TRANSLATOR’S NOTE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In the novel, single women are called “Miss,” and married women “Madame.” In China women do not take their husband’s name upon marriage; husband and wife therefore do not have the same surname.

I would like to express my gratitude to Brigitte Baptandier, who went over my translation with a fine-toothed comb, finding many errors and clearing up many misunderstandings, and to Mark Edward Lewis, who initiated this translation project (including that of the earlier monograph on this subject, Baptandier’s The Lady of Linshui: A Chinese Female Cult) in order to use this material in his teaching. He also suggested many changes to the translation and helped with preparation of the manuscript. Furthermore, I would like to thank Tian Huan, who first read through the text with me, clarifying many puzzling issues; and Zhu Ke, who knew the meaning of “snail birth.”

I would like to thank Lorri Hagman and her very efficient team at the University of Washington Press. It has been a great pleasure to work with them. I would also like to thank Nicholas Taylor for his meticulous copyediting.