In the study of classical Chinese drama, little research has been done on women playwrights and their works. To make up for this lack, I have undertaken a first-time, close thematic study of the ten plays written by Liu Qingyun, a gentry woman of the Late Qing. My article consists of two main parts: first, on Liu's caizi-jiaren ( talented scholar and beautiful maiden ) drama: women, love, and marriage both traditional and modern. Second, on her renren-zhishi ( humane an and high-minded hero ) drama: traditional virtues and modern consciousness. Liu's caizi-jiaren plays are characterized by these motifs: (a) women's own choice of mates with fathers' support, (b) problematic polygamy, and (c) breaking away from, before reassuming, traditional gender roles and positions. By way of indirect suggestion, and not overt opposition, the authoress conveys her ideas of women's rights as well as the equality of the sexes. Prominent in Liu's renren-zhishi plays are two recurring motifs: (a) conflict between national service and personal enjoyment, and (b) the crossing of class boundaries. These motifs suggest that Liu, while upholding traditional virtues, holds the modern view of the liberation of the self as well as the equality among classes. In all, Liu Qingyun in her Xiao penglai xianguan chuanqi repeatedly calls into question traditional gender and class consciousness. She calls for love and equality between the sexes and among social classes. In this sense, her works reflect the spirit of her time, the Reformist era of the Late Qing. Perhaps because of her gender, character, education, family upbringing, and her marginal position in society, Liu's voice in her works is seldom intense or militant, but soft and reconciliatory. Her drama as a whole represents the authoress' vacillation between tradition and modernity.