Jin Ping Mei/ The Golden Lotus (2024)

Dusk

86 reviews76 followers

Shelved as 'dnf'

August 2, 2024


“Jin Ping Mei,” penned during the late Ming dynasty (16th century), delves into the intricate tapestry of societal norms deeply rooted in Confucian values. The novel’s exploration of relationships is significantly shaped by Confucianism’s emphasis on hierarchy, filial piety, and male authority. Within this framework, female characters endure mistreatment, their agency diminished—a stark portrayal of the harsh realities of their time.

Pan Jinlian, her name a delicate blossom, is anything but. She exists in a cage of flesh and bone, ensnared in an abusive marriage. Her spirit, once vibrant, now lies crushed beneath the weight of her husband’s fists. Yet, it is not only her husband who inflicts suffering; society itself, with calloused indifference, stands as an accomplice. The novel unflinchingly illustrates how the rigid Confucian framework perpetuated and justified the plight of women, revealing the oppressive dynamics of the period.

A poignant social commentary. A mirror reflecting the collective conscience of an era. It lays bare entrenched gender inequalities and moral complexities, urging readers to reflect on historical and cultural forces that shaped such grim realities.

    historical-fiction

Alice Poon

Author6 books313 followers

July 15, 2023

It took me over three months to finish reading this 1,332-page Chinese classic novel (in 2 volumes). There are apparently several popular editions that are based on abridged versions published under the Chongzhen reign (1627 – 1644). The edition I read is one based on the 1617 unabridged version published during the Wanli reign (1573 – 1620). This version has a preface written by 欣欣子, who claimed to be a friend of the author’s, and who stated therein the author’s motive for writing the novel. He also confirmed that the author was from the Lanling County of Shandong Province, which explains why the novel was written in the Lanling vernacular. (The direct translation of the author’s pen name is “The Scoffing Scholar of Lanling”.)

The story is a spin-off of one of the sub-stories in Water Margin (one of the four great Chinese classic novels) about Pan Jinlian who murders her husband when her adultery with wealthy merchant Ximen Qing is discovered, and who is subsequently killed by her husband’s brother, the tiger-slayer Wu Song. Outside of this particular episode, Jin Ping Mei has an entirely different plot and cast of characters. It is about the libertine life of middle-class merchant Ximen Qing and his concubine Pan Jinlian, and how their vices lead to self-destruction.

As for the title name, each character represents the given name of one of the three female protagonists: “Jin” is “Pan Jinlian” (a concubine of Ximen Qing’s); Ping is “Li Ping’er” (another of his concubines); Mei is “Pang Chunmei” (a housemaid who rises in status). On a deeper level, the character "Jin" is a symbol for money, "Ping" is a symbol for alcohol, and "Mei" symbolizes sex.

The major difficulty in reading this classic is the vernacular. It takes a little getting used to. The story is set in Northern Song dynasty (960 – 1127), but the contents reflect the decadent and corrupt gentry lifestyle of the Ming Dynasty.

The novel’s greatest strength lies in the detailed description of day-to-day living of people in the middle-class as well as those in lower classes, from food, to clothes, to etiquette, to traditional customs. It is true there are also graphic descriptions of sex, which was the reason why the novel was officially banned most of the time. It is also true that the novel is much more than about sex. The whole novel is premised on a “karma” theme: that retribution will be exacted on those who embrace lust, greed and doing harm to others.

In my view, this novel should be categorized as realism fiction. A society that tries to ban such a novel is a hypocritical society.

I’m giving this classic 3.8 stars, rounded up.

    asia-themed classics read-in-chinese

Alice Poon

Author6 books313 followers

June 18, 2019

It took me over three months to finish reading this 1,332-page Chinese classic novel. There are apparently several popular versions that are based on abridged imprints published under the Chongzhen reign (1627 – 1644). The version I read is one based on the 1617 unabridged imprint published during the Wanli reign (1573 – 1620). This version has a preface written by 欣欣子, who claimed to be a friend of the author’s, and who stated therein the author’s motive for writing the novel. He also confirmed that the author was from the Lanling County of Shandong Province, which explains why the novel was written in the Lanling vernacular. (The direct translation of the author’s pen name is “The Scoffing Scholar of Lanling”.)

The story is a spin-off of one of the sub-stories in Water Margin (one of the four great Chinese classic novels) about Pan Jinlian who murders her husband when her adultery with wealthy merchant Ximen Qing is discovered, and who is subsequently killed by her husband’s brother, the tiger-slayer Wu Song. Outside of this particular episode, Jin Ping Mei has an entirely different plot and cast of characters. It is about the libertine life of a middle-class merchant Ximen Qing and his concubine Pan Jinlian, and how their vices lead to self-destruction.

As for the title name, each character represents the given name of one of the three female protagonists: “Jin” is “Pan Jinlian” (a concubine of Ximen Qing’s); Ping is “Li Ping’er” (another of his concubines); Mei is “Pang Chunmei” (a housemaid who rises in status). On a deeper level, the character "Jin" is a symbol for money, "Ping" is a symbol for alcohol, and "Mei" symbolizes sex.

The major difficulty in reading this classic is the vernacular. It takes a little getting used to. The story is set in Northern Song dynasty (960 – 1127), but the contents reflect the decadent and corrupt gentry lifestyle of the Ming Dynasty.

The novel’s greatest strength lies in the detailed description of day-to-day living of people in the middle-class as well as those in lower classes, from food, to clothes, to etiquette, to traditional customs. It is true there are also graphic descriptions of sex, which was the reason why the novel was officially banned most of the time. It is also true that the novel is much more than about sex. The whole novel is premised on a “karma” theme: that retribution will be exacted on those who embrace lust, greed and doing harm to others.

