Shanghai Love – Courtesans, Intellectuals, and Entertainment Culture, 1850–1910

Shanghai LoveCourtesans, Intellectuals, and Entertainment Culture, 1850-1910\nAuthor(s): Catherine Yeh\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: University of Washington Press, United States\nImprint: University of Washington Press\nISBN-13: 9780295985671, 978-0295985671\nSynopsis\nIn this fascinating book, Catherine Yeh explores the Shanghai entertainment world at the close of the Qing dynasty. Established in the 1850s outside of the old walled city, the Shanghai Foreign Settlements were administered by Westerners and so were not subject to the strict authority of the Chinese government. At the center of the dynamic new culture that emerged was the courtesan, whose flamboyant public lifestyle and conspicuous consumption of modern goods set a style that was emulated by other women as they emerged from the \""inner quarters\"" of traditional Chinese society.\n\nMany Chinese visitors and sojourners were drawn to the Foreign Settlements. Men of letters seeking a living outside of the government burea.