The special focus of this book is the lives and experiences of women in China in the first half of the 20th century. It looks at the historical role of women in a time of great social and economic upheaval and presents the views of women themselves through essays and autobiographies.

Li Yu-ning received her Ph.D. in history from Columbia University. She has edited several volumes on Chinese women's history, including Autobiographical Writings and Poems by Modem Chinese Women, and co-edited Documents on Women's Movement in Modern China and Collected Essays on the History of Chinese Women (all in Chinese). She is the author of numerous articles in both English and Chinese on women in Chinese history. Professor Li has been the editor of Chinese Studies in History (published by M. E. Sharpe) since 1967, is a past president of the Historical Society for Twentieth Century China, and was awarded an Outstanding Faculty Medal by St. John's University, where she has been teaching Chinese history since 1973.

Preface and Acknowledgments; Introduction, Yu-ning Li; Part 1 Historical Interpretations; Chapter 1 Women's Place in Chinese History, Shih Hu; Chapter 2 Female Rulers in Ancient China, Lien-sheng Yang; Chapter 3 Feminist Thought in Ancient China, Yü-t'ang Lin; Chapter 4 Influences of Foreign Cultures on the Chinese Woman, Heng-che Ch'en; Chapter 5 The Chinese Woman Past and Present, Pao-sun Tseng; Chapter 6 Chinese Women's Fight for Freedom, Ch'ing-ling Sung; Chapter 7 Historical Roots of Changes in Women's Status in Modern China, Yu-ning Li; Part 2 Self-Portraits of Women in Modern China; Chapter 8 Opposition to Footbinding, Mo-chün Chang; Chapter 9 Remembrances of an Elderly Aunt, Heng-che Ch'en; Chapter 10 When I Learned How to Cook, Hsiang-ning Ho; Chapter 11 Remembrances of the May Fourth Movement, Ying-ch'ao Teng; Chapter 12 The Family Prison, Ping-ying Hsieh; Chapter 13 My Escape from Hardship to a Free Life, Hsiu-ying; Chapter 14 Sorrows of a Factory Worker, Lan Lu; Chapter 15 A Village Schoolteacher, l-hsing Fu; Chapter 16 Scientific Entrepreneurship, Hung-ying; Chapter 17 Struggling Against Discrimination in Business; Chapter 18 Shen-shen, Hsiang-ts'un; Chapter 19 Problems Confronting an Ideal Couple, Ah-jung; Chapter 20 Mother's Books, Ch'i-chün P'an; Chapter 21 Why I Part ed with Tang Na, Ch'ing Chiang; Chapter 22 My Life in the Imperial Palace, Yü-ch'in Li; Chapter 23 A Young Nurse in Manchuria, Hsueh-chao Ch'en;