape gender norms together with the emergence of capitalism？

Keywords：tanci；gender；Republican China；Shanghai

The literary genre of彈詞，literarily“plucking lyrics，”has just begun to attract critical attention in recent decades.The term is hardly a static concept，but rather one richly endowed with various sub-categories and ongoing absorptions from other literary and performative traditions.It is commonly recognized thatoriginated as a performing art，including string plucking，singing，speech，and acting.performance has been a prevalent form of entertainment，particularly in South China，since the sixteenth century. Even today，continues to be a living form called蘇州評彈（Suzhou storytelling）in the Jiangnan area.Mark Bender carefully distinguishes two forms in： 蘇州評話（narrative）and蘇州彈詞（chantefable）.He also points out that the term is more often used to refer to the singing form because of its popularity. See Mark Bender，（Urbana：University of Illinois Press，2003），5-7.With the rapid commercialization and increased literacy of the late imperial Jiangnan area，a group of literati and educated women created fictional narratives using the form of rhythmed verses in，alternating with prose narratives.Thus，one brunch ofgradually developed from singing scripts and became independent from the performative form.As Zhao Jingshen趙景深（1902-1985）summarized，alltexts could be categorized into two groups：唱詞（singing scripts）designed for onstage performance，and文詞（literary texts）for reading.趙景深：《彈詞選》，上海：商務(wù)印書館，1937年，第6頁。［ZHAO Jingshen，（An Anthology of），Shanghai：Commercial Press，1937，6.］Other scholars also attempted to differentiate the performing scripts and reading texts in.One categorized fiction in terms of prose（classical文言and vernacular 俗語）and in rhythm（including and）.See 陳平原、夏曉虹編：《二十世紀(jì)中國小說理論資料》，北京：北京大學(xué)出版社，1989年，第415頁。［CHEN Pingyuan and XIA Xiaohong，eds.，（Resources on Fictional Theories in Twentieth-Century China），Beijing：Peking University Press，415.］Also 盛志梅：《試論清代彈詞的文體分化過程及其特點》，《上海大學(xué)學(xué)報（社會科學(xué)版）》2012年第4期，第62頁。［SHENG Zhimei，“Shilun qingdai tanci de wenti fenhua guocheng jiqi tedian”（How Developed into Different Sub-Genres during the Qing Dynasty）.（［］4（2012）：62.］Another important distinction is the characters used inwriting.Zheng Zhenduo鄭振鐸（1898-1958）categorizedtexts as written with土音（native non-standard characters），mostly for on-stage performance，or written in國音（Mandarin characters），mostly for reading.鄭振鐸：《中國俗文學(xué)史》，上海：上海書店，1984，第353頁。［ZHENG Zhenduo，（AHistory of Folk Literature in China），Shanghai：Shanghai Bookstore Publishing House，1984，353.］

Focusing on narrating stories in highly ornate and rhythmed verses，literati and educated women writers in late imperial China made theircloser to vernacular fiction.These poetic narratives are called彈詞小說，orfiction，a type of fictional narrative in verse.AYing（Qian Xingcun錢杏邨，1900-1977）was among the first to use the term.See 阿英：《彈詞小說評考》，上海：中華書局，1937年，第1-6頁。［AYing，（Examining Fiction）.Shanghai：Zhonghua Book Company，1937，1-6.］Gentry women in particular boldly adapted the prosimetric style offiction with refined sevencharacter verses to indulge their unrestrained imagination in writing，and many authored substantial volumes.With predominant female authorship and readership before the twentieth century，fiction was often treated as a popular female literary form.By creating talented，strong，and resourceful female characters who exercise power in unconventional ways，educated women（re）shaped and（re）articulated their identities as writers，readers，and critics through their active participation in literary tradition.Since the mid-nineteenth century，because of Shanghai’s opening as an international commercial port and the Taiping riots，many wealthy families in the Jiangnan area relocated to Shanghai，bringing with them cultural and entertainment traditions to the rising metropolitan city.The center ofperformance thus moved to Shanghai，further supported by the emerging new media.Concurrently，there was an increase in the number ofperformances in combination with singing scripts which broadly circulated on the market and within literati reading communities.童李君：《清代書場彈詞文本研究》，《蘇州大學(xué)學(xué)報（哲學(xué)社會科學(xué)版）》2012年第2期，第140頁。［TONG Lijun，“Qingdai shuchang tanci wenben yanjiu”（AStudy of On-Stage Scripts in the Qing Dynasty），（［］）2（2012）：140.］This in turn inspired morefictions to be produced and published.

It is highly problematic thattexts，whether singing scripts or literary fiction，received only intermittent criticism considering the genre’s prevalence，flexibility and diversity.Such neglect reveals the hierarchy and self-importance of“mainstream”literature in literary historiography.This paper is among one of the first to investigate the dynamics between gender and genre during the development oftexts as both reading materials and performance scripts at the turn of the twentieth century.It will study how female and male writers supported，borrowed from，and competed with each other，and garner insights into the marginalized status oftexts，their shared aesthetics，and their ever-evolving form.The first section of this paper reviews the production，publication，and circulation offiction before the mid-nineteenth century，and in particular，how educated women understood writing and reading，despite all sorts of vocal opponents.The second section turns to the appropriation of this genre at the turn of the twentieth century，for the purpose of integratinginto revolutionary rhetoric.Drawn from archival research，the third and final section investigates howthe seemingly out-of-datebecame trendy and commercialized from the writer’s studio in the 1920s and 1930s.I argue that as a dually marginalized literary genre，’s rise anddeclinereflect theeffortsof modernwriterstomaintaintheir uniquevoicesbybothdisruptingandnegotiatingthemasculinepowerofthegrandpoliticalnarrativeandcontext.

Tanci in the Long-Cherished Tradition Challenging Prestigious Male-Dominated Genres

Literary classics and canons in China consist almost entirely of male-centered texts.The absence of women in pre-modern cultural traditions has been addressed and corrected in recent decades.In the Chinese context，poetry writing and poetry commentaries among women writers have been the subject of critical discussion as women’s rewritings of a male-dominated genre.See discussions in the following books：Grace S Fong，（Honolulu：University of Hawai’i Press，2008）；GUO Li，（West Lafayette，Indiana：Purdue University Press，2015）；YANG Binbin，（Seattle：University of Washington Press，2016）.YANG Haihong，（Lanham，MD：Lexington Books，2017）.Still，it was not an easy task for even educated women to gain access to the major genres.Some began to seek a genre that could be completely claimed as their own.Zheng Zhenhua 鄭貞華（1811-1860）disagreed with the claim that women’s writings could only be treated as entertainment or a display of talent.She explained why she chose the genre offiction for her substantial work《夢影緣》（The Bonds of Dream and Reflection，1843），published under the pseudonym Tiaoxi Cuanxia Sheng苕溪爨下生（Tiaoxi Scholar in Kitchen）：

I wonder：-drama is mostly authored by famous writers.The place has been taken.［Vernacular］fiction is written by gifted men of letters.How can my writings compete with theirs？I need to consider carefully whether I want to be the leading figure in my own field，or a follower of the great masters.（清）苕溪爨下生：《夢影緣》，臺北：文海出版社，1971年。［Tiaoxi Cuanxia Sheng，（The Bond between Dream and Image）.Taipei：Wenhai Press，1971，1.1.1.］On the other hand，adopting southern tones and dialect， is also known as“”南詞（southern lyrics）.According to Tan Zhengbi，under the category of there are northern and southern styles.Northern style is close to 鼓詞；southern style uses seven-character lines，with occasional padding words襯字.See譚正璧：《國學(xué)概論講話》，香港：香港中和出版社有限公司，2015，第209頁。［TAN Zhengbi，（Talk on Basics of Chinese Classics），Hong Kong：Hong Kong Open Page Publishing Co.，Ltd，2015，209.］

Exposing gendered tensions，Zheng questioned and challenged male dominance in literary genres.Writingfiction marked this gentry woman’s dissatisfaction with her restricted social lot and unfulfilled ambition. The eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries witnessed the flourishing of women-authoredfiction，which was consciously enhanced by the writers’gender awareness.More than a dozen meticulously written women-authoredwere circulated and published.See 胡曉真：《才女徹夜未眠——近代中國女性敘事文學(xué)的興起》，北京：北京大學(xué)出版社，2008年。［HU Siao-chen，（Burning the Midnight Oil：The Rise of Female Narrative in Early Modern China），Beijing：Peking University Press，2003］；GUO Li， Tanci；and ZHANG Yu， Tanci（Lanham，MD：Lexington Books，2018）.

