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A novelistic version of a love affair between a notorious emperor and an innocent courtesan,
The Emperor of China in a House of Ill Repute enjoyed remarkable popularity throughout the Qing dynasty. Its author is one of China's most famous writers. This is the first translation of the work in any language.
List of contents
- Introduction
- Table of Chinese Dynasties
- The Imperial Visit to Datong
- Opening Scene
- Chapter 1
- Enthroned in Beijing, Right Virtue receives his officials;
- Vaunting Datong, Jiang Bin offers duplicitous advice.
- Chapter 2
- Her Majesty Zhang sternly admonishes the Son of Heaven;
- The Martial Ancestor enjoys dressing up in military garb.
- Chapter 3
- A mounted bandit is arrested by village people for spending gold cash;
- Celestial grace descends on a police chief for bowing to his majesty.
- Chapter 4
- Crossing the mountains, His Majesty the Martial Ancestor suffers from thirst;
- By bringing him water, the M¿ra Maiden of Clouds arouses the emperor's lust.
- Chapter 5
- The incognito lord seeks lodging and asks about the watches;
- The woodcutter son gains a wife by slaughtering a chicken.
- Chapter 6
- Playboys are enjoying themselves at the crossroads;
- The emperor is tricked into going to the almshouse.
- Chapter 7
- A stupid emperor seeks a courtesan in the almshouse;
- Shrewd Brother Six meets his ruler in Jade-Fire Lane.
- Chapter 8
- Over a meal, Brother Six praises some courtesans;
- In his room, the emperor adopts a boy as his son.
- Chapter 9
- Brother Six enters the ward to persuade the madam;
- The old bawd ascends the stairs to inspect a patron.
- Chapter 10
- Buddha's Lust bemoans her poor fate in the windy dust;
- The old bawd shows her might by whipping and cursing.
- Chapter 11
- Put under pressure, second sister resents the old bawd;
- The serving girls devise a scheme to fool the emperor.
- Chapter 12
- Buddha's Lust is filled with resentment against little Brother Six;
- His Majesty the Martial Ancestor feigns rage at the little beauties.
- Chapter 13
- Second sister is smiled upon by the Imperial Countenance for the first time;
- A servant girl comes up with yet another cunning scheme of substitution.
- Chapter 14
- Accompanying a famed courtesan, the emperor pretends to be simple;
- Reviling his idiotic silliness, second sister is filled with indignation.
- Chapter 15
- Displaying moronic idiocy the Martial Ancestor puts on a play;
- Resenting the humiliation, second sister is overcome by shame.
- Chapter 16
- The Martial Emperor triumphs with two superior treasures;
- Buddha's Lust is startled by one performance on the lute.
- Chapter 17
- Displaying frivolity, foolish words offend the ruler;
- Observing features, clever eyes recognize the lord.
- Chapter 18
- A maid delivers a note: a precious guest has a devious mind;
- Ghosts manipulate the man: second sister enjoys satisfaction.
- Chapter 19
- The Son of Heaven and his beloved spouse equally take first place;
- The elder sister and her whoring patron both are filled with shame.
- Chapter 20
- Second sister conquers her shame and plays the jade flute;
- The Martial Emperor deceptively sells off his dragon foal.
- Chapter 21
- By engaging in gambling Wang Long loses his money;
- His Majesty the Martial Ancestor undresses to take a bath.
- Chapter 22
- Buddha's Lust bows to the emperor seeking pleasure;
- Having lost his money, Wang Long redirects his rage.
- Chapter 23
- Cheating a charming beauty, big sister hatches a scheme;
- Comparing backgrounds, the emperor displays his fury.
- Chapter 24
- An impoverished student pays a visit to the southern upstairs room;
- A sycophant-in-chief is appointed by the imperial brush in person.
- Chapter 25
- Visiting the courtesan quarter, the emperor observes the flowers;
- Playing her jade flute, a beauty presents her skill.
- Chapter 26
- Millionaire Hu, a companion in whoring, incites disaster;
- Heavenly Master Zhang leaves a pill to protect the Ruler.
- Chapter 27
- The State-Stabilizing Duke scares a traitor at the Judicial Office;
- Grand Eunuch Zhang recognizes the horse by the side of a well.
- Chapter 28
- Big sister ties Wang Long up with a rope;
- The emperor burns down the Displaying Martiality Ward.
- Bibliography
About the author
One of the most famous prose writers of China, Pu Songling (1640-1715) is the author of the classic collection of stories called Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. He also published long narratives in an alternation of prose and verse that have remained popular since they first appeared.
Wilt Idema is Professor of Chinese Literature, Emeritus, at Harvard University. His most recent translations include The Orphan of Zhao and Other Yuan Plays: The Earliest Known Versions (with Stephen H. West); Mouse vs. Cat in Chinese Literature: Tales and Commentary; and Insects in Chinese Literature: A Study and Anthology.
Summary
The Hsu-Tang Library presents authoritative and eminently readable translations of classical Chinese literature, in bilingual editions, ranging across three millennia and the entire Sinitic world.
The Emperor of China in a House of Ill Repute by one of China's most famous authors builds on earlier dramatic works that had been inspired by the antics and travels of the Zhengde emperor (posthumous title Wuzong; r. 1506-1521) of the Ming dynasty. The Zhengde emperor was, despite his reign title ("Right Virtue"), a dismal failure as emperor. His life was given over to the pursuit of pleasure. When in Beijing he often left the palace in disguise and roamed the city incognito. He also made several long and elaborate trips to other parts of the empire, for instance one to Nanjing and Yangzhou, and one to the cities of Datong and Taiyuan in Shanxi. While these historical trips might have had a certain military purpose, the popular imagination saw them as informed by a search for beautiful women. In alternating prose and song, The Emperor of China in a House of Ill Repute tells the tale of the emperor setting out for Datong in the disguise of a common soldier after his evil genius Jiang Bin has told him about the beauty of the three thousand courtesans in the red-light district of this garrison town.
This volume presents a fully annotated translation of all twenty-eight chapters of the work, preceded by an Introduction that provides context to the life and works of Pu Songling, the genre of "rustic songs" to which the work belongs, and the specific characteristics of the translated text.
Additional text
[The Hsu-Tang Library] will open up a classical tradition that spans millennia, relatively little of which has ever been translated into English. There is a humanity and irreverence to some of these works that readers expecting stuffy, prim Confucian moralizing will find refreshing.
