This volume contains over 250 biographies of women active from 1912 until 1990, although many of the biographies include information current to 2000. In addition to biographies of internationally famous Chinese women, the editor was also able to include a far greater range of women than would have been previously possible because of the enormous amount of historical material and scholarly research that has become available in the last few decades.
These are Chinese women who have forged careers as scientists, businesswomen, sportswomen, and military officers appearing alongside writers, academics, revolutionary heroines, politicians, musicians, opera stars, film stars, artists, educators, nuns, and traditional good wives, as well as women from minority nationalities. They include women from Mainland China and Taiwan as well as those of Chinese descent who were born overseas. More than eighty authors and translators from around the world have contributed to this impressive and indispensable scholarly undertaking.