In my view, this novel should be categorized as realism fiction. A society that tries to ban such a novel is a hypocritical society.

I’m giving this classic 3.5 stars, rounded up.

    asia-themed classics read-in-chinese

Feiyu Yin

17 reviews12 followers

December 15, 2016

评定金瓶梅是不是淫书,首先得确定淫书的定义。若说任何涉及到情色的书都叫做淫书的话,那么天下淫书就太多了,金瓶梅绝对是大淫书。但这样显然不科学,更有区别性的定义是从书的立意来看。如果立意在于让单身狗过干瘾,让有对象的涨姿势,那么此必为淫书无疑。而金瓶梅的立意绝不在此。金瓶梅的序概括的好:“借西门庆以描画世之大净,借应伯爵以描画世之小丑,诸淫妇以描画世之丑婆,净婆,令人读之汗下。盖为世戒,非为世之劝也。余尝曰:读金瓶梅而生怜悯心者,菩萨也;生畏惧心者,君子也;生欢喜心者,小人也;生效法心者,乃禽兽耳。”不必费劲找事实证明自己有多高尚了,金瓶梅就如一面镜子,可以了解自己到底有多淫荡。

金瓶梅时常让我联想起红楼梦。它总体水平虽然比红楼梦差不少,有些方面则有过之而无不及,如饮食,服饰,住宅结构,屋内陈设,婚丧嫁娶等方面。尤其服饰方面,比如:玄色五彩金遍边葫芦样鸾凤穿花大红遍地锦五彩妆花兽朝麒麟补子天青夹绉纱褶子大裤衩,看看这气势。还有金瓶梅里对李瓶儿葬礼的描写,其规模相对于秦可卿的葬礼来说应该是小一些的,但其细节之细如牛毛,较红楼梦中描写更胜一筹。如果说红楼梦是反映封建社会的百科全书,那么金瓶梅就是反映封建社会的wikipedia了。人物刻画方面金瓶梅才是中国小说史上第一部摒弃了脸谱式人物描写的小说,比红楼梦早多了。

相比于红楼梦,金瓶梅其实更能反映中国古代主流社会人民的生活状况。原因一是红楼梦的写作主体是未成年的富二代们,而且大多数是小姐们。这类人群其实是处在社会中心地带的边缘地区,所参与的活动并不能代表当时主流社会的行为。真正处在社会的正中心的其实是贾珍,贾琏,贾蓉之流,而红楼梦对其描写很有限,印象当中详细描写的只有尤二姐和尤三姐那几章。而金瓶梅则不同,它的描写主体是已成年的富二代及其妻妾们,他们在社会上和家庭里都有绝对的经济和政治权利,所参与的活动更具代表性。

原因二是叙事方面,红楼梦善于采用暗写。贾府表面看似风平浪静,实则暗流汹涌,家族的政治斗争,经济冲突等要通过仔细推敲人物的言下之意才能理会。有些人设和剧情为了映射现实,甚至不惜牺牲一些逻辑。这好处是耐人寻味,坏处是读一遍基本看不出头绪。也正是因为这种写法才让红楼梦有了一股仙气和文艺范。而金瓶梅则直白很多,毫不忌讳粗俗的实写,嬉笑怒骂,撕逼拆台都是那么的直白。是一部百分之百反映现实的作品。

人物描写是本书最值得一提的方面,相比于四大名著中另外三本,金瓶梅突出了人性的多面性。西门庆固然是个恶人,但他也有优点。首先,他经营能力强,西门家有生药铺,缎铺,绒铺,酒店,还有一帮伙计走南闯北跑运输。就这大官人还忙里偷闲勾搭别人婆娘,容易么人家。最终西门庆死后所有生意都分崩离析,可见当初全仗大官人一人之力。第二,西门庆是一个很慷慨的人,对朋友是没话说,几百两银子说借就借,借条都不要。尽管应伯爵之辈明摆着厚着脸皮蹭吃蹭喝,然而大官人从来不介意别人揩油。第三,也是最重要的一点,他是一个有理想有抱负的人,他有一个深藏在内心从没有向任何人透露过的理想,那就是睡遍天下的貌美人妻。他为了这个远大理想可谓是鞠躬尽瘁,死而后已。然而并不是所有梦想都能实现的,尤其是在这个理想和现实产生冲突后。男人的精力是有限的,而貌美的人妻是无限的,所以他也只有在追梦的路上茎烂蛋碎而亡。牡丹花下死,做鬼也风流,西门庆的这种死法对他来说绝对是死得其所了。我也衷心希望以西门庆为榜样的人能有一个像西门大爹一样的壮烈归宿。

那么西门庆为什么对这理想如此孜孜不倦呢?撇开动物本能和个人爱好不说,还有三个主要因素。一是偷腥成功后的成就感。要知道古代女子一半都住在深宅大院,那时候人们又没有约炮软件,就连传个信息都是件极难的事情,整件事情需要及其精妙的谋划和实施,所以达成目标后的成就感和特工突破层层防御获取到敌军秘密情报是一样的。二是居高临下的优越感。当那些女人被西门大爹的银枪戳的溃不成军的时候,他一定以为自己屌爆了吧。三是被人想念被人疼的幸福感,西门庆很在乎自己在女人心中的地位,他并不是一味地威逼利诱让女人们就范,金钱和权势只是他敲开闺房的敲门砖。他想占有她们的身体,然而更幻想占有她们的心,希望所有女人心中只有他一个男人。所以当那些女人面对西门庆露出一副见到自己亲老公一般的神情的时候,他的幻想能够得到极大的满足,尽管这些女人心里想的其实是他的钱。可怜大官人一片真心全抛散,自己才是被玩弄的那个。
Jin Ping Mei/ The Golden Lotus (5)

