Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women

The second volume in this distinguished series contains some 250 biographies of women active from 1912 until 1990, although many of the biographies contain information current to the year 2000. While the volume includes biographies of such internationally famous Chinese women as the Soong sisters, Lu Gwei-Djen, Jiang Qing, Han Suyin, Anna Chennault, Deng Yingchao, and Ding Ling, because of the enormous amount of historical material and scholarly research that has become available in the last few decades the editor was also able to include a greater range of women than would have been previously possible. These are Chinese women who have forged careers as scientists, businesswomen, sportswomen, and military officers appearing alongside writers, academics, revolutionary heroines, politicians, musicians, opera stars, film stars, artists, educators, nuns and traditional good wives. Also included are women from minority nationalities.

Casting a wide net, the editor includes biographies of women from mainland China and Taiwan as well as those of Chinese descent who were born overseas, including famous Americans like Maxine Hong Kingston. More than eighty authors and translators from all over the world have contributed to this indispensable and impressive scholarly undertaking.

Lily Xiao Hong Lee was born in Jiangxi, China, and after 1949 lived in Hong Kong, British Malaya, Singapore, and the United States before Moving to Australia in 1971. She became the Oriental Librarian of the University of Sydney, and although by then mother to four children, she completed her PhD and became lecturer in the School of Asian Studies. In the meantime, she has produced two books and numerous research papers and journal articles on Chinese women and the literature of the Wei-Jin period. A. D. Stefanowska was until recently senior lecturer at the University of Sydney where she taught Classical Chinese for 30 Years. She is currently honorary research associate at that University. Since 1984 she has been editor of the Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia and, since 1988, co-editor of the University of Sydney East Asian Series. Her current research interest is the literature of the Sung Dynasty.