Cirrus@Austlit

'In 1994, Chinese writer Shi Guoying made the following assertion in a Sydney Chinese-language magazine: ‘Western men who are excellent love-makers are everywhere. Out of every ten Western men, at least eight are terrific and only two are average. Out of every ten Chinese men, two are average and eight are pathetic’ (‘Women’ 146–147). Employing a combined racial and sexual discourse, she denounces her male compatriots as physically inferior as well as temperamentally unsuited to fulfil a woman’s needs. Not surprisingly, her article sparked a fierce debate in the Chinese-language press, many accusing her of perpetuating Orientalist stereotypes of Chinese inferiority (see Zhong ‘Masks’). However, Shi persisted in her attack. In her novella ‘Mistaken Love’ (错爱), first published in 1999, she illustrates her assertion through the portrayal of a Frenchman who is sexually more competent and more caring than his Chinese counterparts.' (Introduction)