All are spiritual and sensual pleasures

Author: Ke Ping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-02-01
Features: A new type of technological cooling device—simple and practical—has finally been invented again. The "wuzhu" (a kind of square stool) is probably something like a square bench. The specific method is: first, ask a carpenter to make a combined square cabinet, inlay it with oil-based paint, and leave it empty. Then pour well water into it and cover it with a thin piece of tile to serve as the seat surface, "as cold as ice, change the water when hot." Such a simple and practical device could only have been thought up by his brilliant mind. Unfortunately, at that time, the Manchus who had just secured the Han Chinese throne were busy with political and ideological work and had not yet considered aligning with the world. Otherwise, spending a few taels of silver to apply for a patent would have been enough to support him for a lifetime just from the technology transfer fee.—"Li Yu: The Old Man in Nanjing—An Outdated News Report"
From his youth, when he had a romantic relationship with his classmate Zhang Gujian, to his youth when he married two or thirty concubines, to his middle age when he took in a group of female disciples, to his sixty-seven years old when he traveled to Mount Tiantai and fell in love with a young boy named Jinfeng, playing the game of "a tree of pear blossoms weighing down the old,"—this does not even include those who were unfaithful or sought professional partners in entertainment venues. If his number of romantic encounters were to be carefully counted, although they might not match the three thousand beauties in the imperial harem of the Tang and Ming emperors, they would definitely not be inferior to the masters of the previous dynasty like Qiu Shizhou and Tang Bohu.—"Yuan Mei: Food and Other Matters in the Su Garden"
When the maids suffered endlessly, using mugwort and fans to fight mosquitoes, I did the opposite—led them into my tent and sprayed a few puffs of white smoke. Then, miracles immediately appeared: vivid white crane dance-in-the-sky paintings with the style of late Ming, accompanying me through countless sleepless, hot nights.—"Shen Fu: Author's Autobiography"
In "A Study of the Lives of Literati in the Ming and Qing Dynasties," the scholars and poets who appear have diverse personalities. Most of them are highly talented, but their fates are also mostly pitiful and laughable. Gong Zizhen boasts of his romantic encounters in a vain manner, Zheng Banqiao pretends to seek profit, Huang Zhongze indulges in his own unruly behavior with his talent, Liu Yazi looks down on others and demands official positions, Yuan Hongdao is eager to curry favor with high-ranking officials, Wu Meicun eventually goes from a relic of the previous dynasty to shamelessly serving the enemy—"when prosperous, benefit all; when destitute, cultivate oneself"—the lives and fates of literati seem always intertwined with political power. Taking imperial examinations, kowtowing to beg for recommendation letters from famous scholars, gaining an official position, and then becoming arrogant and self-important; failing in the officialdom, hanging up one's and departing, then indulging in mountains and rivers, being, associating with courtesans and entertainers, monks and Taoists, or drinking wine and herbs, either claiming to uphold one's moral image or perceiving the fickleness of the world and realizing the truth of life. Whether in court or in the wilderness, in the temple or in the world, there is no other path. Yet, why are their fortunes so similar? What is the difference between them and modern intellectuals—where did they stop before the threshold of history? In this book, poet and scholar Ke Ping writes with ease, bringing thirteen famous figures back to the vivid context of history, presenting their brilliance and vicissitudes beyond life.