Early women writers often expressed a seemingly humble gesture that attributed their writings to filial devotion or entertainment.However，most womenwriters took great confidence and pride in their achievements.Zheng Zhenhua for example，did not treatas a小道（marginalized genre），but rather as a genre that could help express her aspiration，as echoed in her description of the heroine in：“This heroine had a great goal.She wanted to turn this trivial world a sublime one.”（清）苕溪爨下生：《夢影緣》，第4冊第37卷第14頁。［Tiaoxi Cuanxia Sheng，vol.4，no.37，14.］Cheng Huiying程蕙英（fl.1868），author of《鳳雙飛》（Phoenixes Flying Together，1898），claimed in her poem“Zi tiji Yang Xiangwan”《自題鳳雙飛寄楊香畹》（Written at the End of，for Yang Xiangwan）that herwas not meant to be read by俗輩（commoners）.Using ambitious allusions from both the ancient philosopher Liezi 列子and the prominent Tang poet Du Fu 杜甫，Cheng even attached a quatrain to the end of herto express extreme delight and gratification for this twenty-year accomplishment.LIU Wenjia，“The：A Female Perspective on the Gender and Sexual Politics of Late Qing China，”PhD diss.，University of Oregon，2010.

Disapproval and Support of Women Writing and Reading Tanci

Not everyone welcomed the increasing presence of women in China’s literary tradition，whether as writers or readers.The most common criticism voiced a concern about moral threats.Many commentators felt anxious that reading and writingmight seduce women into abandoning their domestic duties and make them less virtuous.Other scholars saw the subversive potential of women’s writing.They interpreted a woman writer’s commitment to her work or her readers as dangerously arrogant.Even in the twentieth century，Zheng Zhenduo still considered writingto be a way that gentry women showed off their literary talents and expressed their discontent.鄭振鐸：《中國俗文學(xué)史》，第353頁。［ZHENG Zhenduo，，353.］In addition，opponents attempted to define women’s writing as less profound，less intellectual，and less significant.Atypical late Qing criticism epitomizes howfiction was viewed as being only for women and lower-class readers：

The writing［offiction］repeats all five shortcomings ofas mentioned earlier：to portray noble characters—the hero and the heroine must be perfect people；to portray a grand narrative—the story is filled with fighting against the barbarians and rescuing the emperor；to portray a picture of wealth and success—the characters will undoubtedly place first in the palace examination and accept high-rank official posts；to portray immortality—the story must involve the Old Dame of Mt.Li and the Great White Golden Star.Instead，there is no rationalization.Despite so many shortcomings，the genre is extremely prevalent.This is not because the above discussion［of the genre］does not stand.The reason is that this group of readers are not well educated.For them，good literature is too difficult to be comprehended.They would feel bored.This is quite common in reading.So they depart from that［good writing］to this［］.As a result，writers need to cater to the simple expectations of impatient readers and compose various dramatic plots.Due to the happenstance of ups and downs in the story，it is necessary to have roles such as the Old Dame of Mt.Li and the Great White Golden Star.This is a routine they have to follow.The writers use simple and plain words to attract readers and reveal the truth.Women and lower class readers must prefermore than other ridiculous books.別士：《小說原理》，載陳平原、夏曉虹編《二十世紀(jì)中國小說理論資料》，北京：北京大學(xué)出版社，1989年，第60-61頁。［BIE Shi，“Xiaoshuo yuanli”（Basics of Fiction），in（Documents on Fiction Theories of Twentieth-Century China），eds.CHEN Pingyuan and XIAXiaohong，60-61.］The Old Dame of Mt.Li驪山老母is a female immortal in Daoist legends.She is considered the Goddess of Mt.Li and a protector of women.The Great White Golden Star太白金星is also an immortal in Daoist legends.He is believed to be a servant of the Jade emperor，extremely eloquent with words of wisdom.

Sun Rui孫瑞，under the name“Descendant of Sun Wu，a lonely fisherman on the Xin’an River”新安江干獨釣客孫武后裔，even complained thatfiction was excessive in quantity and poor in quality：“andare mediocre works；andnarrate trivial details；many plots inseem implausible；andtreats an important topic as a trifling matter.”“《錦上花》《玉釧緣》，詞意近庸；《筆生花》《鳳雙飛》，鋪敘太繁；《再生緣》臨事過于矯情，《天雨花》計算多同兒戲?！盨ee（清）彭寄云：《繪圖繡像四云亭全傳》扉頁，出版信息不詳，1899年。［Preface in PENG Jiyun，（Illustrated Story of the Four-Cloud Pavilion）.Publisher unknown，1899.］

Such comments are not fair in many respects. Demanding a comprehensive knowledge of classics，history，rhetoric，and poetic tones and rhythms，writingfiction utilized life experiences and narrative strategies accessible and familiar to women，including domestic detail and intertextuality.胡曉真：《新理想、舊體例與不可思議之社會——清末民初上?！皞鹘y(tǒng)派”文人與閨秀作家的轉(zhuǎn)型現(xiàn)象》，臺北：臺灣“中研院”中國文史哲研究所，2010年，第13-41頁。［HU Siao-chen（New Ideas，Old Styles，and the Incredible Society：Transformation of Traditional Literati and Gentry Women Writers in Late Qing and Early Republican Shanghai），Taipei：Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy，Academia Sinica，2010，13-41］.The alternative focus on content and style innarrative poses a challenge to the inaccessible literary canons predominated by male writers.

Meanwhile，a small group of literati valued women’s literary talents and offered this genre a cautious acceptance.fiction was produced primarily by women and for women，though，significantly，the marketing and promoting remained predominantly in male hands.The most remarkable example is Hou Zhi候芝（1764-1829），whose literary works were published by commercial firms with the help of her male relatives.Ellen Widmer，“The Trouble with Talent：Hou Zhi（1764-1829）and Her再造天of 1828，”（）21（1999）：142-43.Chen Tongxun陳同勛considered《筆生花》（Flowers Growing from the Writing Brush，1857）an excellent reading that praised loyalty and filial piety and encouraged the pursuit of benevolence and righteousness.His endorsement was not mere flattery.He confirmed Qiu Xinru’s effort to commend two previous women-authoredworks：《再生緣》（Karmic Bonds of Reincarnation，1770）by Chen Duansheng陳端生and《再造天》（Heaven Restored，prefaced 1826）by Hou Zhi侯芝.Wheretempered’s radical imagination toward the early-nineteenth-century’s moral teachings，further cemented orthodoxy into rigidity.Chen Tongxun highly praised such changes in，regarding both Qiu Xinru and Hou Zhi as outstanding literary leaders.Likewise，Li Shu李樞and Xu Desheng徐德升expressed their great respect for the patriotic themes in《精忠傳》（AStory of Loyalty and Dedication，1895），aof Yue Fei’s stories composed by Zhou Yingfang周穎芳（1829-1895）.And in《俠女群英史》（History of Heroic Women Warriors，1905），Mengju夢菊，brother of the three sister authors，referred to them as talented and virtuous writers，admiring their skills in poetry and interests in history.