潘金莲才是本书的真正主角,她本人就是一抹艳红,是本书的基调。潘金莲推动了很多情节的发展,诸如毒死武大,唬死官哥,气死李瓶儿,坑死西门庆,诸多转折点皆由潘金莲引出。西门庆再精明又怎能知道当初费劲心机娶进门的这一副美皮囊包藏着这许多祸患。然而潘六儿也有优点。首先,她心灵手巧,秀外慧中,琴棋书画样样精通,尤其是唱的好曲子,弹的好琵琶,做的好诗。听一听她唱的词,读一读她写的诗,你几乎就会原谅她的蛇蝎心肠,把她和金陵十二钗相提并论。其次她智商高。我觉得会说话的人一般都不太笨,而骂人是一种更advanced说话方式,精通骂人的人更有聪明才智。潘金莲拥有一套杀人不见血的骂人功夫。其特点是滔滔不绝,不给对方插嘴余地,结合事实,骂的有理有据,歇后语加排比,骂的气势恢宏,指桑骂槐,没事她也能找出茬来。潘六儿就是这么一个集大俗和大雅于一体的人,可见俗和雅本就没有本质区别。另一个说明潘金莲聪明绝顶的事实是她竟然利用了动物的条件反射成功将官哥唬杀,潘金莲的猫比巴甫洛夫的狗又早了不知几百年。最后也是最重要的是潘金莲争宠的本事,绝对的用大脑在战斗,她计谋层出不穷,曾使用过金蝉脱壳,暗度陈仓,合纵连横等计策。不愧是读过书的淫妇儿,脑部与胸部一样的强大。

然而潘金莲最后的死法实在是太过狗血。笑笑生秉着忠实原著的理念,在本书末尾终于让武松钻入虫洞,穿越时空来到清河镇,成功将潘金莲和王婆击杀。我本想大喊一声:“武二哥,放开那个淫妇!让我...”然而最终还是晚了。武二果然是条好汉,开膛破肚,搜肠刮肚一气呵成。完事了把那肠子,肚子,腰子往檐上这么一挂,当时我就震惊了,这么一位娇媚风骚超凡脱俗的女子怎么能这么死?死的像一头没什么肉的母猪一样,这也太不值了吧。她在临死前肯定还觉得自己能搞定所有男人,谁知美女特权和小人得志最终是一样都没沾上。正应了那句话,叫你精似鬼,也喝洗脚水。

潘金莲和西门庆绝对是古今绝配。床帷之战到底是西门庆更“屌” 还��潘金莲略“牛逼”的这个悬念一直持续到西门庆死前。西门庆临死前那一声牛吼的意思就是说“小淫妇儿,你是真’牛逼’,你达服了!”

李瓶儿的隐忍和懦弱完全是为了衬托潘金莲的歹毒。然而李六姐在嫁入西门家之前可不是这样一副脓包。当读到她如何气死花子虚,虐待蒋竹山时,我还以为后期她准会和潘金莲来个龙争虎斗,决个高下,哪知道一嫁给给西门庆她就立马化身成为一位德女,有仁义的姐姐。这就让我大失所望,单方面吊打有什么好看?我不禁要大骂笑笑生偏心。尽管潘金莲因整死李瓶儿而偷着乐,李瓶儿之死其实与潘金莲只有间接关系。后来她对潘六儿的攻击已经免疫了,倒是花子虚之死她一直没放下,这个心结在她生命后期直接导致了她的死亡。

春梅小肉儿在书的后半段嫁入豪门,野鸡变凤凰。我原以为此后便会有个善终,不曾想��竟女承母志,果然没有辜负潘金莲的耳濡目染,言传身教,最终死于淫,这总算是弥补了潘金莲死法太过狗血的遗憾。

最后,应伯爵这个角色的存在是本书画龙点睛的一笔。爱笑的男孩运气都不会太差,他的处世哲学是很值得现在的大多数年轻人学习的。想学会怎么样在保持体面的同时,最大限度的占小便宜吗?想知道怎么样正确的抱大腿,不劳而获吗?想了解如何迅速达成人生目标而不必付出努力吗?那么应大爹这个角色一定是你的榜样。如果人人都如应伯爵,则天朝有望矣!

Czarny Pies

2,684 reviews1 follower

February 24, 2017

As someone who has read fewer than 20 works from the region, I am going to take the liberty of saying that Chin P'ing Mei provides a good introduction to the literature of the Far East. Chin P'ing Mei (written in China in the 16th Century) reminds me of the Dream of the Red Chamber (written in China in the 18th Century) and The Tale of Genji (written in Japan in the 12th Century).
In all three novels most of the action takes place in a noble household. The dominant struggle is amongst the various wives and concubines of the family head who fight to establish a place in the domestic pecking order. As in any war, anything is game. Psychological cruelty is the dominant weapon but physical violence, poisons and other tools are often resorted to. Needless to say under these conditions, the innocent are crushed and the evil triumph. The atmosphere is always claustrophobic. Despite a general drift towards disaster, there are many light and comic moments.
What is different about Chin P'ing Mei is the total absence of human decency in any of the main protagonists who are cruel, capricious and irresponsible. Unlike those in The Dream of the Red Chamber and the Tale of Genji, the principal characters in Chin P'ing Mei have no interest in poetry or the arts. Their sole interest outside of bullying those close to them is having sex as frequently and with as many partners as possible. Thus at the end of the novel when they have all come to bad ends, one feels relieved that divine retribution has finally been meted out. In contrast, at the end of the Dream of the Red Chamber and the Tale of Genji, one experiences melancholy for the suffering that the characters have had to endure.
All three novels paint a similar view of the political structure of the society. The Emperor through his immediate entourage is an absolute tyrant. The only skill that counts is in currying favour with those in higher positions. In addition to flattery and obsequiousness, paying large bribes is also necessary to obtain what one wants.
I think that some research should be done before selecting a translation. I gather in some translations the mind-numbing sequence of sexual encounters have an erotic quality. The Kuhn-Miall translation that I read describes the novel as the "Chinese Decameron" and the work indeed reads like a collection of dirty stories. I consider the Kuhn-Miall approach to highly appropriate. Afterall, what else should a translator do with a work in which the hero dies from an overdose of aphrodisiac pills.

    asian-literature

Sara XuHerondale

387 reviews59 followers

June 18, 2021

I'll give a rating and I'll try to give this book a review once we analyze it in class.

