This book is an engagingly written critical genealogy of the idea of “love” in modern Chinese literature, thought, and popular culture. It examines a wide range of texts, including literary, historical, philosophical, anthropological, and popular cultural genres from the late imperial period to the beginning of the socialist era. It traces the process by which love became an all-pervasive subject of representation and discourse, as well as a common language in which modern notions of self, gender, family, sexuality, and nation were imagined and contested.

Dr Lee earned her BA from Beijing University, China; MA from University of Chicago and PhD from Cornell University in 2002. She has taught in University of Colorado, University of Hong Kong. Currently She is a assistant professor in the Asian department at Stanford University.