Alice Poon's Blog, page 2
December 18, 2020
Bookish Asia's Review of Tales of Ming Courtesans
It's an honour to be reviewed by Bookish Asia, the distinguished book review site that specializes in China- and Taiwan-related books.
Bookish Asia Review Link
Bookish Asia Review Link
December 6, 2020
My Guest Post for "Women Writers, Women's Books"
Several weeks ago online magazine “Women Writers, Women’s Books” kindly invited me to write a guest post for their website. The post titled “What Inspired Me to Write Tales of Ming Courtesans” has been published today.
Here’s the full text (link: https://bit.ly/3lJ9zBi)
May I introduce myself? My name is Alice Poon and I am a Hong Kong-Canadian historical novelist who writes in English, with an affinity for stories about notable but unsung Chinese women. Tales of Ming Courtesans is my second historical novel set in 17th century China, published in June 2020 by Earnshaw Books. My first was The Green Phoenix: A Novel of Empress Xiaozhuang, the Woman Who Re-made Asia (2017), released by the same publisher.
Tales is a story about women’s struggles against oppression and abuse in a patriarchal society and about female friendship, with themes of human resilience, survival and hope. It tells the tragic stories of three beautiful and talented courtesans who are sold into slavery in early life and have to live with that stigma for the rest of their existence.
Chinese history has been written and organized with a strong patriarchal bias. It’s no surprise that Chinese historians have always dismissed out of hand notable women’s contributions to the arts and other areas, as well as their life stories. Fortunately for the initiated, there are still abundant literary sources from which such women’s works and narratives can be gleaned.
Just to give you an idea of how sexist official Chinese history is, I’ll share with you this little observation.
Several years ago, one day I was glancing through the lists of Official Biographies pertaining to the time stretch from 960 (the start of Song) right up to 1911 (the end of Qing), i.e. a total of nine-and-a-half centuries, and something hit me out of the blue.
[Note: I own history books covering the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties from the modern edition of the collection entitled The Newer Twenty-Five Histories, which were compiled based on the orthodox Twenty-Four Histories and Draft History of Qing. The format of this orthodox historical canon is such that “Annals of Rulers” and “Official Biographies” make up the two major integral sections.]
It occurred to me that in this wide span of history only six females (four empresses and two woman rebels, yes, rebels) were deemed worthy of a little space in official history. [Admittedly some minor biographies have been winnowed out from the modern edition for clarity’s sake, but that does not invalidate my point about the gender bias in terms of selective recording.] Even for the four empresses who made the cut, on paper, their achievements were almost reduced to playing well the role of dutiful wives / mothers / guardians to emperors.
Above all, female literary and artistic talents whose works should have been recognized were all conspicuous by their absence.
It made me sad just to think of all the lost and buried gems created by unsung Chinese women throughout the centuries, just because this patriarchal civilization had presumed women to be inferior and unworthy of mention in history.
Let me now turn to the specific reasons as to why I felt the urge to write this novel about these three ill-fated women from the late-Ming dynasty.
As I mentioned earlier, even though official history is not the go-to source for information about notable female literary and artistic talents, one can always glean from literary writings.
But then again, for hundreds of years, the stories of my main characters, Liu Rushi (a poetry prodigy), Chen Yuanyuan and Li Xiangjun (both divas of kunqu opera singing), have been told by men from the male perspective, typically focusing on their beauty and femininity. They tend to stereotype them as women romantically connected with famous men, and to conveniently gloss over the women’s artistic talents and their incredible moral grit and integrity in their fight against oppression and abuse.
Eminent historian Chen Yinke (1890 – 1969) was an outstanding exception. He found it worthwhile to spend 10 years of the latter part of his life to write the epic 800,000-word biography of Liu Rushi, lauding her as the embodiment of the nation’s spirit of independence and liberal thinking. Even then, his accolade still drew the cold sneer of his intellectual rival Qian Zhongshu (famous for his novel Fortress Besieged), who disdained Chen’s seminal work as frivolous.
After reading my research materials, I was convinced that there was only one way to do these women justice, and that is, to give them a voice and let them tell their own stories.
More importantly, I wanted readers to note the important fact that each of the three women left a lasting legacy on Chinese literature and operatic music respectively.
Liu Rushi was a poetry prodigy and was published by the age of 17. She left behind a significant body of poetic works and epistolary writings, which, since the publication of her biography in 1980, have drawn the serious attention of academicians. Some of her paintings can be found today at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington DC.
