Proceedings of the 2025 11th International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research（ICHSSR 2025)

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The Evolution of Female Characters in Chinese Ghost Stories: A Case Study of “Nie Xiaoqian” and “Painted Skin”

Authors
Ruoqi Kan1, *
1Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, Hong Kong, 999077, China
*Corresponding author. Email: kanruoqi@163.com
Corresponding Author
Ruoqi Kan
Available Online 10 July 2025.
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-440-2_112How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Film; Feminism; Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio; Female Subjectivity; Adaptation
Abstract

This paper analyzes the evolution of female images in the filmic adaptations of “Nie Xiaoqian” and “Painted Skin,” two ghost stories in Pu Songling’s Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, exploring the enhancement of female subjectivity over time. The female characters in the original stories, such as Nie Xiaoqian and Mrs. Wang, lack agency and are powerless in terms of subjectivity. The film adaptations, however, reflect the rise of female subjectivity in modern times are aligned with the social development of “gender equality,” and transform the female characters into independent and self-reliant individuals. The evolution of these characters renders the old stories new meanings in terms of gender and subjectivity. Through the comparative analysis of classic texts and film adaptations, this paper not only delves into the development of female subjectivity in the context of Chinese culture, but also provides a case study of feminist reading of literature and films.

Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2025 11th International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research（ICHSSR 2025)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
10 July 2025
ISBN
978-2-38476-440-2
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-440-2_112How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Ruoqi Kan
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/07/10
TI  - The Evolution of Female Characters in Chinese Ghost Stories: A Case Study of “Nie Xiaoqian” and “Painted Skin”
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 11th International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research（ICHSSR 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 981
EP  - 989
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-440-2_112
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-440-2_112
ID  - Kan2025
ER  -