肉蒲團 (Rou pu tuan)
About this book
In the three hundred years since its initial publication, Li Yu's The Carnal Prayer Mat has been widely read in China, where it is recognized as a benchmark of erotic literature and currently enjoys the distinction of being a banned-in-Beijing classic. The story centers on Scholar Vesperus, a handsome orphan and student of Zen. Before taking his monastic vows, Vesperus embarks on a career of licentiousness.
His adventures as "hero of the boudoir, a champion of sex" take both comic and calamitous turns, until eventually he attains "enlightenment on the carnal prayer mat."
Subjects
- asian
- china
- chinese erotic literature
- chinese erotic stories
- chinese fiction
- chinese literature
- east asian languages & literatures
- erotic stories
- fiction
- fiction, general
- general
- historical fiction
- history
- languages & literatures
- literary criticism
- manners and customs
- ming dynasty
- near and far eastern fiction (fictional works by one author)
- sex customs
- sex in literature
- sexual behavior
- social life and customs
- translations into english
- young men