In addition to challenging the typically male-dominated disciplines，womenwriters sought the pleasure and satisfaction of connecting，through their texts，to other educated women.Because of the intimacy of the themes and the familiarity of the lyrical form，there is often a dialectal relationship between author and readers.Reading and writingthus helped shape an intellectual community among family members and friends.However，a female readership offered not merely cheers and compliments，but also straightforward criticism.Hou Zhi，for example，consideredinferior to poetry.Ellen Widmer，“The Trouble with Talent：Hou Zhi（1764-1829）and Her再造天of 1828，”（）21（1999）：132.Zheng Zhenhua considered somefiction stale and formulaic.As she described her frustration，“［fiction］is filled with young scholars and beautiful women living a glorious life.”（清）苕溪爨下生：《夢影緣》，第1冊第2卷第33頁。［Tiaoxi Cuanxia Sheng，，vol.1，no.2，33.］She condemned a few authors who had given the genre a bad name，accusing them of“violating ethical codes and soiling the reputation of beauties and scholars.”Alater woman reader Zuoyue Chuisheng Lou Zhuren坐月吹笙樓主人showed her disapproval of both the romance-focused theme and the overly flowery language in most.See（清）橘道人：《娛萱草》扉頁，上海：商務(wù)印書館，1931年。［Ju Daoren，（Draft to Entertain Mother），Shanghai：The Commercial Press，1931，preface.］By the mid-nineteenth century，women readers had become tired of scholar-beauty stories and built high expectations for reforming the genre.，，andall received significant appreciation for their non-conventional subjects，which broadened visions and meanings in women’s writings.

Male Tanci Writers

Compared to the women-authoredfiction，male-authoredin the early stage tended to be shorter and more varied in their verse formats.《廿一史彈詞》（Twenty-One Dynasties）by Yang Shen 楊慎（1488-1559），often considered the earliest literary，used tencharacter lines to outline Chinese history before the Ming Dynasty.Two sequels appeared in the early Qing period：Zhang Sanyi張三異（1609-1691）wrote《明紀(jì)彈詞》（The Era of Ming），and Anzhai Zhuren安齋主人（Master of the Peace Studio）authored《續(xù)彈詞》，mixing ten-character lyrics，poetry，andtones to express their political concerns during the Ming-Qing dynastic transition.Similarly，in his《百花彈詞》（A Hundred Flowers），Qian Tao錢濤combined ten-character lines and poems.These ten-character lines follow the 3-3-4 syllable rhyming pattern，allowing more frequent襯字（padding words）to be inserted.Other male writers composedfiction in the southern style which carefully followed the sevencharacter rule.These include Ju Zhong Yi Sou橘中逸叟（1637-1714），who wrote《來生福彈詞》（Fortune in Eternity），as well as Ma Ruixi馬瑞熙，the possible author of《娛萱草彈詞》（Draft to Entertain My Mother）.ZHANGYu， Tanci ，16-17.From the late nineteenth century，the sevencharacter 4-3 rhyming format became the primary format.Influential authors including Li Boyuan李伯元（1867-1906），Chen Diexian陳蝶仙（Tian Xu Wo Sheng天虛我生，1879-1940），and Cheng Zhanlu程瞻廬（1879-1943）all chose to write theirnovels in this manner.

Watchingsinging and readingfiction with female family members encouraged men of letters to adopt this genre.Ma Ruixi explained his motivation to writeas a filial devotion：readingwas his mother’s only entertainment in her senior years.Chen Diexian recalled that readingandwith his sisters inspired him to create his own firstfiction《瀟湘影》（Shadows from Xiaoxiang）.Li Dongye李東野confessed in his preface to《孤鴻影彈詞》（Shadow of the Lonely Swan，1935）that he learned to readnovels from his family，and now he made a living off this genre.Male writers’memories of early contact withhelped them justify using this marginalized genre，typically associated with lyricism，sentimentality，triviality and“woman’s mannerism.”See 包天笑：《釧影樓回憶錄》，北京：中國大百科全書出版社，2009年，第54頁。［BAO Tianxiao，（Memoir of the Bracelet Shadow Tower）.Beijing：Encyclopedia of China Publishing House，2009，54.］

Reformation and Revolution of Tanci in the Late Qing

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed the flourishing ofwriting and publishing，and an accompanying rise insinging.Facing unprecedented crisis，late Qing literati called into question classical education and womanly virtues，which had been previously celebrated in traditionalfiction.They now denied the values of traditionalfiction，considering the genre spiritually sapping and morally backward，thus calling for a revolution offiction.覺我：《余之小說觀》，載陳平原、夏曉虹主編《二十世紀(jì)中國小說理論資料》，北京：北京大學(xué)出版社，1989年，第36頁。［JUE Wo，“Yu zhi xiaoshuo guan”（My Opinions on Fiction），in，eds.CHEN Pingyuan and XIAXiaohong，36.］writers during this time were more active，progressive，and prolific as they adapted，reformed，and published.Their acquisitive attitude was associated with revolution and modernization，and illustrated from a reformative standpoint what was right or wrong in a radically changing society.As Siao-chen Hu observes，while traditional womenwriters focused more on self-expression and establishing their literary reputations，the beginning of the new century witnessedwriters hoping to use their texts as an accessible and active tool of education.吳佩瑾、黃佩玲：《專訪胡曉真教授》，《明清研究通訊》第24期，2011年10月5日。http：//mingching.sinica.edu.tw/newsletter/024/interview/interview-hu.html，2021年10月5日檢索。［WU Peijin and HUANG Peiling，“Zhuanfang Hu Siao-chen jiaoshou”（Interview with Dr.Siao-chen Hu）.（）24（October 15，2011）.］Retrieved from http：//mingching.sinica.edu.tw/newsletter/024/interview/interview-hu.html，October 5，2021.The number of male writers gradually surpassed that of educated women composing.The result was a reformation of the genre，making it more concise in length，more provocative in content，and more prepared for stage performance.

Educating and Enlightening：Male Appropriation of the Woman’s Genre

Late Qing intellectuals eagerly sought solutions to rescue the empire from its doomed fate.In order to enlighten the populace，folk arts received renewed attention.Among other genres，in the Jiangnan region was particularly in demand as a vehicle for progressive social change.Liang Qichao 梁啟超（1873-1929）once proposed that new fiction could borrow from樂府（folk poems）.In his reply to Liang，Huang Zunxian黃遵憲（1848-1905）argued thatwould be a better way to encourage the readers to“adopt recent news，not ancient records.”（清）黃遵憲：《與梁任公書》，載《新民叢報》，1902年7月，第14號。［HUANG Zunxian，“Yu Liang Rengong shu”（ALetter to Liang Qichao），（），July，1902：14.］The genre was no longer treated as a lyrical narrative for leisure reading，but would now be recast as a direct tool to be applied in China’s modernization progress.According to Yao Min’ai姚民哀（1893-1938），had a profoundly intertwined connection with society.李東野：《孤鴻影彈詞》，上海：新民印書館，1935年，第1頁。［LI Dongye，（Shadow of a Lonely Goose）.Shanghai：The New People Printing Company，1935，1.］Fang Chuying方樗癭consideredmuch more powerful than other literary forms，and attributed to the genre an ultimate value of family education.李東野：《俠女花彈詞》，上海：錦江書局，1915年，第1頁。［LI Dongye，（Flowers of Woman Warriors），Shanghai：Jinjiang Book Company，1915，1.］Cheng Zhanlu further explained that“in no need of any complicated arrangement，performance requires the minimum.Bringing a three-string instrument，the actors can perform for the audience. Thereforegains prevalence.”（清）程瞻廬：《同心梔》，上海：商務(wù)印書館，1919年，第66-67頁。［CHENG Zhanlu，（Heart Locked Jasmine）.Shanghai：The Commercial Press，1919，66-67.］In fact，rather than breaking a new ground，their views continued the call for women-authoredto educate the masses，while also calling for more publicizing of this genre.