Both Chen Yuanyuan and Li Xiangjun were renowned kunqu opera singers and their skills no doubt impacted on the development of China’s operatic art. Kunqu opera was the most popular form of entertainment in those times. It had originated in Kunshan in the Suzhou Prefecture and later spread to the whole of Jiangnan. It was in fact the precursor to the more well-known Peking opera. In 2001, UNESCO named kunqu opera as a masterpiece of intangible cultural heritage.
Lastly, I hope that my novel will send this message, which cannot be repeated often enough: that the world needs to make greater efforts to celebrate women’s contributions and to heed their voices, and that bullying women is a most craven act.
Here’s the full text (link: https://bit.ly/3lJ9zBi)
May I introduce myself? My name is Alice Poon and I am a Hong Kong-Canadian historical novelist who writes in English, with an affinity for stories about notable but unsung Chinese women. Tales of Ming Courtesans is my second historical novel set in 17th century China, published in June 2020 by Earnshaw Books. My first was The Green Phoenix: A Novel of Empress Xiaozhuang, the Woman Who Re-made Asia (2017), released by the same publisher.
Tales is a story about women’s struggles against oppression and abuse in a patriarchal society and about female friendship, with themes of human resilience, survival and hope. It tells the tragic stories of three beautiful and talented courtesans who are sold into slavery in early life and have to live with that stigma for the rest of their existence.
Chinese history has been written and organized with a strong patriarchal bias. It’s no surprise that Chinese historians have always dismissed out of hand notable women’s contributions to the arts and other areas, as well as their life stories. Fortunately for the initiated, there are still abundant literary sources from which such women’s works and narratives can be gleaned.
Just to give you an idea of how sexist official Chinese history is, I’ll share with you this little observation.
Several years ago, one day I was glancing through the lists of Official Biographies pertaining to the time stretch from 960 (the start of Song) right up to 1911 (the end of Qing), i.e. a total of nine-and-a-half centuries, and something hit me out of the blue.
[Note: I own history books covering the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties from the modern edition of the collection entitled The Newer Twenty-Five Histories, which were compiled based on the orthodox Twenty-Four Histories and Draft History of Qing. The format of this orthodox historical canon is such that “Annals of Rulers” and “Official Biographies” make up the two major integral sections.]
It occurred to me that in this wide span of history only six females (four empresses and two woman rebels, yes, rebels) were deemed worthy of a little space in official history. [Admittedly some minor biographies have been winnowed out from the modern edition for clarity’s sake, but that does not invalidate my point about the gender bias in terms of selective recording.] Even for the four empresses who made the cut, on paper, their achievements were almost reduced to playing well the role of dutiful wives / mothers / guardians to emperors.
Above all, female literary and artistic talents whose works should have been recognized were all conspicuous by their absence.
It made me sad just to think of all the lost and buried gems created by unsung Chinese women throughout the centuries, just because this patriarchal civilization had presumed women to be inferior and unworthy of mention in history.
Let me now turn to the specific reasons as to why I felt the urge to write this novel about these three ill-fated women from the late-Ming dynasty.
As I mentioned earlier, even though official history is not the go-to source for information about notable female literary and artistic talents, one can always glean from literary writings.
But then again, for hundreds of years, the stories of my main characters, Liu Rushi (a poetry prodigy), Chen Yuanyuan and Li Xiangjun (both divas of kunqu opera singing), have been told by men from the male perspective, typically focusing on their beauty and femininity. They tend to stereotype them as women romantically connected with famous men, and to conveniently gloss over the women’s artistic talents and their incredible moral grit and integrity in their fight against oppression and abuse.
Eminent historian Chen Yinke (1890 – 1969) was an outstanding exception. He found it worthwhile to spend 10 years of the latter part of his life to write the epic 800,000-word biography of Liu Rushi, lauding her as the embodiment of the nation’s spirit of independence and liberal thinking. Even then, his accolade still drew the cold sneer of his intellectual rival Qian Zhongshu (famous for his novel Fortress Besieged), who disdained Chen’s seminal work as frivolous.
After reading my research materials, I was convinced that there was only one way to do these women justice, and that is, to give them a voice and let them tell their own stories.
More importantly, I wanted readers to note the important fact that each of the three women left a lasting legacy on Chinese literature and operatic music respectively.
Liu Rushi was a poetry prodigy and was published by the age of 17. She left behind a significant body of poetic works and epistolary writings, which, since the publication of her biography in 1980, have drawn the serious attention of academicians. Some of her paintings can be found today at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington DC.
Both Chen Yuanyuan and Li Xiangjun were renowned kunqu opera singers and their skills no doubt impacted on the development of China’s operatic art. Kunqu opera was the most popular form of entertainment in those times. It had originated in Kunshan in the Suzhou Prefecture and later spread to the whole of Jiangnan. It was in fact the precursor to the more well-known Peking opera. In 2001, UNESCO named kunqu opera as a masterpiece of intangible cultural heritage.
