Table of Contents

Illustrations

Note on Romanization

Preface: An Invitation to Explore the City

1 Introduction: The City in Modern Chinese Cultural History

2 Urban Configurations: Small Town, Ancient Capital, Modern Metropolis

3 Mapping the Ancient Capital of Beijing

4 The Symbolic Triumph of Chinese Tradition in Beijing

5 Reading the Illegible Metropolis of Shanghai

6 The Circulation of Temporality and Eroticism in Shanghai

7 Imagining the Modern Woman in Shanghai

8 The Female Visions of the Modern City

Afterword: A Perspective on Modern Chinese Literary History