She is a researcher-professor in the area of China at the Center for Asian and African Studies at El Colegio de México. She holds a Masters in Philosophy from Mexico City College, a Masters in Oriental Studies from El Colegio de Mexico, postgraduate studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London and completed doctoral studies at the University of Michigan. In all cases she specialized in the area of China. She is the author of a series of books: China: its history and culture to 1800, (which is in the second printing of its second edition), Essays on China: An Anthology, Under One Roof: The Traditional Family in China and its Crises (with Romer Cornejo); co-author of The Han Dynasty and co-author of the Minimal History of Confucianism (with Jose Antonio Cervera and Chen Yong). She coordinated the Minimal History of China, of which she wrote several chapters. She is also the author of many articles and book chapters on history, philosophy, religion, education, family, society and women in China that have been published in Mexico, the United States, Spain, Argentina and China.