Read more
Zusatztext "Praise for the previous volume: "[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 David Tod Roy is professor emeritus of Chinese literature at the University of Chicago, where he has studied the "Chin P'ing Mei" and taught it in his classes since 1967. Deals with an anonymous sixteenth-century work that focuses on the domestic life of Hsi-men Ch'ing, a corrupt, upwardly mobile merchant in a provincial town, who maintains a harem of six wives and concubines. This translation aims to faithfully represent and elucidate all the rhetorical features of the original in its most authentic form. Praise for the previous volumes:"Roy has made a major contribution to our overall understanding of the novel by so structuring every page of his translation that the numerous levels of narration are clearly differentiated... In addition, [he] has annotated the text with a precision, thoroughness, and passion for detail that makes even a veteran reader of monographs smile with a kind of quiet disbelief. -- Jonathan Spence New York Review of Books Praise for the previous volumes:"Roy's translation provides a window onto the fall of a far bleaker house than anything contrived by Dickens. -- Andrew Radford Translation and Literature Praise for the previous volumes:"Reading Roy's translation is a remarkable experience. -- Robert Chatain Chicago Tribune Review of Books Praise for the previous volumes:"Clearly David Roy is the greatest scholar-translator in the field of premodern vernacular Chinese fiction... The puns and various other kinds of word plays that abound in the Chin P'ing Mei are so difficult to translate that I can't help 'slapping the table in amazement' each time I see evidence of Roy's masterful rendition of them... I recommend this book, in the strongest possible terms, to anyone interested in the novel form in general, in Chinese literature in particular, or in the translation of Chinese literature. -- Shuhui Yang Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews Zusammenfassung The fifth and final volume of a celebrated translation of the classic Chinese novel This is the fifth and final volume in David Roy's celebrated translation of one of the most famous and important novels in Chinese literature. The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P’ing Mei is an anonymous sixteenth-century work that focuses on the domestic life of Hsi-men Ch’ing, a corrupt, upwardly mobile merchant in a provincial town, who maintains a harem of six wives and concubines. The novel, known primarily for its erotic realism, is also a landmark in the development of the narrative art form—not only from a specifically Chinese perspective but in a world-historical context. This complete and annotated translation aims 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. List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Cast of Characters xiii CHAPTER 81 Han Tao-kuo Takes Advantage of a Chance to Appropriate the Goods; T'ang Lai-pao Defrauds His Master and Disregards His Benevolence 1 CHAPTER 82 P'an Chin-lien Makes an Assignation on a Moonlit Night; Ch'en Ching-chi Enjoys Two Beauties in a Painted Bower 17 CHAPTER 83 Ch'iu-chu, Harboring Resentment, Reveals a Clandestine Affair; Ch'un-mei Transmits a Note to Facilitate a Lovers' Rendezvous 35 CHAPTER 84 Wu Yueh-niang Creates a Stir in the Temple of Iridescent Clouds; Sung Chiang Uprightly Frees Her from the Ch'ing-feng Stronghold 54 CHAPTER 85 Wu Yueh-niang Surprises Chin-lien in the Act of Adultery; Auntie Hsueh Agrees to Sell Ch'un-mei on a Moonlit Night 72 CHAPTER 86 Sun Hsueh-o Instigates the Beating of Ch'en Ching-chi; Dame Wan...