Vo

15 reviews27 followers

Read

April 9, 2015

ngày xưa xem một bộ phim softcore có tên là kim bình mai, không nhớ nội dung nhiều lắm, chỉ thấy trong phim dăm bảy phút lại có cảnh phang nhau ầm ỹ rọn ràng, nên từ đó cứ nghĩ đến kim bình mai là mình nghĩ đến mấy cảnh ái ân. nên truyện kim bình mai thì mình nghĩ là một kiểu dâm thư.
với kiểu mào đầu như thế thì tất nhiên đoạn sau mình sẽ không bảo đây là cuốn dâm thư rồi. mình đọc xong cũng không nghĩ đây là dâm thư, dù có đề cập đến chuyện giường chiếu, nhưng cảnh giường chiếu ở đây kiểu như là hai nhân vật lên giường rồi đèn tắt, khán giả người đọc thích tưởng tượng thế nào thì tưởng.
vậy kim bình mai là gì. kim là phan kim liên, bình là lý bình nhi, còn mai là bàng xuân mai. cuốn sách kể chuyện cuộc đời ba cô gái, mà cũng không phải trong truyện có ba nhân vật kia thôi. mà tác giả mượn cuộc đời của ba cô kia, cả cuộc đời của tây môn khánh, trần tế kính và các nhân vật khác để nêu ra một triết lý sống ở đời thôi.
triết lý đó là gì, đọc ở cuối sách sẽ rõ.
qua cuốn sách nhận thấy cuộc đời phụ nữ thời ấy nó chỉ quanh quẩn trong nhà, nên chồng chết một cái kể như cách ly với toàn xã hội. vì họ ra đường cũng cần có người, đàn ông, đi cùng. vì không tiếp xúc với bên ngoài nên họ không biết, gặp cái gì lạ cũng hoang mang sợ hãi. vì cuộc đời của họ cứ luẩn quẩn trong nhà như vậy, nên kể chuyện về họ cũng khó. ngoài mấy chuyện ăn ngủ ị ra, thì là chuyện các bà vợ lớn vợ bé chành chọe nhau, chuyện đánh chó chửi mèo.. là hết. (tác giả hồng lâu mộng làm chuyên đề về ph�� nữ thì suốt ngày bày đặt làm thơ, ngắm hoa chơi chim các thứ, chả mấy khi nêu hoạt động của họ bên ngoài, nên tập trung vào chuyên môn là kể các chuyện về đàn bà phụ nữ, thế mà cũng bới ra được mấy nghìn trang giấy). cho nên truyện kể về cuộc đời ba cô gái mà người đọc cứ tưởng truyện về cuộc đời anh tây môn khánh.
nói thật là mình thấy anh này cũng có tài, ở cái chỗ khôn khéo trong các món đối đãi lễ nghi với quan chức bề trên, tài trong việc chạy án, tài nhận hối lộ... rồi ăn chơi đủ các thứ cái gì anh cũng biết. quan chức việt nam (quan tham) hiện giờ theo mình biết thì không đọc sách mấy, chứ nếu mà đọc chắc phải gợi ý họ để sách này làm gối đầu giường :)

Mari

55 reviews33 followers

September 24, 2014

Ovim delom se beleži prelaz sa preokupiranosti fantazijom na stvarne ljudske likove, većina kojih pripada buržoaskom sloju u kineskom kontekstu. Likovi su ogoljeni sa svim svojim slabostima i nedostacima. Ovaj roman govori o ljubavi, mržnji, požudi likova koji su uglavnom urbani karakteri, pripadnici novonastalog gradskog staleža. Nikada nećemo reći da se radi o pornografskom delu, ali ako govorimo o erotskim momentima, moramo ih razumeti kao vrlo vešte i promišljene namere autora da nas kroz neke elemente koji su večna ljudska potreba (kao što je zavirivanje u tuđu spavaću sobu) uvede u izuzetno vredne, kontemplativne, filozofski nadahnute i filozofijom natpoljne sadržaje. Međutim, to je samo jedan od aspekata koji ovo delo čine umetnički vrednim. Postoji čitav niz tehničkih književnih aspekata koji ovo delo čine izuzetno važnim, a prividna vulgarnost i erotizacija samo uvode čitaoce u nešto mnogo vrednije i uzvišenije. U Kamasutri je zabaležen čitav niz tehnika koje nisu nimalo naivne – radi se o tehnikama disanja, sekusualnim tehnikama, koje služe da bi se postigla određena duhovna stanja, a u daoističkom kontekstu to se često koristi za postizanje dugovečnosti. U tom smilsu, možemo određene tablete i eliksire za produžavanje seksualne nadraženosti kod muškaraca dovesti u vezu sa direktno daostičkim tehnikama postizanja stanja više svesti, mada je u Ximen-ovom slučaju to sve izvulgarizovano. Kada se već govori o erostskim momentima, budući da su deo daoističke tradicije, nipošto ne smemo s nipodaštavanjem gledati na nešto što predstavlja deo duhovnih napora kineskog ili azijskog čoveka. Kod njih to nije bilo tabuizirano kao kod nas, a kod nas je takođe vidna podela na fizičko i duhovno, nemamo ravnotežu, a na Istoku to nije bio slučaj. Naročito u periodu između dinastije Han i Tang, došlo je do razvoja metafizičkih elemenata i doktrina koje su u vezi sa daoističkim načinom razmišljanja i težile su pronalaženju načina metafizičkog produžetka daoističkog načina razmišljanja putem eliksira besmrtnosti, eliksira koji ispomažu u seksualnim tehnikama i mnogim drugim.

