Flowers of the World (Popular Library of Chinese Classical Novel Masterpieces)

Author: (Qing) Chen Sen, edited by Kong Xiang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-07-01
Features: "The Precious Mirror of Appreciating Flowers is a long novel in China that portrays the life of the opera world, with its main characters being beautiful and pitiful figures. This novel consists of sixty chapters and was produced during the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty. Its author is Chen Sen, a native of Changzhou, Jiangsu. The story centers on the homoerotic love between the nobleman Mei Ziyu, the famous actress Du Qinyan, the scholar Tian Chunhang, and the famous actress Su Huifang, while depicting the lives of ten famous opera performers in the capital. The novel finally shows the ten opera performers leaving the opera world and burning away their hairpins, jewelry, and clothing, thereby expressing the author's ideal of enhancing the glory of the opera world and giving voice to the famous actresses. As the first opera novel of the Qing Dynasty, The Precious Mirror of Appreciating Flowers authentically reflects the prosperity of the opera world and the prevalence of the custom of favoring courtesans in the capital during the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods, as well as the real-life scenes of brothels, tea houses, and all aspects of life, possessing certain historical and literary value.