Lastly, I hope that my novel will send this message, which cannot be repeated often enough: that the world needs to make greater efforts to celebrate women’s contributions and to heed their voices, and that bullying women is a most craven act.
October 23, 2020
French Review of Tales of Ming Courtesans
I've always had a soft spot for the French language and literature. Discovering a French blogger's genuine appreciation of the three heroines of my new novel Tales of Ming Courtesans is nothing less than sheer ecstasy, because this represents a mutual love of each other's literary culture!
This is my translation of the last paragraph of the blogger's (Une Occidentale en Chine) review:
"I heartily recommend this book to you, which, despite all the harshness it describes, also shows us the beauty and the power of these women who kindled and inspired the greatest literary icons of the period."
"Je vous conseille réellement ce livre qui malgré toute la dureté qu’il comporte nous montre aussi la beauté et la force de ces femmes qui ont enflammées et inspirées les plus grands littérati de cette période."
Here's the link to the full review in French (you can click on the language of your choice on the right-hand side of the website):
https://uneoccidentaleenchine.org/202...
This is my translation of the last paragraph of the blogger's (Une Occidentale en Chine) review:
"I heartily recommend this book to you, which, despite all the harshness it describes, also shows us the beauty and the power of these women who kindled and inspired the greatest literary icons of the period."
"Je vous conseille réellement ce livre qui malgré toute la dureté qu’il comporte nous montre aussi la beauté et la force de ces femmes qui ont enflammées et inspirées les plus grands littérati de cette période."
Here's the link to the full review in French (you can click on the language of your choice on the right-hand side of the website):
https://uneoccidentaleenchine.org/202...
September 13, 2020
Backdrop to the Late-Ming Courtesan Culture
During my research for the novel Tales of Ming Courtesans, I discovered that a unique courtesan culture was evident in the late-Ming era, one where an unprecedented number of cultured courtesans engaged in the high art of poetry writing. It could be said that courtesans from this era enjoyed much more respect than their counterparts who lived in earlier times and after. This phenomenon had in fact been rooted in the nonconformist literati’s threefold discontent in those unsettling times.
Politically the liberal-minded scholars were dismayed with incompetent rulers and a corrupt court dominated by self-serving eunuchs. On a personal level, they felt stifled by the orthodox Neo-Confucianism teachings that advocated suppression of personal desires as well as adherence to rigid moral codes. In regards to officialdom pursuits, they were fed up with civil exams that prohibited any form of creative writing, forcing candidates to write only prosaic and dull eight-legged essays that focused on the Four Books and Four Classics.
As a form of protest and outlet for pent-up emotions, they set up private poetry societies, where they could engage freely in political discourse, poetry writing and appreciation, and overt promotion of poetry written by cultured courtesans. It was against this backdrop that high-minded courtesans’ literary talents found a nurturing harbor.
Because of the appearance of these quasi-political poetry societies, there was an explosion of poetry anthologies that included works by both the literati and the famous courtesans. In fact, anthologizing of courtesans' poetry became a popular activity at the poetry societies. Liu Rushi, a protagonist in Tales of Ming Courtesans, was a renowned poet-courtesan who churned out a significant body of poetic works at a very young age, and was known for her cross-dressing as a scholar and mingling with the literati.
Unfortunately, this unique phenomenon only lasted until early Qing. During the High Qing reign of Qianlong, while ordering the compilation of the Library of Four Treasures 四庫全書, the Emperor used the opportunity to deliberately cull all literary works by Ming poets/scholars whom he deemed as anti-Qing.
Caught in the literary inquisition were the works by the talented poetry prodigy Liu Rushi 柳如是 and works by her husband Qian Qianyi 錢謙益 and her lover Chen Zilong 陳子龍, both of whom were famous Ming poets. Obviously, works by other Ming loyalist poets met the same fate. It’s only in recent times that such once-lost literary works began drawing a little more attention from Chinese literature academicians.
This could also explain why Ming poetry has been so underrated relative to Tang and Song poetry.
For reference, please go to this link:-
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/41887...
The following is a quatrain written by Liu Rushi (one of her famous "Eight Quatrains on the West Lake" 西湖八絕句之一):-
垂楊小苑繡簾東，
鶯閣殘枝蝶趁風。
大抵西陵寒食路，
桃花得氣美人中。
My translation:-
East of the curtained window,
Lithe willows grace the court;
Birds nestle on nude branches,
Butterflies in the breeze cavort.
