Public Passions
Douban
The Trial of Shi Jianqiao and the Rise of Popular Sympathy in Republican China
Eugenia Y. Lean
résumé
In 1935, a Chinese woman by the name of Shi Jianqiao murdered the notorious warlord Sun Chuanfang as he prayed in a Buddhist temple. This riveting work of history examines this well-publicized crime and the highly sensationalized trial of the killer. In a fascinating investigation of the media, political, and judicial records surrounding this cause célèbre, Eugenia Lean shows how Shi Jianqiao planned not only to avenge the death of her father, but also to attract media attention and galvanize public support. Lean traces the rise of a new sentiment--"public sympathy"--in early twentieth-century China, a sentiment that ultimately served to exonerate the assassin. The book sheds new light on the political significance of emotions, the powerful influence of sensational media, modern law in China, and the gendered nature of modernity.
contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgmets
Introduction
1. The Assassin and Her Revenge: A Tale of Moral Heroism and Female Self-Fashioning in an Age of Mass Communication
2. Media Sensation: Public Justice and the Sympathy of an Urban Audience
3. Highbrow Ambivalence: Fear of the Masses and Feminized Sentiment
4. The Trial: Courtroom Spectacle and Ethical Sentiment in the Rule of Law
5. A State Pardon: Sanctioned Violence under Nationalist Rule
6. Beyond the 1930s: From Wartime Patriotism to Counter-Revolutionary Sentiment
Conclusion
