Love in a Fallen City

During the Republic of China, expectations of women changed rapidly. Love in a Fallen City focuses on expectations placed on middle- and upper-class women during this era. Where once these women were only expected to get married and have children, in the new era they were encouraged to get an education, pursue a career, express themselves, and act independently. However, traditional patriarchal views of women persisted. A woman who was too sexually forward with men stood to lose her reputation, and there was still pressure to get married. In Love in a Fallen City, women are forced to navigate these changing, highly varied sets of expectations.

One of the clearest examples of the Expectations of Women in the Republic of China is seen in the novella “Aloeswood Incense.” In the story, Madame Liang has earned her wealth and independence by providing sexual favors to wealthy men. While her family is estranged from her for being the concubine of a wealthy man, this relationship was enacted through traditionally accepted structures of concubinage, so she is not excluded from wider society and even hosts members of the Catholic clergy at her garden party. However, the younger Ge Weilong is in a more precarious situation. She initially intends to pursue her studies. Eventually, though, she becomes persuaded that she can have more wealth and, crucially, sexual and romantic satisfaction by pursuing a role as a sex worker herself. As the housemaid Glint points out, “‘[W]hat is the point of graduating? […] [U]niversity graduates can’t find work anyway! […] It’s really not worth it! (34).’” Weilong’s decision to work as an escort leaves her more vulnerable than her aunt because she is not officially a concubine but instead in thrall to her aunt and her husband.

Women and their families’ shifting attitudes toward education illustrate the evolving roles and aspirations of women in early 20th-century Chinese society. While Weilong chooses to end her education, women in the collection’s other short stories and novellas continue their studies, though to varying ends. For example, Wu Cuiyuan comes from a modern family that has encouraged her to pursue her studies rather than get married. She is successful in meeting these expectations by becoming a university educator in her twenties, “set[ting] a new record for women’s professional achievement” (241). However, her parents regret her decision to pursue studies instead of romance, and “now they [wish] that she had […] worked harder at getting them a wealthy son-in-law” (241). Not all of the female characters regret or abandon their studies, however. In “Jasmine Tea,” the pretty and popular Yan Danzhu does well in school and seems to enjoy it. She persistently turns away the attention of men to focus on her studies, and her father appears to support her in this decision, even allowing her to take his class. Her joy in learning is contrasted by the experience of Nie Chuanqing’s mother, whose conservative family did not allow her to formally study with Yan Danzhu’s father, Professor Yan. The varied experiences of female characters in the collection highlight the complex interplay between societal expectations, familial pressures, and individual agency in shaping women's educational and social possibilities in Republican-era China.