UCLA

This article illustrates the masculine ideal of wenren or poet scholar exemplified by Xu Zhimo, a Chinese poet who appears as a bicultural literary vanguard adored by both British and Chinese intellectuals in Pang-Mei Natasha Chang's "Bound Feet and Western Dress" and as Pearl Buck's romantic soul mate and lover in Anchee Min's "Pearl of China." His allure can be traced to his cultural hybridity, spirited personality, intellectual generosity, and the ability to draw together a literary community. This paper also revives a matching feminine ideal, epitomized by the brilliant women of letters to whom Xu is irresistibly attracted.