Classical Embroidered Pictures Banned for Novels Beauty Beyond Compare: The Legend of Zhao Feiyang

Author: Ming.
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1999-01-01
Features: "Nations' Color and Heavenly Fragrance: A Collection of Legendary Novels from the Ming Dynasty." It consists of ten volumes, including over twenty novels, as well as some poems, lost stories, and humorous anecdotes. Among them, works like "Liu Sheng's Search for Lotus," "The Three Wonders of the Flower God," "Heavenly Fate's Strange Encounter," and "The Love Collection of Beauty" are regarded as masterpieces of Chinese middle-length fiction. These works all revolve around the love and marriage of literary geniuses and beauties, depicting the extraordinary experiences of young men and women in ancient times as they pursue love. The male protagonists are all talented and accomplished, while the female protagonists are exceptionally beautiful. They exchange poetry under flowers and moonlight, or meet secretly in secluded chambers. When emotions run deep, their tender affection is portrayed with freshness and elegance, which is why the book was repeatedly condemned by authorities as "promoting debauchery" and banned. The work had a significant influence on later erotic novels by writers, particularly in its fusion of prose and verse, which is elegant and magnificent, making it a subject of much discussion.
"Journey to the Immortal Caves": This is the earliest surviving erotic novel in China. Written by Zhang Zhao of the Tang Dynasty, the novel tells the story of a scholar's romantic encounter: in a secluded mansion, he experiences countless tender moments and alluring pleasures, leaving him as intoxicated as if in a dream. It can be said that this is the foundational work of Chinese literature on courtesans. The language is archaic yet natural, and the style is particularly notable for its use of parallel prose to narrate the story, which inherits the tradition of Song Yu's "High Tang Suite" and Cao Zhi's "Luo Shen Ode" while pioneering the later fusion of prose and verse to expand tales. It holds a certain position in the history of the novel.
"The Biography of Zhao Feiyang · The Separate Biography of Zhao Feiyang": This is a companion piece that explores the love and debauchery between Emperor Cheng of Han and Zhao Feiyang. The plot has some repetition, primarily detailing how the sister-in-law of Cheng's harem, the favored He De, wielded power and indulged in excess, ultimately leading to the emperor's death from exhaustion. This story became a source of inspiration for many later literary works. The old title "The Separate Biography" attributes it to "Ling Xuan, Eastern Capital Commandant of Han," indicating that it is an early work in the history of Chinese erotic literature.