List of Tables -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- List of Abbreviations -- Chapter One Introduction: Gender and the Model Works -- The Cultural Revolution and the Yangbanxi -- Origins of the Yangbanxi -- Ideological Foundations of the Yangbanxi -- Chinese Language Scholarship on the Yangbanxi -- English Language Scholarship on the Yangbanxi -- Research on Gender in the Cultural Revolution -- On the Masculinisation of Women and the Erasure of Femininity -- Semiotics of the Theatre as a Tool for Gender Analysis of the Yangbanxi -- Story Synopses: -- The Red Lantern (Hong deng ji) -- Shajiabang -- Chapter Two Role Assignment and Gender: Resetting the Paradigms -- The Role Distribution of the Central Heroic Characters -- Linguistic Systems -- Props -- Kinesics: Facial Mime, Gesture, Movement -- Music: Vocal Techniques -- Makeup, Hairstyles and Costumes -- Subverting Tradition Through Radicalized Conservatism -- Concluding Remarks -- Story Synopses: -- Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy (Zhi qu weihu shan) -- Raid on White Tiger Regiment (Qixi Baihutuan) -- Chapter Three Costume in the Yangbanxi: Gendering the Revolutionary Body -- Fashion Theory and the Yangbanxi: Some Theoretical Issues -- Bodies and Faces -- Hair and Female Beauty -- Costume -- Costume Fabrics and Designs -- Concluding Remarks -- Story Synopses: -- On the Docks (Haigang) -- The Red Detachment of Women (Hongse niangzi jun) -- Chapter Four Gender and the Kinesics of Yangbanxi Ballet -- The Classical Ballet Tradition -- The Yangbanxi Ballets -- Gender in Dance Performance: a Methodology for Analysis -- Yangbanxi Ballet Kinetic Analysis -- Roles and Individual Dance Movements -- Interactive Dance Movement -- On Bodies and Sensuality -- Concluding Remarks -- Story Synopses: -- The White-haired Girl (Baimao nü) -- Song of the Dragon River (Long jiang song).

Chapter Five Feminising Leadership in Song of the Dragon River -- The Creation of Song of the Dragon River -- Major Characters and the Plot of Song of the Dragon River -- Semiotic Systems and Codes for Analysis -- Femininity, Masculinity and Leadership in Maoist Culture -- Hairstyle and Costume -- Verbal Linguistic Systems -- Gender Differences in Relationship Management -- Non-Verbal Language Systems -- Props -- Sexuality, Motherhood and Female Leadership in a Masculine Environment -- Conclusions: Female Leadership and the Yangbanxi -- Story Synopses: -- Azalea Mountain (Dujuan shan) -- Fighting on the Plains (Pingyuan zuozhan) -- Chapter Six The Yangbanxi Heroine and the Historical Tradition of the Chinese Woman Warrior -- The Woman Warrior in Chinese Historical Records and Traditional Culture -- Mulan as a Model for Women in the Twentieth Century -- Gender, Sexuality and the Woman Warrior -- Women Warriors of the Yangbanxi -- The Cultural Model and Gendered Audience Response -- Story Synopses: -- Boulder Bay (Panshi wan) -- Ode to Yimeng (Yimeng song)-ballet Red Cloud Ridge (Hong yungang) or Red Sister (Hong sao)-Beijing Opera -- Sons and Daughters of the Grasslands (Caoyuan er nü) -- Chapter Seven Gendering the Counter-Revolution: The Feminisation of Villainy -- Symbolic Gendering through Yin-Yang Symbolism -- Cultural Attitudes to Homosexuality in Chinese Culture -- Negative Stereotypes of Homosexual Males in Theatre and Film -- Visual and Aural (Ef )feminisation of the Counter-Revolution -- Hair -- Vocal Feminisation -- Costume -- Kinesics and Proxemics -- The Gendering of Personal Qualities of the Yangbanxi Villains -- Conclusions -- Chapter Eight The Yangbanxi and Gender Identities in Post-Maoist China -- Bibliography -- Yangbanxi Filmography -- Index.