Flowers Between Sixteen Sounds

Author: Meng Hui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: What was the life of ancient women like? Traditional Chinese historical records mostly focus on emperors, generals, and statesmen, while books that truly document life, especially the lives of women, are scarce. The Flower Garden Collection (Huajianji) was originally a selection of lyrics for singing by entertainers, compiled in 940 AD. It is China's earliest collection of lyric poetry (ci), with content primarily depicting romantic relationships between men and women. It involves the trivial, leisurely, and luxurious daily lives of upper-class women, often written from a female perspective. This book takes The Flower Garden Collection as its foundation to vividly portray a lively world of ancient daily life! Based on sixteen objects described in The Flower Garden Collection and some late Tang, Five Dynasties, and Song Dynasty poems—such as screens, pillows, combs, and lip cosmetics—the book uses contemporary artistic forms (paper paintings, murals, ornaments, etc.) as references to deeply, thoroughly, and engagingly explore and research the details of the lives of Chinese women over a thousand years ago. It strives to recreate a glimpse of that distant era, helping readers understand and experience ancient Chinese society, as well as appreciate the complex and controversial Huajian Ci (Lyrics from the Flower Garden).