Following the call for reform and revolution，quite a fewworks appeared in newspapers and magazines with fresh and down-to-earth themes reflecting late Qing values that advocated Western knowledge and progressive concepts such as democracy and human rights.Chen Tianhua陳天華（1875-1905）composed a short，ready-to-be-performed《猛回頭》（Sudden Awakening，1903），in the format of 10-character lines，condemning the weak Manchu Qing court and the danger imposed by Western imperialism.Another short ten-characterof his，《獅子吼》（The Lion’s Roar，1904），appeared in the newspaper《覺民報》（）and was also published in the journal《女子世界》（）.Repenting his indulgence in old-style literature，the author Jue Fo覺佛（an alias for Chen Tianhua）was determined to pursue practical learning and pay attention to current affairs.In，he illustrated a gloomy and miserable future for Han Chinese people，asking his audience to carefully consider his concerns and to fight against the corrupted Qing government.Adopting the voice of women and children，Li Boyuan 李伯元（1867-1906）consistently treatedas a lower class genre but a reliable tool to educate the mass population.He used the genre to portray the Boxer Rebellion in his《庚子國變彈詞》（The 1900 Crisis，1902）.His secondfiction《醒世緣》（Awakening the World，1903），was an early work that raised the issue of abolishing foot binding.Otherwriters were devoted to introducing Western technology to their readers.Yi Shui易水published two shortnovels explaining the mechanized boat and the camera，in hopes of inspiring more inventions from talented Chinese.See 易水：《富爾敦發(fā)明輪船彈詞》，《小說月報》1916年第7卷，第2頁。［YI Shui，“Fu er dun faming lunchuan tanci”（Fulton Invented the Machine Boat），（）7（1916）：2.］Also 易水：《照相發(fā)明彈詞》，《小說月報》1916年3.［YI Shui，“Zhaoxiang faming tanci”（The Invention of Camera）.（）7（1916）：3.］There were alsothat rewrote stories from，translated Shakespeare’s，and reviewed the recent national subjugation in Egypt.悟書：《論語齊景公待孔子五章彈詞》，載《小說月報》1916年第7卷11號，第1-5頁。［WU Shu，“Lunyu Qijinggong dai Kongzi wuzhang tanci”（ on Lord Qi Awaiting Confucius），（）7，no.11（1916）：1-5.］鄧以蟄：《莎士比亞若邈久嫋新彈詞》，載《晨報副刊》，1924年4月25-26日。［DENG Yizhe，“Sha shi bi ya ruo miao jiu ni xin tanci”（New ：Romeo and Juliet），（），April 25-26，1924.］許指嚴(yán)：《新編埃及慘狀》，上海：國民圖書館，1920年。［XU Zhiyan，（New Story on the Tragedy of Egypt），Shanghai：The People’s Library，1920.］Regardless of topic and length，theseworks took on an unquestionably enlightening mission，while also taking advantage of the genre’s subversive potential，resulting in their nearly recasting the genre into propaganda.

In the rhetoric of enlightenment，late Qingwriters mainly focused on the mission of educating women and lower-class people.It was a crucial time for social elites to concentrate on learning about new knowledge from the West，and fiction“should not cost their energy.”See 別士：《小說原理》，載陳平原、夏曉虹編《二十世紀(jì)中國小說理論資料》，北京：北京大學(xué)出版社，1989年，第60-61頁。［BIE Shi，“Xiaoshuo yuanli”（Basics of Fiction），in（Documents on Fiction Theories of Twentieth-Century China），eds.CHEN Pingyuan and XIAO Xiaohong，60-61.］Leading intellectuals continued to expectfiction to serve as“women’s textbooks，”and encouraged writers to create fiction“proper for women’s mindsets.”（清）狄平子：《小說叢話》，載陳平原、夏曉虹編《二十世紀(jì)中國小說理論資料》，北京：北京大學(xué)出版社，1989年，第174-175頁。［DI Pingzi，“Xiaoshuo conghua”（Comments on Fiction）.In，eds.CHEN Pingyuan and XIAXiaohong，174-75.］覺我：《余之小說觀》，載陳平原、夏曉虹主編《二十世紀(jì)中國小說理論資料》，北京：北京大學(xué)出版社，1989年，第36頁。［JUE Wo，“Yu zhi xiaoshuo guan”（My Opinions on Fiction），in，eds.CHEN Pingyuan and XIAXiaohong，36.］Wu Jianren吳趼人（1867-1910），though he never wrote afiction，openly promoted the genre as a means to influence Chinese women in a positive way.（清）吳趼人：《小說叢話》，載陳平原、夏曉虹編《二十世紀(jì)中國小說理論資料》，北京：北京大學(xué)出版社，1989年，第151-152頁。［WU Jianren，“Xiaoshuo conghua”（Words on Fiction），in，eds.CHEN Pingyuan and XIAXiaohong，151-52.］However，their reading and writing ofwas based on the biased belief that Chinese women before the twentieth century had little education and knew nothing beyond their inner quarters.As Mengju stated，Chinese women“suffered from a frivolous life，being vulnerable and vigorless.”譚正璧：《評彈通考》，北京：中國曲藝出版社，1985年，第262-63頁。［TAN Zhengbi，（ASurvey on），Beijing：China Theatre Publishing House，1985，262-63.］He believed that achieving women’s liberation should start with the seven-character，which is easy and transparent in meaning.As a result，a large number offiction claimed to fight for women’s rights in a new China，inspiring women to participate in national affairs. In《法國女英雄彈詞》（Story of a French Heroine，1904），a work venerating Madame Roland，an icon for liberty and gender equality during the French Revolution，the author Wanlan Ciren 挽瀾詞人（Poet who Draws the Wave）emphasized women’s obligation to the national project of seeking peace and civilization：“not only men need to make efforts，women also take serious responsibilities.”（清）挽瀾詞人：《法國女英雄彈詞》，載阿英：《晚清文學(xué)叢鈔·說唱文學(xué)卷》，北京：中華書局，1960年，第202頁。［Wanlan Ciren，（Story of a French Heroine），in（Compilation of Literary Works in Late Qing Dynasty/Collection of Late Qing Literature：Volume of Singing and Storytelling），ed.A Ying，Beijing：Zhonghua Book Company，1960，202.］Women’s emancipation thus became a condition for national salvation.

