Scents of China: A Modern History of Smell

by Xuelei Huang

In this vivid and highly original reading of recent Chinese history, Xuelei Huang documents the eclectic array of smells that permeated Chinese life from the High Qing through to the Mao period. Utilising interdisciplinary methodology and critically engaging with scholarship in the expanding fields of sensory and smell studies, she shows how this period of tumultuous change in China was experienced through the body and the senses. Drawing on unexplored archival materials, readers are introduced to the 'smellscapes' of China from the eighteenth to mid-twentieth century via perfumes, food, body odours, public health projects, consumerism and cosmetics, travel literature, fiction and political language. This pioneering and evocative study takes the reader on a sensory journey through modern Chinese history, examining the ways in which the experience of scent and modernity have intertwined.

Genres: China, History

309 pages, Hardcover

Published October 19, 2023

Reviews

[Max Stolk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the combination of critical and creative thinking in this book! The links made between smell, capitalism, colonialism, and social movements are interesting and very entertaining. However, some of the arguments miss a couple of steps which was a shame. That I noticed might have been the result of me having to grade my students' papers at the moment. It is an approachable read which I recommend if you even remotely think it is an interesting topic!