On the spring-scented path by West Lake,
Peach blossoms and beauties share a friendly taunt.
This poem attracted the attention of her future husband Qian Qianyi, who responded with another quatrain:-
草衣家住斷橋東,
好句清如湖上風。
近日西陵誇柳隱,
桃花得氣美人中。
My translation:-
The Straw Cloak Taoist lives east of Broken Bridge,
A good verse refreshes like a breeze from the pond.
I’ve lately commended Liu’s talent by West Lake,
Peach blossoms and beauties share a friendly taunt.
Both the above poems, plus others, can be found in the novel.
Politically the liberal-minded scholars were dismayed with incompetent rulers and a corrupt court dominated by self-serving eunuchs. On a personal level, they felt stifled by the orthodox Neo-Confucianism teachings that advocated suppression of personal desires as well as adherence to rigid moral codes. In regards to officialdom pursuits, they were fed up with civil exams that prohibited any form of creative writing, forcing candidates to write only prosaic and dull eight-legged essays that focused on the Four Books and Four Classics.
As a form of protest and outlet for pent-up emotions, they set up private poetry societies, where they could engage freely in political discourse, poetry writing and appreciation, and overt promotion of poetry written by cultured courtesans. It was against this backdrop that high-minded courtesans’ literary talents found a nurturing harbor.
Because of the appearance of these quasi-political poetry societies, there was an explosion of poetry anthologies that included works by both the literati and the famous courtesans. In fact, anthologizing of courtesans' poetry became a popular activity at the poetry societies. Liu Rushi, a protagonist in Tales of Ming Courtesans, was a renowned poet-courtesan who churned out a significant body of poetic works at a very young age, and was known for her cross-dressing as a scholar and mingling with the literati.
Unfortunately, this unique phenomenon only lasted until early Qing. During the High Qing reign of Qianlong, while ordering the compilation of the Library of Four Treasures 四庫全書, the Emperor used the opportunity to deliberately cull all literary works by Ming poets/scholars whom he deemed as anti-Qing.
Caught in the literary inquisition were the works by the talented poetry prodigy Liu Rushi 柳如是 and works by her husband Qian Qianyi 錢謙益 and her lover Chen Zilong 陳子龍, both of whom were famous Ming poets. Obviously, works by other Ming loyalist poets met the same fate. It’s only in recent times that such once-lost literary works began drawing a little more attention from Chinese literature academicians.
This could also explain why Ming poetry has been so underrated relative to Tang and Song poetry.
For reference, please go to this link:-
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/41887...
The following is a quatrain written by Liu Rushi (one of her famous "Eight Quatrains on the West Lake" 西湖八絕句之一):-
垂楊小苑繡簾東，
鶯閣殘枝蝶趁風。
大抵西陵寒食路，
桃花得氣美人中。
My translation:-
East of the curtained window,
Lithe willows grace the court;
Birds nestle on nude branches,
Butterflies in the breeze cavort.
On the spring-scented path by West Lake,
Peach blossoms and beauties share a friendly taunt.
This poem attracted the attention of her future husband Qian Qianyi, who responded with another quatrain:-
草衣家住斷橋東,
好句清如湖上風。
近日西陵誇柳隱,
桃花得氣美人中。
My translation:-
The Straw Cloak Taoist lives east of Broken Bridge,
A good verse refreshes like a breeze from the pond.
I’ve lately commended Liu’s talent by West Lake,
Peach blossoms and beauties share a friendly taunt.
Both the above poems, plus others, can be found in the novel.
September 5, 2020
A Reader from Sacramento Reviews My Book
A reader named Barbara Sotcan from Sacramento, California was kind to send me via friends this lovely review of Tales of Ming Courtesans:-
"Only a woman could have written this book. Only a Chinese woman could have written this book. Only a Chinese woman scholar could have written this book. I'm more than impressed with the amount of research that went into the creation of this historical novel. And I'm sure there are other scholars who might have done this amount of research. But to have that ability and also the ability to write engagingly is truly marvelous.
I have to confess that I had to work very hard to keep all the names straight, but I don't think I lost any threads of the story due to occasional confusion. I remain so outraged at the injustices suffered by women throughout history, and I applaud the resilience of the women in this book. I won't hesitate to recommend it to any of my more literary friends. It really would make a fantastic movie. The next best thing would be to add pen and ink illustrations, as it really is a visual feast."
Thank you so much, Barbara!
"Only a woman could have written this book. Only a Chinese woman could have written this book. Only a Chinese woman scholar could have written this book. I'm more than impressed with the amount of research that went into the creation of this historical novel. And I'm sure there are other scholars who might have done this amount of research. But to have that ability and also the ability to write engagingly is truly marvelous.
