Relationship history

Author: Feng Menglong (Ming)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: The Story of Love is also known as A Classified Collection of Love Stories or The Precious Mirror of Love. It is a short story collection compiled by the famous Ming Dynasty litterateur Feng Menglong from anecdotes and other works about love between men and women from various dynasties. The book is divided into twenty-four categories, with over 870 stories. Among them, The Extraordinary Category selects stories of same-sex love from all dynasties, featuring characters ranging from emperors and generals to singers and commoners. Readers can also learn about the origins of allusions such as Longyang, Yutao, and Duanshou within it. The Story of Love is one of Feng Menglong's important works. He understood that the power of qing (love/passion) is far greater than dry and tedious moral teachings, and therefore wrote in the Preface: "I wish to establish a qing doctrine to teach all living beings." He both sympathized with and praised the pure and loyal noble sentiments while condemning the dirty and vulgar ones. The description of same-sex love in The Extraordinary Category is no exception. Feng Menglong, styled Yulong, was also known by the pen names Longziyou, Guqu Sanren, Mohen Zhai Master, and Zhanhan Wai Shi, among others. He was from Changzhou, Jiangsu, and was born in the second year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, dying around the second year of the Longwu era of the Southern Ming Dynasty at the age of approximately 72.