"Pioneering and extremely important: it offers insights into the regional diversities of the Han Chinese culture and the relationship between local and the pan-Chinese culture … McLaren’s study shows, however, that labouring songs are also a type of 'ritual technology' that provides a meaningful framework for collective action by coordinating the organization of communal labour. Moreover, these agricultural songs contain rich imageries of sexuality and women’s fertility and possess sacred power that is supposed to make the crops grow and invoke good harvest … Private love affairs are another important dimension of shange in Lake Tai … McLaren provides a very convincing analysis … With its lucid writing style and the diverse topics treated, this book can be used for college courses on Chinese and comparative literature, Chinese social history, Chinese cultural studies, Chinese gender studies and folklore studies. It should also appeal to general readers interested in world literature and folk culture." —The China Quarterly
“Utilizing a cross-disciplinary methodology, McLaren investigates both the oral and the written transmissions of folk songs mainly performed in the Wu dialects, charting the historical metamorphosis of regional folk voices that express romantic, sexual, gendered, and social sentiments across significant historical eras. The book contributes to Chinese literary and cultural studies by bringing scholarly attention to the traditionally neglected topic of ethnic Han folk epics…In studying both the textual and aesthetic features and the social life of regional folk songs, this book presents itself as a valuable source to scholars interested in Chinese regional cultures and will contribute to any Chinese and Asian culture classroom that seeks to engage students in the rich intersections of oral literature, performance, and the social function of the ‘text.’…The dual function of the rice paddy as both a place of labor (farming work) and a place of sexual imagination plays itself out in the following chapters of the book…Showcasing a wide range of local variations in the song traditions, the author depicts the seductions and attractions… [and] transgressive sexual liaisons that threaten the stability and honor of the family unit…presents wide-ranging materials and a plethora of perspectives across different historical periods to engage the reader…It is an inspiring volume that invites the reader to examine the tensions between the elite and the folk, the personal and the public, and love and morality, all of which are long-lasting themes in the study of literature and culture.” —Journal of Asian Studies
"An amply and meticulously documented study ... of some forty songs of up to ten-thousand lines or more, which, presumably, have circulated among rural villagers in Jiangnan for one or more centuries, but only began to be noticed by the academic world in the final decades of the twentieth century. The songs provide a rich and varied impression of the mental world of farmers and villagers in the hinterland of Shanghai. Most of the lyrics relate private (mostly tragic) love affairs, but they evoke a much wider context of traditional life in the lower Yangzi delta, sacred and secular rituals, tales of heroes and rebels, and the deep-rooted desires and fears of generations of ordinary people living in this area. The book carefully examines the role of memory in these texts, and how it has played a crucial part in forging local identities. ... McLaren has focused as much as possible on original transcripts of individual singers, to avoid the pitfalls of hybridized versions compiled by folklorists from multiple sources. ... McLaren has also thoughtfully embedded her research in present-day theorizing and new insights in ethnography and orality, which adds to the value of the book without making its style unnecessarily dense. The author writes in clear and easily accessible language, which makes this book attractive not just for scholars but also for a wider audience, basically for anyone who is interested in China’s regional cultures. And there is much to enjoy this book, which opens up a little explored but crucially imported chapter in the vast pantheon of Chinese culture. ... McLaren emphasizes the great importance of regional language and culture: it constitutes so much of what determines the mindset and essence of people living in China: not any presumed ‘national’ heritage, shared by all and everyone, but the regional expressions, thoughts and beliefs, as embedded in local landscapes, local conditions and social habits can tell us what people in China really care about, and identify with." —Frank Kouwenhoven, Chief Editor of CHIME journal, European Foundation for Chinese Music Research
“This book provides a clearly written introduction to and study of an important tradition of Chinese folk epic. It is the first in-depth Western-language monograph on the long narrative ‘mountain songs’ from the Wu-dialect area around Lake Taihu. As such, it is an important contribution to the study of Chinese folk literature and regional culture. It should appeal to all lovers of Chinese and comparative literature. The topics treated in the songs should also be of interest to students of Chinese (and comparative) religion, Chinese social history, and Chinese gender studies. The book’s clear style makes it accessible to undergraduate students.” —Wilt L. Idema, Harvard University
"This is the first major English-language study to examine a local Han epic tradition. These folk epics of the lower Yangzi delta were only 'discovered' in the late twentieth century, making this work extremely valuable. McLaren’s focus on texts sung by individual singers brings the texture of her translations of the epics closer to the experience of hearing them as orally performed. In addition, McLaren does a good job of comparing various versions of each epic, further highlighting their emergent quality in performance. McLaren does an excellent job of giving us a picture of the sociohistorical contexts surrounding these epics, and tying all of those quotidian contexts to the symbolically powerful metaphor and lived experience of rice cultivation. The epics as translated and interpreted by McLaren offer an intimate view into the quotidian life, desires, and fears experienced by people over several generations in the lower Yangzi delta. We not only see sacred and secular songs and tales of culture heroes and rebel leaders but also amorous encounters and the subsequent tragedies to which they led. The book and selections from it could be used in college courses introducing Chinese cultural studies, traditional Chinese culture, regional traditions in China, comparative world epics, Chinese folk beliefs and/or comparative folk beliefs, as well as courses on East Asian oral traditions. It is quite accessible—there is something in it both for scholars and more general audiences." —Levi S. Gibbs, Dartmouth College
