Theorising Chinese Masculinity: Society and Gender in China

This book is a comprehensive analysis of Chinese masculinity. While there is a vast Eurocentric scholarship on gender and sexuality, there has been little work addressing these issues within the Chinese context. Kam Louie uses the concepts of wen (cultural attainment) and wu (martial valour) to explain attitudes to masculinity. This revises most Western analyses of Asian masculinity that rely on the yin-yang binary. Examining classical and contemporary Chinese literature and film, the book also looks at the Chinese diaspora to consider Chinese masculinity within and outside China. Its use of a largely indigenous framework to analyse Chinese masculinity makes it an exciting addition to this burgeoning field.