Gender fluidity of Chinese women in Qing China: Translating and interpreting Jiamu in Honglou meng

Abstract

This study mainly probes into the image of Jiamu in the two major translations of Honglou meng --- David Hawkes’ and Yang Xianyi’s versions. Some representative critiques on Jiamu are also included in the discussion. It reveals that Hawkes’ translation and certain critiques betray an implicit or explicit influence of Western feminism in the sense that the gender system represented in those interpretations seems to impose a relatively static gender identity on Jiamu. Those interpretations of Jiamu throw some light upon the stance of gender binary of Western feminism and reflect the distinctiveness of gender relationships in Qing China when Jiamu not only enjoyed flexibilities in her gender roles but also consciously crossed gender boundaries and gained her subjectivity from entering into male domains. Therefore, this study hopes to lead to discussions over the special gender role of females and gender relationships in China and the limitation of Western feminist understanding of Chinese women.