Unsurprisingly，male writers asserted a new-found and self-justified authority in writing，eagerly providing unsolicited guidance for women in the new century.The liberating discourse in theirand commentaries ontouted the rhetoric of women’s rights.Yet their subtle elitist agenda was firmly aimed at securing intellectual leadership in a radically changing society.Ironically，whennovels embodied the mission of enlightenment，male writers centered solely on this didactic function in plain language，and as a result sacrificed aesthetic value，especially when compared with the earlier meticulousfiction written by gentry women.According to literary aesthetics today，many of the above-citedcould hardly be considered high-quality literature.Afew are even brutally coarse and disorganized.Nonetheless，the emergingwith their rich variety of themes precisely reflected the transition from the traditional poetics at the turn of the twentieth century，when the presumed elegance and sophistication were challenged through a mixing with other arts.

Women Tanci Writers in the Late Qing

Late Qing women writers defended and insisted on the legacy offiction as full-length narratives in seven-character verses alternating with prose，which separated their works from other formats such as scripts or shorter versions written by men.Responding to the urgent calls for nationalism and patriotism，womenwriters in late Qing remained at a cautious distance from the male-oriented“enlightening”discourse that frequently characterized women as the scapegoat of the old empire’s backwardness.Both Peng Jiyun彭寄云and Jiang Yingqing姜映清still composed theirfiction within the traditional scholar-beauty framework，but also hinted at their concerns about national affairs in this time of profound change，challenging conventional images of women as pre-occupied with trivial domestic roles.Equipped with new knowledge and fresh ideas，other womenwriters took a clear stand resisting institutionalized sexism，indicating in their works that patriarchy deprived，exploited，and discriminated against women.Their fearless heroines，emboldened by a revolutionary spirit，highlighted awareness of female subordination and declared that men should be mindful of women’s need for innovation.

Pingquan Ge Zhuren平權(quán)閣主人noted that《二十世紀(jì)女界文明燈》（ALight of Civilization for Women in the Twentieth Century，1911）used the particular format ofto encourage women to nurture their ambitions.In contrast to the male fantasy of a foreign woman as seen in，Zhong Xinqing鐘心青started herwith an international view of the abolition of slavery in America.The narrative then turns to an American character，Picha Nüshi 批茶女士，According to Xia Xiaohong，the identity of Picha nüshi is the American woman writer Harriet Beecher Stowe（1811-1896）.See 夏曉虹：《斯托夫人與批茶女士——晚清翻譯文學(xué)誤讀之一例》，載王宏志編，《翻譯與創(chuàng)作——中國近代翻譯小說論》，北京：北京大學(xué)出版社，2000年，第236頁。［XIA Xiaohong，“Si tuo furen yu picha nüshi：wanqing fanyi wenxue wudu zhi yili”（Mrs.Stowe and Mrs.Beecher：A Case of Mistranslation in Late Qing Literature），in（Translation and Creation：On Translated Fiction in Modern China），ed.WANG Hongzhi，Beijing：Peking University Press，2000，236.］who travels across the Pacific Ocean to examine women’s status in China.Instead of general criticism，unjust accusation，or brutal ridiculing of Chinese women’s backwardness and ignorance，Zhong Xinqing gave detailed suggestions to improve women’s status in her fevered imagining of the joint journey undertaken by Picha Nüshi and Confucius’s mother.Among her suggestions were：the abolition of child brides，concubinage and foot binding；advocation for new science；equal rights in modern marriage；studying abroad；and physical education，as well as women’s participation in anti-imperialism protests.In addition，she celebrated the tradition of women learning within the family，arguing that the decadence of Chinese civilization was a result of女學(xué)沉淪（women’s learning in depravity）.（清）鐘心青：《二十世紀(jì)女界文明燈》，載阿英編，《晚清文學(xué)叢鈔：說唱文學(xué)卷》，北京：中華書局，1960年，第178頁。［ZHONG Xinqing，（Light of Civilization for Women in the Twentieth Century），in，ed.AYing，178.］Zhong advocated the continuation and renovation，rather than a breakdown，of the legacy of women’s family learning.Other women disagreed with the blind optimism in feminism expressed by male intellectuals.A collective work co-authored by three sisters，reveals a previously untouched issue，arguing for women’s right to inherit，which inspired an investigation of power relations in traditional households.

The most remarkable womanwriter during the late Qing was Qiu Jin 秋瑾（1875-1907），a real-life woman warrior who actively participated in the radical overthrow of the Qing dynasty，and eventually gave her own life to the revolution.Opening with a grand picture of heroic men and women fighting for freedom under Euro-American revolutionary influence，her ambitious yet incomplete work，《精衛(wèi)石》（Stone of the Jingwei Bird），radically renewed the poetics of.She argued forcefully that men and women had the same physical and intellectual abilities.However，men used violence and lies to manipulate and壓制（oppress）women.Such oppression caused women’s enslaved status.Thus，she focused on the institutional oppression in patriarchal society，promoting modern notions such as女權(quán)（women’s rights），and平權(quán)（equal rights）in her.

Overall，more men than women participated inwriting in the new century，which allowed men to reclaim the privilege and authority of this genre.On a positive note，the decline of women-authoredfiction did not indicate the disappearance of women writers.On the contrary，women had more opportunities to test their talents in various genres，media forms，and even professions，in the modern age.（as well as poetry in general）was no longer the only medium for women to speak their own voice.

Reinvesting Tradition in Popular Cultural Forms

Since the Taiping Rebellion（1850-1864），a great number of prominent families in Jiangnan escaped to the Shanghai international settlement，bringingperformance into the metropolitan city.After the 1911 Revolution，readers and writers in the urban area sought comfort from，an important popular entertainment in Shanghai.With shared cultural understandings and aesthetic sensibilities，the 1920s and 1930s became the golden decades ofperformance in Shanghai after a series of innovations，including performance venue，traditional roles，singing styles，and incorporation of the latest technology.Mark Bender，，15，22.In the meantime，texts，including both singing scripts and lengthy novels，attracted a growing number of urban readers around Shanghai.In particular，fiction in this era demonstrated an even more personal and romantic tone，departing from the rigid progressive discourse and gaining prominence alongside the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly school.Sharing many features with the popular Butterfly literature，was no longer a privileged tradition among the elite cultural community，but joined the category of urban narratives.Writers attempted to bring the old genre into the new marketplace by using commercial strategies.

（清）秋瑾、郭長海：《秋瑾全集箋注》，長春：吉林文史出版社，2003年，第457、466頁。［QIU Jin and GUO Changhai，（Annotated Collection of Qiu Jin），Changchun：Jilin Literature and History Publishing House，2003，457，466.］With the flourishing of print and radio industries in Shanghai，the 1920s and 1930s witnessed a strong revival ofreading as a cultural phenomenon.However，by the 1930s，the majority ofwriters were male，reflecting women’s unequal access to cultural production and management.In addition，early Republican China was still a society bound by traditional conventions and values，and commercial and political connections continued to（re）shape and reinforce gender norms in.

