Associate Professor Peng Xu from the Institute of Humanities at ShanghaiTech University has published a new monograph, The Courtesan’s Memory, Voice, and Late Ming Drama, with the University of Michigan Press (2025).
This landmark study offers an interdisciplinary history of sound, performance, and female agency in Chinese theater. By centering on courtesans as key agents of theatrical creativity, the book redefines the cultural role of women in late Ming literature and performance. The publication has garnered endorsements from leading international scholars, including Professor Ling Hon Lam (University of California, Berkeley), Professor Morris Rossabi (Columbia University), and Professor Stephen H. West (Arizona State University). “Xu’s mastery,” Professor West states, “not only of the literary canon, but also of the elements of music and song, shines through this work from beginning to end.”
Following the publication, Xu has been invited to deliver lectures at several prestigious institutions in the coming October, a reflection of Xu’s growing international recognition. The talks will introduce international audiences to Xu’s new monograph and her latest research on performance, intermediality, and women’s poetic voices in early modern East Asia.