Ono što je tek u novije vreme počelo da se prepoznaje jeste da kineska književnost ovim delom beleži tranziciju sa tematske preokupiranosti romanopisaca istorijskom legendom ili fantazijom na ljudske likove u jednom buržoaskom okruženju, koji su u svakom mogućem smislu lišeni herojstva, veličine i potpuno su realistički ogoljeni sa svim svojim slabostima i nedostacima. To je zapravo predstavljalo mnogo veću bojazan za onoga ko je bio zadužen za cenzuru nego sami erotski elementi, što se može uočiti nakon poređenja sa temama iz romana „Hodočašće na Zapad”, „Tri kraljevstva” i „Odmetnici iz močvare”, gde postoji pregršt epskih i natprirodni elemenata. Delo je prilično čvrste strukture i prepuno je klasične kineske poezije ili poetskih deonica posebno napisanih za tu priliku, koje imaju zadatak da ilustruju pojedine situacije i psihičko stanje likova u romanu, što se lepo sačuvalo i u prevodu. Važno je zapamtiti da se još od priručnika kazivača priča, pa preko drame, do romana, pisci nisu oslobodili poetskih deonica i da je poezija i dalje relevantno izražajno sredstvo.

Pošto je prozna književnost i dalje bila omalovažavana u elitnim krugovima, oni su se okretali imaginativnoj poeziji koja je vrlo zahvalno sredstvo za karakterizaciju. Na pojedinim mestima se pisac služi pesmama prepunim metafora da opiše delikatnu situaciju. Poezija ne služi samo za opis lascivnih scena, već i konfucijanskog odnosa između likova. Zanimljivo je da je i sa naše tačke gledišta, budući da su Kinezi ljubitelji poezije kao neke vrste komunikacijskog ispoljavanja, to zapravo izuzetno korisno, jer bi verovatno bilo teško bez tih poetskih deonica ukazati na psihička stanja likova i na značenje pojedinih situacija na koje one ukazuju veoma asocijativno, a nekad veoma precizno.

Delo je protkano konfucijanskim načelima (kako čovek treba da se ponaša) od kojih se ne može pobeći. Sa druge strane protkano je i budističkim učenjem: idejom karme, gde se svako zlo vraća zlim, i idejom prolaznosti. Elaborira se tipizirani pristup ljudskim naravima. Ovo postavlja model za razvoj kineskog romana ubuduće (npr. „San u crvenoj sobi“). Ovo je PRVI ROMAN KOJI GOVORI O OBIČNIM LJUDIMA. Ono što je važno jeste činjenica da je delo iznenađujuće zrelo za ovu fazu u razvoju kineske fikcije i funkcioniše istovremeno kao jedna vrsta manirističkog romana, a s druge strane i kao alegorija o ljudskoj iskvarenosti, pa ga možemo nazvati i romanom o ljudskoj prirodi ili romanom čovečanstva. U današnjem, a i u ondašnjem kontekstu, delo nas upućuje na čitav niz socioloških pitanja kao što su, pre svega, uloga žene u srednjevekovnoj Kini, zatim seksualna politika i tri izuzetno mračne strane ljudske psihologije, što je čitav niz univerzalnih tema koje nas zapravo dotiču bez obzira o kom periodu ili socio-političkom kontekstu bila reč. Kada je ženska uloga u pitanju, bez obzira što su žene generalno u većem broju, prema ženama se ophode kao prema potlačenima, što za sobom povlači čitav niz etičkih socioloških i političkih pitanja. Postoji cela generacija žena koje nisu htela da pristanu na takvu vrstu deskriminacije već krajem XVIII veka. Kada se radi o ženi u kineskom društvu onda to povlači posebne konotacije budući da opet dolazimo do tog osnovnog konfucijanskog konteksta, premda je on u celini gledano, predstavljao neku vrstu hijerarhijskog priručnika koji omogućava funkcionisanje društva. Uloga žene je bila posebno deskriminisana u kontekstu konfucijanske etike. Pre svega, žena je morala da se vodi doktrinom sancong (三从 sān cóng – trostruka poslušnost), odnosno poslušnošću prema ocu, mužu i sinu. Žena bi i nakon smrti muža bila direktno podređena sinu koji postaje glava porodice. Sa druge strane, ženi je bio onemogućen pristup čitavom nizu društvenih, a kasnije i službeničkih aktivnosti. Naravno, postoje određeni izuzeci kao što je Li Qinzhao iz dinastije Song koja je opet, zahvaljujući sopstvenim ekonomskim sposobnostima, uspela da ostane zapamćena kao žena relativno samostalnog načina razmišljanja i pisac čitavog niza umetnički vrednih poetskih dela. Iako imamo takve slučajeve u kasnijem razdoblju kineske književnosti, zapravo su najslobodnije, najnezavisnije bile žene koje su u potpunosti kršile rigidni kodeks ponašanja koji je bio nametnut konfucijanskim pravilima. Što se tiče seksualne politike na koju nas roman upućuje, to je nešto na šta nikako ne smemo gledati sa podrugivanjem, već kao na aspekt korpusa daoističko-budističkog načina razmišljanja koji je pre svega imao duhovnu ulogu.