Serial Tanci Fiction：Rising Together with Butterfly Novels

Catering to the increasing interest inin the early Republican era，a number of writers wrote shorterto be published in the new media.Many first appeared in the format of serial installments in newspapers or magazines before they were printed as single editions.Countless presses promotedfiction at the turn of the twentieth century.Among them，both《小說月報》（）and《申報》（）pioneered publishingfiction in serialized form.Yun Tieqiao惲鐵樵（1878-1935），chief editor ofbetween 1912 and 1920，believed that’s educating function matched the periodical’s editorial guidelines to publish“elegant but not intricate，plain but not artless”articles that“meet the entertainment demand of the public，and provide supplementary materials to education.”惲鐵樵：《本社特別》，《小說月報》1903年第3期第7號，扉頁。［YUN Tieqiao，“Editor’s Message，”（）3，no.7（1903）：1A.］When Cheng Zhanlu程瞻廬（1879-1943）submitted hisfiction《孝女蔡蕙》（Cai Hui：a Filial Daughter）in 1917，Yun replied with a passionate letter appreciating the work：

I read plenty of novels，but nothing has impressed me like your.In the past after Mr.［Yun］Nantian saw Wang Shigu’s landscape painting，he said：“I will not be a follower.”After your，there might be moreworks，but they will all be followers.Your work picks a theme of Confucianism without being decadent；your writing is clear and profound.In particular，the best thing about youris the sophisticated structure，with broad topics.I believe this is an unparalleled work，and truly admire it.Quoted from鄭逸梅：《瓶笙花影錄》，上海：校經(jīng)山房書局，1936年，第143—44頁。［ZHENG Yimei，（Records from Tea Pots and Flower Shadows），Shanghai：Jiaojing shanfang，1936，143-44.］

Apparently feeling this praise was not sufficient，after Cheng’swas published，Yun sent him another letter，continuing to express his genuine enthusiasm and admiration，and even paid him an unusual amount of additional royalties.

Yun’s favoritismtowardshad a big impact on other publishers.，，《彈詞畫報》（Tanci），《小說叢報》（），and《紅雜志》（）all contributed to publishingfiction in serialized format.A good number of them were later published as single editions.Among these publishers，repeatedly commissioned manuscripts of traditional literature，particularly in two genres：drama andfiction.Wang Dungen王鈍根（1888-1950），editor-in-chief of the daily literary page《自由談》（Free Talk）in《申報》，worried thatfiction was declining in his time.He encouraged his friend Chen Diexian 陳蝶仙（1879-1940）to apply himself to the genre.In Chen’s response to Wang in the preface of his《自由花彈詞》（Flowers of Freedom，a），he disclosed howfiction became a new favorite in the說部category—another name for fiction，novels，or anecdotal works：

Mr.Wang Dungen，who happens to be in charge of，has sent me a letter discussing the genre of fiction in recent years.In his opinion，detective stories and romantic stories are the two most prevalent styles.Among writers of fiction，few can compose.Since I used to be skilled at music，why not insert new thoughts in the old form，to create a type of fiction that will become popular within private chambers？（清）天虛我生：《自由花彈詞》，上海：中華圖書館，1917年，第2頁。［Tianxu Wosheng，（Flowers of Freedom），Shanghai：Zhonghua Library，1917，2.］

In fact，Chen Diexian’smasterfully celebrates an erotic fantasy held by female students.It took 70 installments over three months to publish thisinin 1913.His other，was published in installments in《女子世界》from 1914 to 1915.Chen later replaced Wang as the editor of.Like Chen，manywriters had a career in the publishing industry.For example，Wang Dungen wrote《聶慧娘彈詞》（1914）.Xu Zhiyan許指嚴(yán)（？-1923），editor of Shanghai Commercial Press and《小說新報》（），wrote《埃及慘狀彈詞》（Story on the Tragedy of Egypt）（1920）；Bao Xingdu包醒獨，once an editor of，was a prolific in writing novels，including 《玉女怨》（The Grievance of AMaiden）（1915-16），《林婉娘》（The Story of Lin Wanniang）（1917），F(xiàn)urong lei《芙蓉淚》（The Tears of Hibiscus）（1915）.Even Tan Zhengbi published a titled《落花恨》（The Regret of Fallen Flowers）in 《晚霞》（），but he did not finish this work.See 童李君：《吳地報人與彈詞的報刊傳播》，《蘇州教育學(xué)院學(xué)報》2015年第32期，第37頁。［TONG Lijun，“Wudi baoren yu tanci de baokan chuanbo”（Journalists in the Wu Area and Tanci’s Publication in Newspapers and Periodicals），（）32，no.1（2015）：37.］Despite their sentimental，melodramatic stereotypes and unbalanced stylistic qualities，works of serializedfiction brought a unique aesthetic of“continual interruption，”Alexander D.Forges，“Building Shanghai，One Page at a Time：The Aesthetics of Installment Fiction at the Turn of the Century，” 62.3（2003）：798.refreshing readers’experiences in contrast to the conventions of vernacular fiction.

During this time，writers often shared another identity as writers of Mandarin Duck and Butterfly novels.Cheng Zhanlu，a native of Suzhou who became a freelance writer in Shanghai，actively participated in creating newfiction.Focusing respectively on violence against women during the Taiping Rebellion，and the legendary anti-Taiping heroine Du Xianying杜憲英，his twonovels《哀梨記》（The Mourning Pear，installment started in 1918）and《明月珠》（Pearl under Bright Moon，installment started in March 1918）connected to the antiwarlord historical moment，potentially evoking a rising Chinese national consciousness.Meanwhile，by holding up time-honored virtues such as loyalty，righteousness and patience，fiction of the new generation blended new lifestyles and traditional patterns to form a new aesthetic in urban cities，further enhancing the dialectic model that equates masculinity with power and authority，as well as femininity with a docile innocence.In《同心梔》（Heart Locked Jasmine，installment started in 1918），Cheng expected to recreate a traditional model of chastity for what he saw as the moral decline of urban Shanghai by stressing obedience and regulating female behavior.To reach this goal，Cheng started each chapter with contemporary news on exemplary and heroic women in both China and around the world from a popular magazine，《婦女雜志》（Women’s Magazine），in order to offer newrole models.胡曉真：《新理想、舊體例與不可思議之社會——清末民初上海“傳統(tǒng)派”文人與閨秀作家的轉(zhuǎn)型現(xiàn)象》，臺北：臺灣“中研院”中國文史哲研究所，2010年，第150-52頁。［Hu Siao-chen，（New ideas，Old styles，and the Incredible Society：Transformation of Traditional Literati and Gentry Women Writers in Late Qing and Early Republican Shanghai），Taipei：Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy，Academia Sinica，2010，150-52.］

Singing Ready and Commercialized Endorsements

The growing urban cultural market in the early twentieth century led to significant changes in the genre of.The new media of radio led to the prevalence of tanci performance.See Mark Bender，；Carlton Benson，“The Manipulation of Tanci in Radio Shanghai during the 1930s，” 20，no.2（1995）：117-46.In this section I focus on the interplay betweentexts andperformance under the influence of commercialized radio broadcasts.

Unlike gentry women writers，writers in the Republican era were clearly aware that，ideally，theirtexts would be adapted for performance so that they might foster new values，shape new citizens，as well as bring income to the household.In the 1920s and 1930s，manywriters were old-school novelists originated from Jiangnan.Familiar with thedialect andsinging，they engaged in a dialectic process with performers and audience，emphasizing the performance-ready nature of thethey wrote.For example，Lu Dan’an was a long-term amateur of tanci performance of over forty years.包天笑：《釧影樓回憶錄》，第45頁。［BAOTianxiao，，45.］When writing his，Chen Diexian addressed the problem of rhythm in previousfiction，including平仄不調(diào)（irregular tones），and羼雜土音（uneven rhythms mixed with words“representing native dialects”）.Li Dongye treated hisas a script ready to be performed.By firmly maintaining the seven-character principle，Li considered hisa善本（perfect copy）.He went even further，marking the level and oblique tones for each character to ensure that melodies would flow elegantly and smoothly with lyrics.Experienced readers also appreciated the exquisite singing features.When criticizing previous women-authored，Sun Rui was not satisfied with their random and uneven vocabulary.Instead，he praised steady rhythm，clear tone，and well balanced lyrics and speech in the woman-authored.Compared to the process of textualization insinging，Mark Bender，，70.here Li demonstrated the exact opposite process：creatingfiction as singing script in the hope that the script would be purchased for performance.《滿江紅》（Entire River Red，1935），a rewriting of Zhang Henshui’s tear-inducing bestseller with the same title，clearly stated that it was ajiaoben腳本（singing script），rather than a typicalfiction.According to the author Lu Dan’an 陸澹庵（1894-1980），a formalfiction is difficult to perform for storytellers.He further explained that

［t］he scripts for storytellers are different in nature fromfiction published in the press.fiction published in the press is elaborate in lyrics and elegant in style.Nonetheless，it is essential for a script to be plain，commonly understood among the audience.陸澹安：《滿江紅》，上海：新聲社，1925年，第1頁。［LU Dan’an，（Entire River Red），Shanghai：The Xinsheng Society，1925，1.］

The efforts to meet the requirements，and further，to bring convenience to performance during the writing process，testified to the power of the commercialized market，in which conservative writers did their best to catch up with the urban trend.