I have to confess that I had to work very hard to keep all the names straight, but I don't think I lost any threads of the story due to occasional confusion. I remain so outraged at the injustices suffered by women throughout history, and I applaud the resilience of the women in this book. I won't hesitate to recommend it to any of my more literary friends. It really would make a fantastic movie. The next best thing would be to add pen and ink illustrations, as it really is a visual feast."
Thank you so much, Barbara!
June 16, 2020
Bookish Chat on the esteemed Asian Books Blog
This is probably one of the most memorable bookish chats I've ever had in my writing life! The talented Elaine Chiew, an established author herself, had keen observations about my new book Tales of Ming Courtesans and asked the most discerning questions at the interview!
Here's the full interview:
http://www.asianbooksblog.com/2020/06...
The Asian Books Blog is an authoritative voice on Asian literature.
Here's the full interview:
http://www.asianbooksblog.com/2020/06...
The Asian Books Blog is an authoritative voice on Asian literature.
June 1, 2020
The Vancouver Sun Interview on Book Release Day!
The Vancouver Sun asked me some soul-searching questions at the interview about my new book Tales of Ming Courtesans, which is being released today. I'm grateful for the newspaper feature!
https://vancouversun.com/entertainmen...
https://vancouversun.com/entertainmen...
April 9, 2020
Tales of Ming Courtesans Book Trailer Now Up!
I've just posted the Youtube book trailer video on my profile page (left hand column). Please check it out and let me know what you think!
February 17, 2020
Brief History of the Chinese Courtesan Culture
Spring and Autumn Period –
The origin of the Chinese courtesan culture can be traced as far back as the Spring and Autumn period (771 – 476 BC). In those ancient times, it was customary for kings and aristocrats to own slave consorts whose function was to perform music and dance at court functions and to serve their masters in bed. Many of these slave consorts and other street prostitutes were female relatives of defeated war enemies.
Guan Zhong, a chancellor of the State of Qi, saw fit to set up 700 brothels in a designated area so as to apply some administrative control. It was in fact a ploy to extract levies on the prostitution business to finance the army. Also, administrators could summon these prostitutes to entertain visiting state dignitaries. This was the earliest form of official prostitution.
Han Dynasty –
During the Han Dynasty and Three Kingdom period, imperial rulers kept harems of consorts while court officials owned and trained slave courtesans in music and dancing in their homes.
In times of battles, wives and daughters of slain or captured enemies were routinely forced into sex slavery. It was Emperor Wu of Western Han (206 BC – 9 AD) who established a centralized system of “barracks courtesans” to serve soldiers of all ranks in military camps. When battles ended, these barracks courtesans were normally sold to brothels or given to soldiers’ households to serve as maids.
Tang Dynasty –
It was not until the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907) that the courtesan culture became institutionalized and more visible in society.
Throughout the Tang and subsequent dynasties, the Ministry of Rites was responsible for running separate music and dance schools to train courtesans. Talented performers were selected to become court entertainers in the inner court of Imperial Palaces. Novices could be bought from slave traffickers.
Social code grouped all courtesans, musicians, actors, actresses and prostitutes in what was called the jianmin caste 賤民 (meaning worthless people), which was hereditary. Marriage to commoners was strictly forbidden.
Emperor Xuanzong (712 – 755), a zealous music lover, personally set up the Pear Garden 梨園 (the imperial music academy) and hand-picked hundreds of top-rated musicians from the music school, training them to be elite court entertainers. The prettiest girls from both the music and dance schools would usually end up being picked out to serve as imperial consorts in the Emperor’s harem.
This kind of music and dance training then became trendy in society. Theatre apprentices, novice music players and dancers as well as prostitutes were all eager to get enrolled and trained at the prestigious court-run music and dance schools, which offered them possible path to a vocation either as court entertainers or high-class courtesans.
As courtesans became more cultivated in the arts, romantic liaison between cultured courtesans and scholars began to flourish and, very often, poetry writing acted as a conduit. Poetry was an important part of Tang culture and officialdom, as it was used as a yardstick in civil service examination to select scholars as state officials. By extension, poetry skills also began to define cultured courtesans.
Two of the most renowned courtesan-poets of the Tang Dynasty were Xue Tao (770 – 832) and Yu Xuanji (840 – 868).
Song and Yuan Dynasties –
In the Song (960 – 1279) and Yuan (1271 – 1368) Dynasties, the registration and regulation of courtesans and entertainers remained in the hands of the court-run music and dance schools, whose recruits could include girls sold by impoverished families to slave traffickers. Those who were designated as “government courtesans” were mostly enslaved female relatives of criminals and political prisoners, and were on call to entertain ministry officials at public functions or in their homes.
