This book examines one of the most potent images in traditional China: the femme fatale, a beautiful woman whose sexual dominance leads to the destruction of her family and society at large. These stories were written to meet the needs of a significant literate class that emerged with the growth of towns in the Ming period. The stories are entertaining and at times risqué and raunchy. This is the first published anthology of Chinese femme-fatale stories, because previous anthologies have been devoted to "virtuous" women.

This book examines one of the most potent images in traditional China: the femme fatale, a beautiful woman whose sexual dominance leads to the destruction of her family and society at large. These stories were written to meet the needs of a significant literate class that emerged with the growth of towns in the Ming period. The stories are entertaining and at times risqué and raunchy. This is the first published anthology of Chinese femme-fatale stories, because previous anthologies have been devoted to "virtuous" women.

These essays trace the femme fatale across literature, visual culture and cinema, exploring the ways in which fatal femininity has been imagined in different cultural contexts and historical epochs, and moving from mythical women such as Eve, Medusa and the Sirens via historical figures such as Mata Hari to fatal women in contemporary cinema.

Commemorating twenty years of manga, FEMME FATALE showcases of all of the full color artwork from New York Time's Best Selling artist Shuzo Oshimi. Featuring cover art, posters, promotional materials and never before translated comics, this is a definitive compilation of character art from one of the best known manga artists in the 21st Century. Concept art and promotional illustrations from FLOWERS OF EVIL, INSIDE MARI, DRIFTING NET CAFE and BLOOD ON THE RAILS are also included giving readers a deeper look into Oshimi's processes and artistic mind. This collection also includes dozens of never before published in English comic pages that are a must have for Oshimi completionists.

Determined to broaden her cultural horizons and live a “fiery” life, twenty-one-year-old Rachel DeWoskin hops on a plane to Beijing to work for an American PR firm based in the busy capital. Before she knows it, she is not just exploring Chinese culture but also creating it as the sexy, aggressive, fearless Jiexi, the starring femme fatale in a wildly successful Chinese soap opera. Experiencing the cultural clashes in real life while performing a fictional version onscreen, DeWoskin forms a group of friends with whom she witnesses the vast changes sweeping through China as the country pursues the new maxim, “to get rich is glorious.” In only a few years, China’s capital is transformed. With “considerable cultural and linguistic resources” (The New Yorker), DeWoskin captures Beijing at this pivotal juncture in her “intelligent, funny memoir” (People), and “readers will feel lucky to have sharp-eyed, yet sisterly, DeWoskin sitting in the driver’s seat”(Elle).

For centuries the Chinese referred to their fiction as xiaoshuo, etymologically meaning roadside gossip or small talk, and held it in relative disregard.

Chantefables were popular verse narratives performed by storytellers in late imperial China. This study deals with fifteenth century chantefables, their publishers and readers, their festive, kinship and performative context, and their significance in the emergence of vernacular print in China.