Other writers abandoned the full-length fictional form ofin favor of more succinct and focused開篇（opening lyrics）.The emerging new media of radio in urban Shanghai resulted in an increasing number of opening lyrics to be performed and played on the air，serving as advertisements or political propaganda in the 1920s and 30s.Thousands of fragmented and commodified opening songs were composed，collected，edited，and published on the market.尹業(yè)通：《從附庸到獨立：民國時期評彈“開篇”的獨立與發(fā)展》，《地方文化研究》2017年第4期，頁43。［YIN Yetong，“Cong fuyong dao duli：minguo shiqi pingtan‘kaipian’de duli yu fazhan”（From Affiliation to Independence：Pingtan“Kaipian”’s Independence and Development in Republican China），（）4（2017）：43.］Even Jiang Yingqing，who gained a great reputation publishing the lengthy and sophisticatednovels《玉鏡臺》（The Jade Mirror Terrace，1924）and《風(fēng)流罪人》（The Condemned of Love），turned to writing more profitablesongs for radio broadcasts.A collection of her songs，titled《映清女士彈詞開篇》（Opening Songs by Jiang Yingqing，1936）includes a variety of subject matter，such as abundant commercials，educational messages，and recent news.Some songs describe modern life in Shanghai，including the New Life movement，the emergence of aviation，a group wedding ceremony，a soccer game，even crimes caused by greed and opium addiction.Others portray the economic recession in Shanghai，the miserable life of flood refugees and the 1924 Zhejiang-Jiangsu War.However，her most celebrated opening songs exhibit strong connections to the commercial market in Shanghai.“Diantai mingci”電臺名詞（Radio Station Names）is a playful song embedded with names of radio stations，which function perfectly as advertisements.Similarly，Jiang wrote opening songs as informal commercials for cigarettes，Maochang Optical，and Qingpu Reclamation Co.Another documents her correspondence with Shanghai’s distinguished doctor Zhang Yiju張益君（1897-1946）.“Haishang tanci mingjia qian huaming”《海上彈詞名家嵌花名》（ASong ofMasters in Shanghai with Their Stage Names）is a skillful ode to renownedsingers，highlighting Jiang’s knowledge ofperformance and her own poetic talents.Jiang’s son Chen Yun陳云highlighted her learning of phonology in composing opening lyrics，suggesting her attentiveness and respect for the singers.However，the commercial success of Jiang’s market-driven songs obscured her image as a woman writer，made her look instead like a lucky wife，whose talents were carefully protected，preserved，and supported by her intellectual husband and prominent lawyer son.

writers in the Republican era also paid attention to interactions and correspondences with readers and broadcast audiences for commercial purposes.Lu Dan’an gave two endings to hisadaptation：one follows Zhang Henshui’s original novel in which the beautiful sing-song girl Li Taozhi sacrifices her own life to rescue her lover，the talented painter Yu Shuicun，from a boat fire on the Yangtze River.For the other ending，however，Lu explained that“many in the broadcast audience sympathized with Taozhi and Shuicun，hoping the couple could reunite.Therefore we［the performers］may say that when the boat is about to sink，Taozhi jumps into the Yangzi River.Later a boat found her.Eventually，they got married.”陸澹安：《滿江紅》，第409頁。［LU Dan’an，（Entire River Red），409.］Since Lu set hisas a script for on-stage performance，he further noted：“between these two endings，whichever the audience would like to hear，go with it.”Meanwhile，based on scripts，performers made necessary changes to improve the audience’s experience and convince them that the performance was deserving of attention.For example，Yao Yinmei revised and enhanced，a script authored by Lu Dan’an.See 童李君：《論〈啼笑因緣〉的彈詞改編——以姚殷梅的彈詞唱本為例》，《安徽文學(xué)》2014年第11期，第94-96頁。［TONG Lijun，“Lun Ti xiao yinyuan de tanci gaibian—yi Yao Yinmei de tanci changben weili”（ Adaption of：ACase of Singing Script by Yao Yinmei），（）11（2014）：94-96.］And房瑩：《陸澹安〈啼笑因緣彈詞〉創(chuàng)作始末及其價值》，《蘇州教育學(xué)院學(xué)報》2017年第3期，第41-46頁。［FANGYing，“Lu Dan’an Ti xiao yin yuan tanci chuangzuo shimo jiqi jiazhi”（The Creation and Values of by Lu Dan’an），（）34，no.3（2017）：41-46.］

Many published editions of，both lengthy fiction and short opening lyrics，made good use of endorsements for promotional purposes.Yu Tingwu郁霆武published his《紅杏出墻》（Red Plum Reaching over the Wall，1935）with photos and calligraphy works of leadingsingers who endorsed the work（Appendix II）.The 1935 edition ofby Lu Dan’an began with multiple advertisements formasters Zhu Yaoxiang 朱耀祥（1894-1969）and Zhao Jiaqiu 趙稼秋（1898-1977），for《金剛鉆月刊》（），a literary journal which frequently published commentaries onperformance andnovels，and for the collection oflyrics authored by Ni Gaofeng 倪高風(fēng).Bothand《倪高風(fēng)開篇集》（Opening Songs by Ni Gaofeng，1934）included endorsements sent in by influential intellectuals，portraits ofcelebrities，even group photos and/or autographs from the entiretroupe光裕社（Brilliant Abundance Guild）.In the process of production and consumption，the successful marriage betweenand the urban market demonstrates the long-standing genre’s commercial value as a textual commodity，paired with a business mindset which sought to include and recast literary traditions.

