Acknowledgments
This book is a thoroughly revised and expanded version of my doctoral dissertation at Harvard University. My greatest intellectual debt is owed to David Der-wei Wang, my Ph.D. advisor and lifetime mentor. Since the inception of this project, Professor Wang has guided me with his insightful theoretical vision and sincere passion for modern Chinese literature. I am also thankful for my dissertation supervising committee members, Wilt L. Idema and Eileen Cheng-yin Chow. Their valuable advice helped me shape the original idea and structure of this project. In the end, this book would not have been completed without the consistent encouragement of William Tay. I met Professor Tay after I moved to Hong Kong in 2011, and I have benefited greatly from his wisdom and erudition.
I thank Tam King-Fai and Ellen McGill for their dedicated editing of the first draft of the book. I am most indebted to the professional editorial assistance of Gene McGarry, who not only read different versions of my manuscript with extreme carefulness but also offered insightful suggestions regarding the coherence of this book. I also wish to thank Brill’s editors and anonymous readers for their constructive comments, which have greatly helped to enhance the overall argument of this work.
The completion of this book was made possible by the generous support of several institutions, including Harvard-Yenching Library, Nanjing University Library, and Lingnan University Library. I am grateful for the assistance I received during the revision stage in the form of a Faculty Research Grant from Lingnan University and a grant from the General Research Fund of the Research Grants Council of HKSAR Government. Needless to say, I thank all my wonderful colleagues at Lingnan University, whose encouragement and thoughtfulness have been the most valuable asset during my research.
Finally, my deepest gratitude is to my family. I dedicate this book to my parents, my husband Zhu Wei, and my son Bruce, whose love and care have accompanied me throughout this writing journey.