Ime romana dugujemo imenima tri glavne junakinje:
1. JIN (金 Jīn) od Pan Jinlian („Zlatni Lotos”)
2. PING (瓶Píng) od Li Ping’er („Gospođa od Vaze”)
3. MEI (梅Chūn) od Pang Chunmei („Prolećna Šljiva)

Radnja romana vrlo je oprezno smeštena u XII vek, a kao okosnica priče poslužio je jedan prilično neznatan, epizodni događaj iz dela „Odmetnici iz močvare” u kom se pominje ta ljubavna veza između trgovca Ximen Qing-a, glavnog junaka, i njegove žene Pan Jinlian („Zlatni Lotos”). Ova epizoda, budući da su oni zajednički počinili zločin, predstavlja razlog zbog koga se Wu Song odmetnuo na planinu Liang. Ta neznatna epizoda proširena je u novu, potpuno drugačiju pripovest.

Brutalnim realizmom roman nas uvodi u taj svet surovog iskorišćavanja ženske potčinjenosti i zloupotrebe kodeksa ponašanja koji se nameće kineskom srednjem sloju, pa na taj način istovremeno predstavlja i roman o ljudskim naravima i jednu vernu i neprolaznu sliku ljudskog života. Prvi put se u kineskom delu može govoriti o uglavnom zaokruženoj psihologijzaciji likova. Možemo da govorimo o zrelosti romana, ali moramo obratiti pažnju na određene vertikale u romanu, jer su likovi ipak na neki način tipizirani, pa se ne radi o pravoj psihologizaciji likova, onoj koju mi poznajemo na Zapadu, već se radi o odgovoru likova na društveni kontekst u kom su oni smešteni. Treba razmišljati koji bi po konfucijanskom kodeksu bio idealan način ponašanja likova u određenim situacijama, i kako se ti likovi zapravo ponašaju. Pisac nam prikazuje potpuno narušavanje konfucijanskog načela od strane likova u romanu. Ako gledamo daositičke motive, koje možemo videti u seksualnim tehnikama (pomagala, tehnike, lekovi itd.), i to je vulgarizovano. Ne možemo videti likove koji se sa više duhovne tačke gledišta upuštaju u te seksualne aktivnosti, nego se služe pomagalima koja zapravo jesu deo duhovnog ispoljavanja seksualnog doživljaja čoveka, ali na vulgaran način.

Delo je protkano i budističkim učenjem. Što se tiče likova u romanu, treba voditi računa o tome koje greške su počinili u životu, a zatim na koji način završavaju u romanu. Kroz ceo roman provlači se izuzetno naglašena i zaokružena ideja karme (svako zlo se zlim vraća), jedan budistički kontekst u kojem se na momente vrlo direktno, vrlo neposredno, zastupa ideja karmičke osvete za ono što su uradili u sadašnjem životu. U slučaju konkubine Pan Jinlian to je najdrastičnije. Budući da je ona neka vrsta zlobnog spletkaroša i predstavlja određenu vrstu promiskuiteta, i sam njen kraj je stravičan. Scena njene smrti je i sada, posle 400 godina, izuzetno potresna, šokantna i jeziva. Ne smemo smetnuti sa uma da je ona već u prvim poglavljima romana u saradnji sa Ximen Qing-om, koji takođe završava na vrlo bedan način, počinila strašan zločin i ubila svog prvog muža. Ovaj događaj ovlaš se pominje u Shui Huzhuan-u. Poslužio je kao okosnica priče i uveo nas je u celu pripoved, u sve zločinačke i ostale aktivnosti drugih junaka.

Ideja karme kao ideja mogućnosti iskupljivanja na određeni način, oličena je u činjenici da Ximen Qing-ov jedini sin, koji je rođen prilikom njegove smrti, na izvestan način postaje karmička zamena, odnosno karmičko iskupljenje za sopstvenog oca. U romanu se pominje stara izreka da jedan duhovnik u porodici, tj. budistički monah, iskupljuje 9 predaka. Ime Ximen-ovog 15-godišnjeg sina je vrlo specifično – Wu Xing, odnosno prosvetljenje. Kad malo dublje uđemo u budističku analizu, odnosno u analizu budističkih doktrina, to takođe navodi na činjenicu da je zapravo njegov zadatak da karmičkim prosvetljenjem iskupi grehe svoje porodice. Budizam zapravo govori o karmičkim promenama, o novim karmama kroz koje svi mi prolazimo i o retkim duhovno prosvetljenim pojedincima.

Svi ženski likovi, ali i muški, imaju izrazite osobenosti arhetipova i, ako možemo da govorimo o nekakvoj vrsti zaokružene psihologizacije likova, onda to nije zaokružena psihologizacija u Zapadnom smislu reči, nego zaokružena psihologizacija u smislu razvoja jednog lika u vezi sa kontaktom, naravno, konfucijanskim kontaktom, odnosno društvenim kontaktom u koji su oni postavljeni. Ako govorimo o zaokruženosti njihovih životnih priča, opet je tipologizacija u pitanju, jer se tu rukovodimo budističkim elementima. Dakle, ne možemo da izbegnemo ni jedan, ni drugi, ni treći misaoni kompleks. Svi su kineski misaoni kompleksi relevantno uključeni, imaju izuzetno važnu ulogu u celokupnom romanu. U pozadini su upriličeni šokovi namenjeni čitaocu. Ti sugestivni slobodni opisi erotskih scena i detalja koji su posledica pre svega toga što je pisac želeo da nas vrlo mudro uvede u vanredno visoko umetničko umeće, u jedan izuzetno dubok filozofsko-misaoni kompleks, ali i posledica onovremene uvrežene prakse viših slojeva da u taostičkim i budističkim učenjima pristupaju tom vođenju ljubavi kao jednom psihofizičkom umeću koje se pojačava raznovrsnim afrodizijacima, tu praksu poznajemo još iz vremena nastanka ovakvih metafizičkih učenja, naročito u vreme Prelaznog perioda. Pre svega, u pitanju je vrlo vešta nameri autora da zadrži pažnju čitaoca, gledaoca, publike elementima koji su u tom večitom tabuiziranom fokusu čoveka. Ovo je namera koju mi otkrivamo na pravi način tek u modernizmu, a možda je ni do danas nismo otkrili.