Making their own way into the newly modernizing space，writers of the new generation eagerly associated their literary production with commercial benefits.Embedded in an urban context and also struggling to maintain the traditional format，theirtexts reflect not only the rapidly changing cities with new life patterns，ideals，and tastes.More importantly，the genre’s transformation transcended native places，gender，and social class in the Jiangnan area，makingmore accessible and more influential.Joining other urban narratives，plays a central role in the cosmopolitan portrait，the luxury experience and the marvelous imagination of the city as oneexclaims，“such a flourishing place，best in the world！”（清）鯽士：《上海吟》，載阿英編《晚清文學(xué)叢鈔·說唱文學(xué)卷》，北京：中華書局，1960年，第47頁。［Ji Shi，“Shanghai yin”（A Song of Shanghai），in（Compilation of Literary Works in Late Qing Dynasty·Drama and Singing Literature Volume），ed.AYing，47.］

Reflections：Gender and Genre in Tanci

The wartime era beginning in the 1940s put an end to the glory offiction.The genre was considered too delicate and distracting for the urgent nationalist call to arms against the Japanese invasion，which was part of masculine nationalist discourse.After 1937，some called on more radical changes to，connecting this genre directly with anti-Japanese themes.On the other hand，according to Ye Shengtao葉圣陶（1894-1988），the decline of fiction was also one of the results of equal education between men and women.童李君：《論〈杜鵑血〉在女作家彈詞史中的地位》，《名作欣賞》2015年第17期，第74頁。［TONG Lijun，“Lun Dujuan xue zai nü zuojia tanci shi de diwei”（The Significance of Cockoo’s Blood among Women-Authored），（）17（2015）：74.］In the 1940s， performances，rather than texts，were used to mobilize the mass.After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China， was frequently used as a form of socialist propaganda.A number of new works were created.By this time， completely returned to its performance form.See discussions in HE Qiliang，（Boston：Brill，2012），1-35；張盛滿：《評彈1949——大變局下的上海說書藝人研究》，北京：商務(wù)印書館，2014年，第205-16頁。［ZHANG Shengman，（Transformation of Storytellers in Shanghai around 1949），Beijing：The Commercial Press，2014，205-16.］Areview of how gentry women before the twentieth century adoptedto express themselves and how later writers（re）appropriated the genre reveals shades of tension and anxiety between gender and genre.Women-authoredfiction could be understood as a non-radical challenge of the male-dominated literary tradition，in which hero shifted to heroine.The genre not only allowed for the rise of women writers，but also for literature’s growing emphasis on feminine subject matter and a feminine point of view.Additionally，creating，reading，and discussingbrought women together，shaping both the physical and intellectual communities among families，friends，and even strangers.

Genre is political，as Fredric Jameson reminds us.Fredric James，（Ithaca，NY：Cornell University Press，1981），66.Beginning in the late nineteenth century，male writers soon noticed this distinguished writing practice by women and its transformational potential.In their engagement with national affairs，privileged late Qing and Republican intellectuals used their cultural influence to assert the authority ofwriting，infusing their compositions with concerns such as reform and revolution.Their attempt to use heroic masculinity to reform“femininity”and regulate the genre indicated an anxiety about their changing society.In the Republican era，many traditions were being reinvented，reinvested，and reassembled.Through its portrayals of emotional torment，despair，domestic exploitation，even erotic fantasy，male-authoredfiction in this period paralleled the sentimental Butterfly literature，known for its old-fashioned sentimentalism.Instead of creating talented，strong，and resourceful heroines established in the women-authoredtradition，writers in the twentieth century promoted male heroism and manipulated sympathy by eliminating the female speaking subject，frequently returning to the stereotypical roles of women characters as passive，submissive，and sacrificing.To give a few examples，《藕絲緣》（Love like a Lotus Root，installment started in 1918）by Cheng Zhanlu tells the story of how a young couple is separated by vicious lies and malicious gossip，highlighting a stereotypical female subjectivity defined by passivity and sentimentality；《鴉鳳緣》（The Story of Opium and Phoenix，1919）by Bao Xingdu包醒獨leaves little space for female agency，exploiting women’s frustration with traditional wifely duties without inspiring any resistance to those duties.In《血淚碑》（Monument of Blood and Tears，1933）by Hu Jichen胡寄塵（1886-1938），violence against women is portrayed in a voyeuristic tone，disguised by the antiwarlord theme.Meanwhile，the newly composedmanipulated the female voice，examining feelings，desires，and lifestyles，as well as defending traditional family values as part of the nationalist narrative.One reader appraised Yu Tingwu’sas being“modern and fashionable in content，educating and alarming in lyrics.”郁霆武：《紅杏出墻》，上海：曼莉書局，1935年，第1頁。［YU Tingwu，（Red Plum Reaching over the Wall），Shanghai：Manli Book Company，1935，1.］This modern melodrama in the traditionalform tells the story of a pitiful female teacher Wang Zhixian who，despite her college education，acts vulnerable and indecisive，taking little control of her own fate.Similarly，Li Dongyue’sreads like an extended lyrical version of a typical melodramatic Butterfly fiction placed within theformat；this love triangle is laced with the modern concept of diaspora migration and has an added exotic touch：a setting in Southeast Asia.Thesenovels ignored women’s confrontation with the traditional family order and reinforced old gender norms in a modern society.By doing so，twentieth-centurywriters evoked readers’sympathy for women’s victimization but paid only lip service.They lost the bold，confident，and challenging voice as found in previous works authored by gentry women.They once again dissembled and sublimated women’s bodies and space into the grand discourse of modernization.

Associated with the domestic sphere，the distinctive aesthetic of feminine detail and the intimate portrayal of women’s lives，which functioned to highlight female identity and test the limits of patriarchal power，gradually vanished in twentieth-century，which focused instead on urban narratives.See the following discussions：HU Siao-chen，“Literary：a Women’s Tradition of the Narrative in Verse，”PhD diss.，Harvard University，1994，272-311；Rey Chow，（Minnesota and London：Univ.of Minnesota Press，1991），84-120；and Naomi Schor，（New York and London：Routledge，2007），147-60.However，the rich and descriptive narrative of feminine detail evolved into formulaic emotions and expressions，or內(nèi)心活動（inner activities），which mainstream intellectuals such as Mao Dun茅盾（1896-1981）defined as a critical feature of modern literature.Rey Chow，，40.The new generation ofwriters made good use of expressive lyrics to demonstrate an emotional display.In，a substantial number of lyrics are devoted to illustrating Wang Zhixian’s complicated feelings and thoughts，before and after her extra-marital affair.In，the dramatic and eloquent description of Taozhi’s affection，pleasure，boredom，and worry parallels the narrative by portraying the many twists and turns of the love triangle using a maze of urban vocabulary.Even Jiang Yingqing’slyrics are beautifully marked with delicate sensibilities.In twentieth-century，fully elaborated emotions that reflect modern lifestyles replaced feminine detail to provide embellishment for a persistently enthusiastic audience.Meanwhile，women’s individual experiences and thoughts were controlled in male-authored.Or，as reflected in Jiang’s opening lyrics，only certain kinds of experiences and feelings were allowed after having been endorsed by her male relatives.

In her study on women-authored romantic novels in the early Republican periodical《眉語》（），Jin-chu Huang argues that“activity and assertiveness could co-exist with passivity and submission.”HUANG Jinchu，“Constituting the Female Subject：Romantic Fiction by Women Authors in Eyebrow Talk.”Ined.Michel Hockx，Joan Judge，and Barbara Mittler（Cambridge：Cambridge University Press，2018），149.Likewise，within the framework of an almost structural discrimination of the genre，both female and malewriters struggled to turn powerlessness into a source of strength，before and after the twentieth century.Both meant to subtly achieve authority by completing literary works，so that they would not be dismissed from the history of Chinese literature.As historian Joan W.Scott claims，gender is“a primary way of signifying relationships of power.”Joan Scott，“Gender：AUseful Category of Historical Analysis，” 9，no.5（1986）：1067.Compared to late imperial women-authoredfiction，which was often exclude from literary canons and often considered potentially challenging and subversive，as both a reading text and on-stage performance played a significant role in a gendered nationalism and market-driven hierarchies in twentieth-century Jiangnan.Similarly，the didacticism，sentimentality，exaggeration，and melodrama inof the twentieth century is not simply a return to the past，nor“merely”entertaining and trivial，but part of the many constructions of modernity other than a single，progressing，and masculine image in the grand historical discourse.