Abstract:

This presentation is part of a larger project on epistolary primers for young readers in Modern China. Taking the output of Guangyi 廣益 (lit. “Numerous Benefits”) Book Company as a vantage point, I examine its epistolary primers both as instructional tools of manners and as lucrative commodities within the historical framework of childhood and consumer culture.

Biography:

Danni CAI 蔡丹妮 (Ph.D., McGill University, 2020) is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the History Department of Hangzhou Normal University, China. She specializes in epistolary studies, the history of women, childhood, and mass education. She has published in international journals, such as the Journal of the American Oriental Society, Journal of Epistolary Studies, Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, and Nan Nü: Men, Women and Gender in China.