Erotic Colour Prints of the Ming Period (2 vols): with an Essay on Chinese Sex Life from the Han to the Ch’ing Dynasty, B.C. 206–A.D. 1644. Authorized reprint

Sinica Leidensia #62

by Robert van Gulik

In 1949 the sinologist Robert van Gulik (also known now for his Judge Dee mysteries) purchased in a Tokyo curio-shop a set of printing blocks of a Ming Erotic Album.
Two years later the album, with an extensive treatise, was published by Van Gulik himself in a 50 copies print run, sent to a small group of Sinological libraries, as "the erotic prints and other data ought not to fall into the hands of unqualified readers". It was to be the author's first work on the subject, preceding his 'groundbreaking' Sexual Life in Ancient China (new edition, Brill, 2002).
Unqualified readers have now at last become qualified with this official edition. James Cahill, Wilt Idema and Soeren Edgren provide readers with indispensable introductions to its art historical, literary, biographical, and book technical context. All volumes of the print edition will become available in individual 9789004531604 (volume 1) - 9789004531611 (volume 2).

280 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Robert Hans van Gulik was a Dutch diplomat best known for his Judge Dee stories. His first published book, The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, was a translation of an eighteenth-century Chinese murder mystery by an unknown author; he went on to write new mysteries for Judge Dee, a character based on a historical figure from the seventh century. He also wrote academic books, mostly on Chinese history.