Dr. Cass has written a thoroughly enjoyable and informative book about women during the Ming Dynasty in China. Most important, she demonstrates with a wide range of historical examples that there is much more to Chinese history and culture than its Confucian legacy. Aside from eliminating the China doll myth, Dr. Cass shows that there is a facet to Chinese civilization that is still connected to the earth, magic, and more feminine worldview. Moreover, Dr. Cass makes the case that you can not truly understand Chinese society without appreciating the crucial role that Chinese women, who found genuine means of self-empowerment (including shamanism), played in the world of the Ming.