Zanimljiv je kontekst u kom upoznajemo Pan Jinlian, a koji utiče na njen život. Ona se se svim silama bori za svoju sigurnost i moć, kao kompenzaciju za životnu pozadinu. Rođena kao neka vrsta roba (majka ju je još kao devojčicu prodala), a zatim se udaje za Wu Song-ovog brata, koji je fizički neprijatan. Zbog nesigurnosti kojima je bila izložena u svojoj mladosti, ona se bori za moć, pokazuje izuzetnu okrutnost prema suparnicima. U nemogućnosti da ukloni frustracije koje joj se nameću čitavim nizom okolnosti, ona se sadistički odnosi prema drugim likovima u romanu. Nemilosrdna je kao ubica svog prvog muža i sina Li Ping’er, kao i u ophođenju prema svojoj poćerki (ćerki Ximen-a). Tokom prvih pokušaja da osvoji svoju sreću, ona osvaja simpatije čitaoca, s obzirom da je život započela kao seksualni rob.

Li Ping’er („Gospođa od Vaze”) je veoma neobičan lik. Ona je najpre udovica Ximen Qing-ovog prijatelja, potom Ximen-ova naložnica (ljubavnica), a zatim i njegova žena. Ona je takođe veoma interesantan lik, jer se na njenom primeru pokazuje pre svega izuzetno dirljiva, izuzetno čista ljubav prema Ximen Qing-u. Zrači pravom materinskom ljubavlju, podleže tugi zbog sopstvenog deteta koje je ubijeno zahvaljujući spletkama Zlatnog Lotosa.

Sluškinja Chun Mei („Prolećna Šljiva”) je veoma interesantan lik. Ona isprva trpi nepravde, a čak nemamo ni previše uvoda u njene psihološke porive ili promene, i znamo samo da se ponaša kao podređena služavka Zlatnog Lotosa. Onog trenutka kad pod određenim okolnostima dođe u životnu situaciju gde je ona u stanju da više ne trpi nepravde, već da se zapravo nadređeno odnosi prema ljudima oko sebe, Prolećna Šljiva postaje kopija svog ugnjetavača Pan Jinlian. U nekoliko slučajeva neuspelog ljubavnog udvaranja, osvetoljubivo nanosi nepravdu drugima i na kraju skončava usled prevelikog bludničenja i prevelikog seksualnog apetita.

Još jedan lik je važan, a to je Ximen Qing, trgovac koji se bavi apotekarstvom i berzom svile, korumpirani sudija u saradnji sa lokalnim činovnicima. Uopšteno rečeno, pripovest prati njegov život od uspona, slave i bogatstva, sve do propasti i smrti. Roman se nastavlja i posle njegove smrti i bavi se članovima njegovog domaćinstva i njegovim ženama, kao i sudbinom koja ih je zatekla nakon njegovog večnog odlaska. Kao glavni muški protagonista, uglavnom je jedan običan, tipičan poslovni čovek koji je posvećen pravljenju novca, ali tu svu energiju utrošenu u poslovanje nadoknađuje sofisticiranim i vrlo raznobrojnim seksualnim zadovoljstvima, ne samo sa svojih šest žena (kineski muški članovi društva mogli su da imaju više žena u zavisnosti od položaja u društvu), već i sa služavkama, prostitutkama u bordelima itd. Ta njegova mračna zadovoljstva su na momente vrlo iscrpno opisana, ali čak se i u njegovom slučaju odstupilo od naglašeno kontrastirane portretizacije kakvu imamo recimo sa fikcionalizovanim istorijskim likovima u „Romanu o Tri kraljevstva“, gde su veoma kontrastno crno-beli likovi. Kod Ximen Qing-a uopšte nije takav slučaj, iako je on odan čitavom nizu tih nečasnih zadovoljstava, odnosno ne može da se odupre tim porivima koji ga na kraju vode i njegovom tragičnom kraju. On je povremeno prikazan kao vrlo vesela, dopadljiva i na momente velikodušna osoba, ili osoba koja je u stanju da, ako ništa drugo, pokazuje privremena duboka osećanja prema drugim likovima. On je makar na trenutke sposoban za istinska osećanja i retko kad je on predmet pravog piščevog podsmeha. Sve te nezakonite radnje (bilo da su u pitanju poslovne radnje ili njegova želja i težnja za seksualnim, fizičkim zadovoljstvima) predstavljaju zapravo nešto što je svakodnevica kineskog čoveka njegovog ranga u to doba. Lu Xun navodi kako „roman daje realnu sliku života” u to vreme.

    far-east read-for-college

Eressea

1,686 reviews68 followers

June 9, 2019

十幾年後重讀,還是一堆詞看不懂
為啥繡像本比較流行卻沒有人寫注釋
短期內應該不太可能再去看里仁版詞話本啊
只好讀一回正文讀一回秋水堂論金瓶梅
但這樣看法都被牽著走Orz

不過家裡的那本果然是潔本
這回重看想說怎麼那麼多R18橋段一點印象也沒有
難怪高三時代班導看很閒的我在翻金瓶梅的時候特別關切
我卻覺得這樣的內容有啥好關切的
原來是看到潔本XDDD

為了不被同一本論的影響太多
決定多看一本:雪隐鹭鸶——《金瓶梅》的声色与虚无
(其實是又被亞馬遜精準投放了XD)

