Stephen J. Roddy is Assistant Professor of Chinese and Japanese at the University of San Francisco.

"What makes this book so outstanding is that unlike the plethora of books that talk in generalities about 'the literati' as an undifferentiated group, Roddy disaggregates the literati, discussing the recognized literati vocations in turn and making clear that literati at different social levels were differently situated in terms of their ability to realize the potential of each vocation. Roddy is rare among scholars of Ming and Qing fiction in combining analysis of literati novels with this sort of responsible historical scholarship." -Katherine Carlitz,University of Pittsburgh

• Introduction; Part I. The Image of the Literati in Qing Discourse: 1. Literati identity and the Qing epistemological crisis; 2. Discourses of the literati and the literati in discourse; 3. The intellectual milieus of three novelists; Part II. The Deconstruction of Literati Identity in Rulin Waishi: 4. Scholars, poets, painters and essayists; 5. The decline of literati mores; 6. The use and abuse of ritual; Part III. Fictional Reconstruction of Literati Identity: 7. Yesou Puyan: a Confucian-feminist utopia?; 8. The philological musings of Jinghua Yuan; Conclusion; Appendix; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Stephen J. Roddy is Assistant Professor of Chinese and Japanese at the University of San Francisco.

"What makes this book so outstanding is that unlike the plethora of books that talk in generalities about 'the literati' as an undifferentiated group, Roddy disaggregates the literati, discussing the recognized literati vocations in turn and making clear that literati at different social levels were differently situated in terms of their ability to realize the potential of each vocation. Roddy is rare among scholars of Ming and Qing fiction in combining analysis of literati novels with this sort of responsible historical scholarship." -Katherine Carlitz,University of Pittsburgh

• Introduction; Part I. The Image of the Literati in Qing Discourse: 1. Literati identity and the Qing epistemological crisis; 2. Discourses of the literati and the literati in discourse; 3. The intellectual milieus of three novelists; Part II. The Deconstruction of Literati Identity in Rulin Waishi: 4. Scholars, poets, painters and essayists; 5. The decline of literati mores; 6. The use and abuse of ritual; Part III. Fictional Reconstruction of Literati Identity: 7. Yesou Puyan: a Confucian-feminist utopia?; 8. The philological musings of Jinghua Yuan; Conclusion; Appendix; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Stephen J. Roddy is Assistant Professor of Chinese and Japanese at the University of San Francisco.

"What makes this book so outstanding is that unlike the plethora of books that talk in generalities about 'the literati' as an undifferentiated group, Roddy disaggregates the literati, discussing the recognized literati vocations in turn and making clear that literati at different social levels were differently situated in terms of their ability to realize the potential of each vocation. Roddy is rare among scholars of Ming and Qing fiction in combining analysis of literati novels with this sort of responsible historical scholarship." -Katherine Carlitz,University of Pittsburgh

• Introduction; Part I. The Image of the Literati in Qing Discourse: 1. Literati identity and the Qing epistemological crisis; 2. Discourses of the literati and the literati in discourse; 3. The intellectual milieus of three novelists; Part II. The Deconstruction of Literati Identity in Rulin Waishi: 4. Scholars, poets, painters and essayists; 5. The decline of literati mores; 6. The use and abuse of ritual; Part III. Fictional Reconstruction of Literati Identity: 7. Yesou Puyan: a Confucian-feminist utopia?; 8. The philological musings of Jinghua Yuan; Conclusion; Appendix; Notes; Bibliography; Index.