(no subject)

[oyceter]

Good things about my job:

Someone must have taken some class on the history of Asian-Americans, because they just sold their books to us. The boss was going to turn a few away because they had been slightly highlighted, then noticed I was very interested in one book on Chinese prostitution in early San Francisco, and drew my attention to those. Ha, five dollars! Then employee discount ^_^.

I feel kind of bad that I was an East Asian Studies major and know almost nothing about this stretch of history -- mostly I did Japanese pop culture and ancient Chinese history (and pre-modern Japanese history, 1600-on). Plus, prostitution.

Sexual history/politics really interests me. And it'll be nice to know about this in addition to Japanese hostesses and the geisha and Yoshiwara.

Now I need to find something on Chinese prostitutes/courtesans in pre-modern China!

Comments

[deevalish.livejournal.com]

I haven't read a whole lot on Chinese prostitutes/courtesans. The little I do know is from day camp when I was 13. We had day camp at Cameron House in SF's Chinatown. The founder, Donaldina Cameron, routinely hid Chinese women from their madams or brothel owners.

Have you read A Thousand Pieces of Gold? I first read it in high school and found it to be an interesting read on one woman's tale of being sold as a girl into servitude and her path to freedom.

I've read some of Liza dalby's work and she comes across as too enamored with geisha. I really did like Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, too. I've mostly read a lot of murder/intrigue stories set in feudal Japan or China with twists in history, AU, I suppose. And more often than not one of the main characters or larger supporting characters will be a prostitute/courtesan.

[oyceter]

Oo, I haven't... I will have to look that up!

I read one of the murder/intrigue in feudal Japan type books (Laura Joh Rowland I think?) and didn't particularly like it -- felt too much in the Shogun vein of books for me, heh.

If you read A Thousand Pieces fo Gold

[deevalish.livejournal.com]

You might want to try and check out the documentary. I'm trying to recall it but the brain is not cooperating, the woman only died up until recently, in the last 20 years, I think. She lived to be pretty old. I'll try to google it and get back to you on it.

Laura Joh Rowland. Read a couple of those books. Definitley Shogun-style. Too much delving into the The Way of the Sword.

[deevalish.livejournal.com]

After looking around a bit, and reading a couple of things on it, I realize now that it's not "A thousand...it's "Thousand". It's by Ruthanne somebody somebody not Yen Mah. And also, because my brain is getitng old, the writing is not stellar. But the story itself is good. The documentary was much better. Nto sure how hard it would be to view it though. Sorry about the misinformation.

[oyceter]

Hee, no problem ^_^. But thanks for the info!