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The Fountainhead of Chinese Erotica : The Lord of Perfect Satisfaction (Ruyijun zhuan), with a Translation and Critical Edition / Charles R. Stone.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press, [2003]Copyright date: ©2003Description: 1 online resource (280 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780824824129
  • 9780824862589
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 895.1/346 21
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part One: Context and Analysis -- 1. Pornography and the West -- 2. Precursors -- 3. Desire in the Ming Dynasty -- 4. Authorship -- 5. Speculations About Contemporary Events -- 6. Sources -- 7. Preface, Postscript, and Colophon -- 8. Later Works -- 9. The Moral -- Part Two: Translation and Original Text -- Annotated Translation -- Critical Edition -- Notes -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary: The Lord of Perfect Satisfaction (Ruyijun zhuan), a short work of fiction from the early sixteenth century, tells the story of the Tang dynasty's notorious Wu Zetian, the only woman to rule as emperor of China. It is famous not for the history it relates, but for its graphic sexual descriptions--the first ever in a Chinese novel--purportedly given from a woman's point of view. Despite its renown and unmistakable influence on later writing, the origins and significance of the Ruyijun zhuan have never been explored, in any language, and until now it has never been translated. Its date of composition is unknown, its author unidentified. One of its earliest appraisals, written by a contemporary scholar known for his conservatism, maintains that the Ruyijun zhuan is a moral work notwithstanding its sexual content. Combining a complete translation with a detailed and far-ranging study of the text, The Fountainhead of Chinese Erotica places this important cultural document into historical context and offers possibilities on its meaning.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part One: Context and Analysis -- 1. Pornography and the West -- 2. Precursors -- 3. Desire in the Ming Dynasty -- 4. Authorship -- 5. Speculations About Contemporary Events -- 6. Sources -- 7. Preface, Postscript, and Colophon -- 8. Later Works -- 9. The Moral -- Part Two: Translation and Original Text -- Annotated Translation -- Critical Edition -- Notes -- Glossary -- Bibliography -- Index

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The Lord of Perfect Satisfaction (Ruyijun zhuan), a short work of fiction from the early sixteenth century, tells the story of the Tang dynasty's notorious Wu Zetian, the only woman to rule as emperor of China. It is famous not for the history it relates, but for its graphic sexual descriptions--the first ever in a Chinese novel--purportedly given from a woman's point of view. Despite its renown and unmistakable influence on later writing, the origins and significance of the Ruyijun zhuan have never been explored, in any language, and until now it has never been translated. Its date of composition is unknown, its author unidentified. One of its earliest appraisals, written by a contemporary scholar known for his conservatism, maintains that the Ruyijun zhuan is a moral work notwithstanding its sexual content. Combining a complete translation with a detailed and far-ranging study of the text, The Fountainhead of Chinese Erotica places this important cultural document into historical context and offers possibilities on its meaning.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 02. Mrz 2022)