Abstract：The Qing woman writer，He Peizhu ( 1819 － ?) ，whose family resided in Yangzhou，has attracted increasing scholarly attention due to her play，Dream of Pear Blossoms． This study shifts the focus from the textual interpretation of the play to the socio-cultural trends shaping its production and the He family's cultural activities，as a means of bringing to light a new landscape of women's literary production and social bonding in Yangzhou． Garnering from their literary works——and illustrating in graphs——information of their social bonds，this study uncovers the He family's ties to the culture of salt wealth built by the Huizhou mercantile lineages in Yangzhou and to the elite networks in the cultural heartland of the lower Yangtze area． Major“nodes”in these networks，especially Ruan Yuan，open the door to the rich records of women's literary communities in Yangzhou and their connections with the cultural heartland． Understanding Yangzhou in the above light calls into question the stereotypical images of the women of Yangzhou——as part of the city's notorious“commerce of women”——and brings
methodological insights to the studies of the Huizhou mercantile lineages and women's writings from the Ming-Qing era．