In general, social attitude towards courtesans was negative because of rigid class distinction. With the rise of orthodox Neo-Confucianism in the Northern Song Dynasty, scholar-officials’ association with courtesans was considered immoral and generally frowned upon by society. Granted, it was common for scholar-officials and wealthy merchants to purchase and keep trained courtesans for sex and private entertainment.
The most famous Song courtesan-poet was Li Shishi (1062 – 1127), who had a secret passionate love affair with Song Emperor Huizong (1082 – 1135).
Ming Dynasty –
When Zhu Yuanzhang (1328 – 1398) began his reign as the first Ming Emperor, he made Jinling 金陵 (present-day Nanjing) his capital. During his rule, he established an entertainers’ compound along the banks of the Qinhuai River 秦淮河 for the purpose of hosting public functions, to which courtesans were routinely summoned to perform music and dance. This led to brothels congregating in the area throughout the Ming Dynasty, and Qinhuai achieved renown as the Jinling pleasure hub, while nearby Yangzhou became known for its supply of “thin horses” (i.e. girl slaves trained for sale).
However, the Great Ming Code decreed that it was a crime for scholar-officials to sleep with courtesans, and offenders would be slapped with a punishment only one degree below the death penalty. But in real life, it was not uncommon for scholar-officials to flout this law.
Historians have suggested that it was definitely in the late-Ming period that cultivated courtesans came to be highly extolled, as romantic association between the literati and cultivated courtesans normalized. Poetry writing and appreciation often acted as a conduit in these romantic liaisons, and many courtesans were well versed in the craft of poetry writing, calligraphy and painting. In fact, many courtesan-poets/artists married into gentry families, becoming wives and concubines of prominent scholar officials. This phenomenon was considered unique to the late-Ming era.
In Sufeng Xu’s 2007 dissertation entitled Lotus Flowers Rising from the Dark Mud: Late Ming Courtesans and Their Poetry, the McGill University scholar argues that the phenomenon owed much to the rise of literary-political societies throughout the region of Jiangnan (South of the Yangtze) during the troubled times of the Ming-Qing transition.
Elite and non-conformist scholars of these societies would meet regularly and freely discuss poetry and politics. Through promoting and anthologizing poetry writings by cultivated courtesans, and through romantic involvement with them, these scholars were in fact championing a counterculture, which could be seen as open resistance to the austere Neo-Confucianism teachings. It was also a kind of protest against the officialdom examination system that valued solely the art of prose (called “eight-legged essays” 八股文), a relatively insipid form of literature compared to Tang and Song poetry.
Thus, it was this conscious effort on the part of the free-minded, poetry-loving literati that helped to exalt the courtesan culture in the late-Ming period.
The most celebrated late-Ming courtesan-poet was Liu Rushi (1618 - 1664), who was known for her independent spirit and free thinking.
Qing Dynasty –
However, ascetic classism again came to the fore during the Qing Manchu rule to denigrate courtesans’ literary writings and suppress the semi-liberated courtesan culture.
It wasn’t until the reign of the Qing Yongzhen Emperor that courtesans, entertainers and prostitutes were finally freed from the jianmin stigma and from then on ranked as commoners.
The origin of the Chinese courtesan culture can be traced as far back as the Spring and Autumn period (771 – 476 BC). In those ancient times, it was customary for kings and aristocrats to own slave consorts whose function was to perform music and dance at court functions and to serve their masters in bed. Many of these slave consorts and other street prostitutes were female relatives of defeated war enemies.
Guan Zhong, a chancellor of the State of Qi, saw fit to set up 700 brothels in a designated area so as to apply some administrative control. It was in fact a ploy to extract levies on the prostitution business to finance the army. Also, administrators could summon these prostitutes to entertain visiting state dignitaries. This was the earliest form of official prostitution.
Han Dynasty –
During the Han Dynasty and Three Kingdom period, imperial rulers kept harems of consorts while court officials owned and trained slave courtesans in music and dancing in their homes.
In times of battles, wives and daughters of slain or captured enemies were routinely forced into sex slavery. It was Emperor Wu of Western Han (206 BC – 9 AD) who established a centralized system of “barracks courtesans” to serve soldiers of all ranks in military camps. When battles ended, these barracks courtesans were normally sold to brothels or given to soldiers’ households to serve as maids.
Tang Dynasty –
It was not until the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907) that the courtesan culture became institutionalized and more visible in society.
Throughout the Tang and subsequent dynasties, the Ministry of Rites was responsible for running separate music and dance schools to train courtesans. Talented performers were selected to become court entertainers in the inner court of Imperial Palaces. Novices could be bought from slave traffickers.
