| Lithographs A Prosperous City that Never Sleeps and Moon Over Huangpu River, were created by 20th century Chinese artist Yuan Xiutang in the 1930s. These lithographic prints portray young Chinese women wearing non-traditional clothing. They wear short permed hair and lipstick, while their hands appear to be manicured. These reflect the iconic fashions of the 1930s. This fashionable style also visually defined China's "Modern Girl." In China, the Modern Girl marks women's social transition in the years between the imperial and republican eras. In Europe and the United States, the modern girl was a look and identity that young women adopted to demonstrate their modernity. For western women, this look helped to separate the new generation from their Victorian parents. Similarly, for Chinese women, this look separated them from previous Confucian generations. The Modern Girl was a look, an identity, and an image. Around the world, this look identified new generations of women as independent, free spirited, and decidedly modern. But in China, being modern was also understood in terms of being "western." This paper examines the visual culture of early 20th century Shanghai to analyze the tensions between Chinese traditions and modernity in images of the Modern Girl. |
