Staring at horsewomen: Chinese literati in Manchuria and their narratives of Self and Other

Wu Zhenchen and Wang Yiyuan were gifted writers, and both spent about twenty years in Manchuria. Their vivid sketches of local life contain information on languages, habits, customs, and activities as well as the character and psychology of local ethnicities and constituencies. They also pay much attention to both the social diversity and the cultural blending that was taking place. Their descriptions of the Manchus, the New Manchus, the Chinese, bannermen and commoners, soldiers and exiles, reflect their particular perception of the Other and how this part of their life redefined their perception of the Self.