Zhulin yeshi

Zhulin yeshi (Chinese: 株林野史)^[a] is a Chinese erotic novel by a writer under the pseudonym Chi Daoren, published between 1610 and 1620. Set in the 7th century BC, it follows a young woman and her sexual escapades.

Zhulin yeshi
Chinese	株林野史
Literal meaning	Zhulin coarse stories
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhūlín yěshǐ

A page from chapter one of Zhulin yeshi

Plot

Set in around 600 BC during the Spring and Autumn period, a young and unmarried lady named Su'e (素娥) dreams of being taught the art of love-making by Taoist master Hua Yue (華月).^[5] First using her newfound sexual prowess to attain eternal youth,^[5] she then seduces multiple men until she is stopped by a rival Taoist master who becomes her lover and joins her in her quest for immortality.^[4]

Publication history

Comprising sixteen chapters^[3] and twenty-one poems,^[6] Zhulin yeshi was written in the late Ming dynasty by an anonymous writer using the pseudonym Chi Daoren (痴道人),^[7] translated into English as "Infatuated Moralist"^[7] or "Man of the Crazy Way".^[4] The novel was published in Suzhou and likely had its first printing sometime between 1610 and 1620, although it was subsequently banned by the Qing government.^[7]

Inspiration

The title of the novel is derived from the song "Zhulin" (株林, "tree forest") collected in the Book of Songs;^[8] according to the critic Kong Yingda (孔穎達) in Mao Shi zhengyi (毛詩正義),^[9] the song was written to rebuke Lord Ling of Chen (陳靈公) for his illicit sexual relationship with the femme fatale and noblewoman Xia Ji (夏姬),^[10] whose "destructive beauty ... nearly caused the collapse of the state of Chen"^[9] and "who was traditionally numbered among the most wicked women of Chinese antiquity."^[3] In Zhulin yeshi, the main protagonist is based on Xia Ji,^[7] although she is referred to as Su'e, which is in turn an apparent reference to the "extremely rare" illustrated erotic novel titled Su'e pian (素娥篇; published c. 1610).^[5]

Numerous stories concerning "a woman achieving first eternal youth and then transcendency through esoteric sexual practices with multiple partners" predate Zhulin yeshi.^[5] For instance, in the Liexian Zhuan (列仙傳), a female protagonist named Nü Wan (女丸) is guided by a mystery sex master.^[5] Likewise, in the Han dynasty text Yufang mijue (玉房秘訣) or Secret Instructions from the Jade Chamber, the Taoist mistress Xiwangmu (西王母) is described as engaging in "sexual vampirism".^[6]

Across the novel, the author adapts sexually explicit scenes from several other sources. For example, a scene in which the protagonist is in Chu, left in a pitiful state with her step-son, is "a cut-and-paste piece taken straight" from Wushan yanshi (巫山豔史) or Romantic History of Mt. Wu.^[11] Zhulin yeshi also presents an "extremely confused" discussion of sex toys; a dildo, for instance, morphs into a Burmese bell without any explanation, which Olivia Milburn suggests may be due to a "garbled interpolation from some unknown source."^[12]

Literary significance and reception

Zhulin yeshi is noted for its "rich descriptions of sexual life",^[13] both heterosexual and homosexual.^[14] Olivia Milburn writes that the female protagonists of the novel "are in striking contrast to those described in other contemporary Ming-dynasty erotic novels".^[15] She also praises the author of Zhulin yeshi for their "careful erudition" and meticulous "historical background and characterizations".^[16]

Notes

1. Translated into English as Coarse Stories from the Fief of Zhulin,^[1] Coarse Stories from Zhulin,^[2] The Romantic History of Zhulin,^[3] or The Unofficial History of the Bamboo Grove.^[4]