Social code grouped all courtesans, musicians, actors, actresses and prostitutes in what was called the jianmin caste 賤民 (meaning worthless people), which was hereditary. Marriage to commoners was strictly forbidden.
Emperor Xuanzong (712 – 755), a zealous music lover, personally set up the Pear Garden 梨園 (the imperial music academy) and hand-picked hundreds of top-rated musicians from the music school, training them to be elite court entertainers. The prettiest girls from both the music and dance schools would usually end up being picked out to serve as imperial consorts in the Emperor’s harem.
This kind of music and dance training then became trendy in society. Theatre apprentices, novice music players and dancers as well as prostitutes were all eager to get enrolled and trained at the prestigious court-run music and dance schools, which offered them possible path to a vocation either as court entertainers or high-class courtesans.
As courtesans became more cultivated in the arts, romantic liaison between cultured courtesans and scholars began to flourish and, very often, poetry writing acted as a conduit. Poetry was an important part of Tang culture and officialdom, as it was used as a yardstick in civil service examination to select scholars as state officials. By extension, poetry skills also began to define cultured courtesans.
Two of the most renowned courtesan-poets of the Tang Dynasty were Xue Tao (770 – 832) and Yu Xuanji (840 – 868).
Song and Yuan Dynasties –
In the Song (960 – 1279) and Yuan (1271 – 1368) Dynasties, the registration and regulation of courtesans and entertainers remained in the hands of the court-run music and dance schools, whose recruits could include girls sold by impoverished families to slave traffickers. Those who were designated as “government courtesans” were mostly enslaved female relatives of criminals and political prisoners, and were on call to entertain ministry officials at public functions or in their homes.
In general, social attitude towards courtesans was negative because of rigid class distinction. With the rise of orthodox Neo-Confucianism in the Northern Song Dynasty, scholar-officials’ association with courtesans was considered immoral and generally frowned upon by society. Granted, it was common for scholar-officials and wealthy merchants to purchase and keep trained courtesans for sex and private entertainment.
The most famous Song courtesan-poet was Li Shishi (1062 – 1127), who had a secret passionate love affair with Song Emperor Huizong (1082 – 1135).
Ming Dynasty –
When Zhu Yuanzhang (1328 – 1398) began his reign as the first Ming Emperor, he made Jinling 金陵 (present-day Nanjing) his capital. During his rule, he established an entertainers’ compound along the banks of the Qinhuai River 秦淮河 for the purpose of hosting public functions, to which courtesans were routinely summoned to perform music and dance. This led to brothels congregating in the area throughout the Ming Dynasty, and Qinhuai achieved renown as the Jinling pleasure hub, while nearby Yangzhou became known for its supply of “thin horses” (i.e. girl slaves trained for sale).
However, the Great Ming Code decreed that it was a crime for scholar-officials to sleep with courtesans, and offenders would be slapped with a punishment only one degree below the death penalty. But in real life, it was not uncommon for scholar-officials to flout this law.
Historians have suggested that it was definitely in the late-Ming period that cultivated courtesans came to be highly extolled, as romantic association between the literati and cultivated courtesans normalized. Poetry writing and appreciation often acted as a conduit in these romantic liaisons, and many courtesans were well versed in the craft of poetry writing, calligraphy and painting. In fact, many courtesan-poets/artists married into gentry families, becoming wives and concubines of prominent scholar officials. This phenomenon was considered unique to the late-Ming era.
In Sufeng Xu’s 2007 dissertation entitled Lotus Flowers Rising from the Dark Mud: Late Ming Courtesans and Their Poetry, the McGill University scholar argues that the phenomenon owed much to the rise of literary-political societies throughout the region of Jiangnan (South of the Yangtze) during the troubled times of the Ming-Qing transition.
Elite and non-conformist scholars of these societies would meet regularly and freely discuss poetry and politics. Through promoting and anthologizing poetry writings by cultivated courtesans, and through romantic involvement with them, these scholars were in fact championing a counterculture, which could be seen as open resistance to the austere Neo-Confucianism teachings. It was also a kind of protest against the officialdom examination system that valued solely the art of prose (called “eight-legged essays” 八股文), a relatively insipid form of literature compared to Tang and Song poetry.
Thus, it was this conscious effort on the part of the free-minded, poetry-loving literati that helped to exalt the courtesan culture in the late-Ming period.
The most celebrated late-Ming courtesan-poet was Liu Rushi (1618 - 1664), who was known for her independent spirit and free thinking.
