The Plum In the Golden Vase Or, Chin P"ing Mei, Volume Two (ebook)

Argumento de The Plum In the Golden Vase Or, Chin P"ing Mei, Volume Two (ebook)

In this second of a planned five-volume series, David Roy provides a complete and annotated translation of the famous Chin P'ing Mei, an anonymous sixteenth-century Chinese novel that focuses on the domestic life of His-men Ch'ing, a corrupt, upwardly mobile merchant in a provincial town, who maintains a harem of six wives and concubines. This work, known primarily for its erotic realism, is also a landmark in the development of narrative art--not only from a specifically Chinese perspective but in a world-historical context.

With the possible exception of The Tale of Genji (1010) and Don Quixote (1615), there is no earlier work of prose fiction of equal sophistication in world literature. Although its importance in the history of Chinese narrative has long been recognized, the technical virtuosity of the author, which is more reminiscent of the Dickens of Bleak House, the Joyce of Ulysses, or the Nabokov of Lolita than anything in the earlier Chinese fiction tradition, has not yet received adequate recognition. This is partly because all of the existing European translations are either abridged or based on an inferior recension of the text. This translation and its annotation aim to faithfully represent and elucidate all the rhetorical features of the original in its most authentic form and thereby enable the Western reader to appreciate this Chinese masterpiece at its true worth.

"[A] book of manners for the debauched. Its readers in the late Ming period likely hid it under their bedcovers."--Amy Tan, New York Times Book Review

Praise for Volume 1: "[I]t is time to remind ourselves that The Plum in the Golden Vase is not just about sex, whether the numerous descriptions of sexual acts throughout the novel be viewed as titillating, harshly realistic, or, in Mr. Roy's words, intended 'to express in the most powerful metaphor available to him the author's contempt for the sort of persons who indulge in them.' The novel is a sprawling panorama of life and times in urban China, allegedly set safely in the Sung dynasty, but transparently contemporary to the author's late sixteenth-century world, as scores of internal references demonstrate. The eight hundred or so men, women, and children who appear in the book cover a breath-taking variety of human types, and encompass pretty much every imaginable mood and genre--from sadism to tenderness, from light humor to philosophical musings, from acute social commentary to outrageous satire."--Jonathan Spence, New York Review of Books

Praise for Volume 1: "Reading Roy's translation is a remarkable experience."--Robert Chatain, Chicago Tribune Review of Books0LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii
CAST OF CHARACTERS xv
CHAPTER 21
Wu Yueh-niang Sweeps Snow in Order to Brew Tea; Ying Po-chueh Runs Errands on Behalf of Flowers 3
CHAPTER 22
Hsi-men Ch'ing Secretly Seduces Lai-wang's Wife; Ch'un-mei Self-righteously Denounces Li Ming 30
CHAPTER 23
Yu-hsiao Acts as Lookout by Yueh-niang's Chamber; Chin-lien Eavesdrops outside Hidden Spring Grotto 43
CHAPTER 24
Ching-chi Flirts with a Beauty on the Lantern Festival; Hui-hsiang Angrily Hurls Abuse at Lai-wang's Wife 62
CHAPTER 25
Hsueh-o Secretly Divulges the Love Affair; Lai-wang Drunkenly Vilifies Hsi-men Ch'ing 80
CHAPTER 26
Lai-wang Is Sent under Penal Escort to Hsu-chou; Sung Hui-lien Is Shamed into Committing Suicide 100
CHAPTER 27
Li P'ing-erh Communicates a Secret in the Kingfisher Pavilion; P'an Chin-lien Engages in a Drunken Orgy under the Grape Arbor 127
CHAPTER 28
Ch'en Ching-chi Teases Chin-lien a out a Shoe; Hsi-men Ch'ing Angrily Beats Little Iron Rod 150
CHAPTER 29
Immortal Wu Physiognomizes the Exalted and the Humble; P'an Chin-lien Enjoys a Midday Battle in the Bathtub 166
CHAPTER 30
Lai-pao Escorts the Shipment of Birthday Gifts; Hsi-men Ch'ing Begets a Son and Gains an Office 194
CHAPTER 31
Ch'in-t'ung Conceals a Flagon after Spying on Yu-hsiao; Hsi-men Ch'ing Holds a Feast and Drinks Celebratory Wine 214
CHAPTER 32
Li Kuei-chieh Adopts a Mother and Is Accepted as a Daughter; Ying Po-chueh Cracks Jokes and Dances Attendance on Success 242
CHAPTER 33
Ch'en Ching-chi Loses His Keys and Is Distrained to Sing; Han Tao-kuo Liberates His Wife to Compete for Admiration 261
CHAPTER 34
Shu-t'ung Relies upon His Favor to Broker Affairs; P'ing-an Harbors Resentment and Wags His Tongue 282
CHAPTER 35
Harboring Resentment Hsi-men Ch'ing Punishes P'ing-an; Playing a Female Role Shu-t'ung Entertains Hangers-on 309
CHAPTER 36
Chai Ch'ien Sends a Letter Asking for a Young Girl; Hsi-men Ch'ing Patronizes Principal Graduate Ts'ai 345
CHAPTER 37
Old Mother Feng Urges the Marriage of Han Ai-chieh; Hsi-men Ch'ing Espouses Wang Liu-erh as a Mistress 360
CHAPTER 38
Hsi-men Ch'ing Su jects Trickster Han to the Third Degree; P'an Chin-lien on a Snowy Evening Toys with Her P'i-p'a 382
CHAPTER 39
Hsi-men Ch'ing Holds Chiao Rites at the Temple of the Jade Emperor; Wu Yueh-niang Listens to Buddhist Nuns Reciting Their Sacred Texts 404
CHAPTER 40
Holding Her Boy in Her Arms Li P'ing-erh Curries Favor; Dressing Up as a Maidservant Chin-lien Courts Affection 438
APPENDIX
Translations of Supplementary Material 453
NOTES 473
BIBLIOGRAPHY 577
INDEX 605