1. Introduction: Chinese traditional theatre and male dan 2. Imaginary romance: The rise of male dan and their connections to the scholar-elite in the Ming dynasty 3. Commodified intimacy: Male dan , boy courtesans and well-off patrons in the Qing dynasty 4. At the dawn of a modern nation: Three keys in male dan 5. Between scholar-intellectuals and theatrical aficionados: Male dan under siege 6. Reinventing disciplinary femininity: Technical innovations of male dan 7. Reconstructing femininity through masculinity: The prohibition of male dan in socialist China 8.

The mythopoeia of homosexuality: Aesthetic representations of male dan in contemporary culture 9. A millennial predicament: Male dan in a homophobic country 10. Coda: Male dan and Chinese society in transition.