Qing Dynasty –
However, ascetic classism again came to the fore during the Qing Manchu rule to denigrate courtesans’ literary writings and suppress the semi-liberated courtesan culture.
It wasn’t until the reign of the Qing Yongzhen Emperor that courtesans, entertainers and prostitutes were finally freed from the jianmin stigma and from then on ranked as commoners.
September 22, 2019
Li Xiangjun and "The Peach Blossom Fan"
As I previously mentioned, Li Xiangjun 李香君 (1624 – 1653) is one of the three leading characters of my upcoming novel. She was among the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai 秦淮八艷 and the subject of Ming scholar Hou Fangyu’s 侯方域’s literary essay titled Biography of Lady Li 李姬傳.
The premises where Li used to reside and ply her trade as a courtesan (she was a celebrated kunqu opera singer) were called Villa of Alluring Fragrance 媚香樓, which was located along the banks of the Qinhuai River, a glitzy pleasure district of Nanjing in the late-Ming dynasty. A reconstructed Villa can be now found at No. 38, Bank Note Vault Street, Qinhuai, Nanjing 南京秦淮區鈔庫街三十八号.
If you have read Kong Shangren’s 孔尚任’s iconic historical play The Peach Blossom Fan 桃花扇, you would already be familiar with the real-life heroine Li Xiangjun. This classical play is a dramatized narrative based on Hou’s essay Biography of Lady Li and is a poetic weaving of the tragic love affair between Hou and Li with the collapse of the Ming dynasty.
I’ve recently stumbled across a poem written by renowned writer and philosopher Lin Yutang 林語堂 (1895 – 1976), which gives a reflective and laudatory description of Li Xiangjun’s character, with gibes targeting men in general. He inscribed this poem on a scroll portrait of Li Xiangjun that he had privately commissioned.
林語堂之”為香君題詩”:-
香君一個娘子，血染桃花扇子，
義氣照耀千古，羞煞鬚眉漢子。
香君一個娘子，性格是個蠻子，
懸在齋中壁上，教我知所觀止。
如今天下男子，誰復是個蠻子，
大家朝秦暮楚，成個什麼樣子。
當今這個天下，都是騙子販子，
我思古代美人，不至出甚亂子。
My Translation:
Lin Yutang’s Ode to Xiangjun:-
Xiangjun is a woman, her blood spilt on the peach blossom fan.
Her moral virtue lights up history, and shames the macho men.
Xiangjun is a woman, and she has grit aplenty.
I have her painting hung on the wall, to teach me humility.
Take a look at all the men, is there any with intrepidity?
They’re all wishy-washy; what have become of them!
The world these days, is filled with crooks and shams.
I can’t go wrong admiring, beauties in a distant time-span.
The premises where Li used to reside and ply her trade as a courtesan (she was a celebrated kunqu opera singer) were called Villa of Alluring Fragrance 媚香樓, which was located along the banks of the Qinhuai River, a glitzy pleasure district of Nanjing in the late-Ming dynasty. A reconstructed Villa can be now found at No. 38, Bank Note Vault Street, Qinhuai, Nanjing 南京秦淮區鈔庫街三十八号.
If you have read Kong Shangren’s 孔尚任’s iconic historical play The Peach Blossom Fan 桃花扇, you would already be familiar with the real-life heroine Li Xiangjun. This classical play is a dramatized narrative based on Hou’s essay Biography of Lady Li and is a poetic weaving of the tragic love affair between Hou and Li with the collapse of the Ming dynasty.
I’ve recently stumbled across a poem written by renowned writer and philosopher Lin Yutang 林語堂 (1895 – 1976), which gives a reflective and laudatory description of Li Xiangjun’s character, with gibes targeting men in general. He inscribed this poem on a scroll portrait of Li Xiangjun that he had privately commissioned.
林語堂之”為香君題詩”:-
香君一個娘子，血染桃花扇子，
義氣照耀千古，羞煞鬚眉漢子。
香君一個娘子，性格是個蠻子，
懸在齋中壁上，教我知所觀止。
如今天下男子，誰復是個蠻子，
大家朝秦暮楚，成個什麼樣子。
當今這個天下，都是騙子販子，
我思古代美人，不至出甚亂子。
My Translation:
Lin Yutang’s Ode to Xiangjun:-
Xiangjun is a woman, her blood spilt on the peach blossom fan.
Her moral virtue lights up history, and shames the macho men.
Xiangjun is a woman, and she has grit aplenty.
I have her painting hung on the wall, to teach me humility.
Take a look at all the men, is there any with intrepidity?
They’re all wishy-washy; what have become of them!
The world these days, is filled with crooks and shams.
I can’t go wrong admiring, beauties in a distant time-span.
