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"In this absorbing study of the multiple lives of a literary classic that is also a popular pornographic text, Naifei Ding steals across the border between cultural studies and feminist/queer literary criticism. Bringing a gendered social history of modern print culture in China into a 'porous intimacy' with both a critique of interpretive power and a feminist 'counter-ethics' of reading, "Obscene Things" is a scholarly work of exceptional creativity. Ding herself is a wonderful storyteller, and her critical narration of the fortunes of "Jin Ping Mei" will inspire anyone concerned with the "how" of studying historical modalities of gender, sexuality, status, and cultural power."--Meaghan Morris, Lingnan University
List of contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
>
Part One: Practices
1.
Jin-ology
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2. The Manic Preface: Jin Shengtan’s (1608-1661)
Shuihu zhuan 3. A Cure for Melancholy: Yuan Hongdao (1558-1610) and
Qifa (
Seven Stimuli)
4. Tears of Resentment: Zhang Zhupo’s (1670-1698)
Jin Ping Mei Part Two: Intervention
5. Seduction: Tiger and Yinfu
6. Red Shoes, Foot Bindings, and the Swing
7. A Cat, a Dog, and the Killing of Livestock
8. Very Close to Yinfu and Enu; or, How Prefaces Matter for
Jin Ping Mei (1695) and
Enu Shu (Taipei, 1995)
Notes
Glossary
Works Cited
Index
About the author
Naifei Ding is Professor of English at National Central University in Taiwan.
Summary
After first appearing around 1590, Jing Ping Mei was circulated among some of China's best known writers of the time and subsequently published in three major recensions. By arguing from the standpoint of feminism, this title can contribute to studies of Chinese literature, Asian studies, feminism, politics of sexuality, and cultural studies.
