The influence of the May Fourth movement has given us a rigid impression that traditional Chinese women were oppressed by Confucian culture. Yet it is also true that women in the Ming and Qing also could live lives of luxury, not only pursuing popular styles of personal adornment, but also in traveling and enjoying natural landscapes. This was not confined to the rich; the middle classes also followed suit. Going beyond the basic physiological needs of consumption, this represented an increase in the income and economic power of women. Moreover, the concept of sexual passion that appeared in the late Ming provided people with the rational grounds and the motivation to satisfy their lust. The sex industry was flourishing, and the prostitute became the representative of fashion. Consumption of luxury goods by women had an impact on gender relations, and many scholars treated this with a mix of criticism and misogyny, even going so far as to promulgate laws restricting the consumption of luxury goods by women. This book reexamines the lives and status of women in the Ming and Qing periods, and their influence on production, from a consumer perspective. It is hoped that this book can acquaint readers with another aspect of women during the Ming and Qing.