Dorothy Ko's Teacher's of the Inner Chambers

I finished reading Dorothy Ko's book Teacher's of the Inner Chambers a couple weeks ago but have not had the time yet to sit and write about it. It's hard. I'm not sure what to say. I really really enjoyed it. It was a fascinating look at women's literacy in 17th century China. A movement that is often completely ignored or forgotten and many people simply does not know existed.

Ko looks at a very small and select section of the gentry class wives, and daughters who are educated, write poetry collections, commentaries and essays and histories. Not only did these women write, but they were also popular published authors. Women were allowed to be teachers in this society as if anything happened to their husbands it was looked upon as their duties to educate their sons.

There are a high number of young women, teenagers, who become obsessed with the idea of love in this book and frequently end up committing suicide rather than face life without that love. Very interesting and reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, written just a few decades earlier across the world.

There were cross-dressing women author's who made their living through their writings, supporting their husbands, visiting courtesans. For some reason despite this Ko seemed reluctant to discuss any possible lesbian implications from such behaviors. My one complaint with the book.

There were so many interesting ideas and stories in this book, now weeks later I still haven't absorbed them all, and think I shall have to go back when I have the time and read this again. Very good book, very interesting, and I'm too sick to write intelligently about it yet!