Literati Connoisseurship of Tanci Flower Registers in Late Qing Shanghai

Abstract

Abstract With the flourishment of tanci 彈詞 performance, flower registers (huapu 花譜) that ranked and catalogued female tanci performers began to emerge in late Qing Shanghai. In this article, I treat the writing of flower registers as an act of collecting—a cultural practice of gathering, selecting, and publicizing artistic tastes. Focusing exclusively on the shuyu 書寓 entertainers in huapu discourses, I investigate the dynamics between the shuyu entertainers and the huapu writers: how they competed to (re)define the new ideals in beauty, talent, and virtue. Amid the networks of literati connoisseurship, urban legends, and new business models, female tanci performers were active participants of the huapu writing practice, both catering to literati expectations and subtly changing the rules of the game. By examining the various huapu discourses, I aim to gain a more nuanced reading of gender representation in late Qing Shanghai.