    中文古典小說-chinese-classical-fiction 正體書-tranditional-chinese

吕不理

373 reviews42 followers

September 21, 2020

终于看完了金瓶梅 不高兴 不喜欢 不耐烦看 但看硬是逼自己看完了。我发誓以后看不下去的东西就作罢。漫长的一百回竟没有一个令我喜欢的人物 因为太现实 每个人的嘴脸都可恶又可气 都是纸片人 充满了纯粹的世俗和大大小小的恶。当黄色读物来看吧又不够美不够带劲。

可能是因为文学是我逃离现实/认识自我的途径吧 都做不到的话我就爱不起来。

二六 侯

602 reviews29 followers

February 15, 2019

潘金蓮的真愛其實是龐春梅(蓋章)。

    film-adaption historical-fiction novels

Tea Jovanović

Author393 books740 followers

April 27, 2018

Integralna verzija kineskog klasika "Šljivin cvet u vazi od zlata", u 100 poglavlja (srpski prevod od pre 50 godina sadrži samo prvih 49 poglavlja)

Helmut

1,054 reviews62 followers

February 26, 2013

Der fünfte große Klassiker

Nun bin ich also endlich bei einem weiteren der großen chinesischen Klassiker gelandet, dem Jin Ping Mei. Wurde es früher zu den "Großen 4" gezählt, hat es seinen Platz heutzutage an das Hongloumeng verloren. Wieso es nur 4 große und nicht 5 große Romane geben darf, kann man sich nur durch die typisch chinesische Abscheu vor Traditionsbrüchen erklären, denn zweifellos gehört das Jin Ping Mei qualitätsmäßig in die gleiche Riege wie das Sanguoyanyi ("Drei Königreiche"), Xiyouji ("Reise nach Westen"), Hongloumeng ("Traum der roten Kammer") und Shuihuzhuan ("Räuber vom Liangschan Moor"). Letzteres wird auch als Vorlagengeber genutzt: Die Handlung und viele Personen sind ein Abzweiger, oder wie man heute sagt, "spin-off", aus der Wu-Song-Episode, einem der beliebtesten und besten Teile des Shuihuzhuan.

Seinen Ruhm zieht es hauptsächlich wohl aus seinem leicht anrüchigen Charakter: Ein erotischer Roman, in dem es um die amourösen Verwicklungen eines reichen Lebemanns mit seiner Frau und seinen 5 Konkubinen, sowie diversen Prostituierten und Dienstmägden geht, hat genug Sprengkraft, um sogar heutzutage im prüden kommunistischen China nicht wirklich gern gesehen zu werden. Dabei ist er für heutige, "Feuchtgebiete"-gestählte Leser doch äußerst zahm; und die erotischen Stellen sind auch, trotz des Themas, eher dünn gesät. In Wahrheit ist dieser Roman nämlich ein handwerkliches Kunstwerk, das auf praktisch jeder Seite mindestens ein Zitat, direkt oder indirekt, aus anderen Werken enthält. Es ist also das "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" der Ming-Zeit.

Die deutsche, vollständige und textnahe Übersetzung der Gebrüder Kibat aus den 20er Jahren des letzten Jahrhunderts ist, wie Herausgeber Franke in seinem Vorwort anmerkt, die einzige deutsche Volltextübersetzung eines der chinesischen Klassiker (die aktuelle Neuübersetzung des Hongloumeng gehört nun wohl auch dazu), und die Kibats machen ihre Arbeit hervorragend: Eine sehr lesbare Sprache, nur leicht veraltet, die die erotischen Aspekte nicht kaschiert oder auch nur abmildert, und die auch die häufig auftretenden Gedichte überträgt: Auf die Nachreimung der Gedichte hätte ich allerdings ebenso verzichten können (freier Reim wäre hier angemessener) wie auf die Eindeutschung mancher Orts- und Personennamen, doch das sind nur minimale Störfaktoren am Rande, und die vorliegende Übersetzung ist daher der unsäglichen Nachdichtung Franz Kuhns meilenweit überlegen, die ungerechterweise trotz ihrer offensichtlichen starken Qualitätsmängel immer noch verbreiteter ist als das wunderbare Kibatsche Ausnahmewerk.

Stärker wiegt dann für den an authentischen Texten interessierten Leser die Tatsache, dass die Kibats die B- oder C-Textform des Jin Ping Mei als Vorlage für ihre Übersetzung verwendeten - was man ihnen nicht ankreiden kann, denn die älteste und wohl authentischste A-Fassung (auf der dann die aktuellste englische Übersetzung von David Tod Roy, The Plum in the Golden Vase Or, beruht, die noch deutlich besser gelungen ist) wurde erst 1932 wiederentdeckt. Gerade die ersten Kapitel wurden von einem unbekannten Epigonen des Autors stark verändert, um den Roman massentauglicher zu gestalten.

Die Aufmachung kommt dann auch zum gelungenen Inhalt entsprechend edel daher: 5 schön und passend zueinander gestaltete Hardcover, angenehmes Papier, vernünftige Reproduktion der Holzschnittillustrationen, und ein kleiner, aber feiner Kommentarband zu chinesischen Gewohnheiten und kulturellen Eigenheiten.

Letztlich kann ich nur nochmals appellieren: Lasst den ollen Kuhn endlich ruhen, und lest dieses Meisterwerk der Weltliteratur in einer angemessenen Fassung, wenn schon nicht die Roy's, dann wenigstens die der Kibats.

    china

Kuszma

2,560 reviews223 followers

September 21, 2019

Pornográf irodalom több mint 800 oldalon – azért ez első blikkre meglehetősen meredek. Na jó, a Szép asszonyok egy gazdag házban azért jóval több ennél: a XVI. századi kínai társadalom érzékletes bemutatása*, különös tekintettel a női-férfi viszonyra, a merev érintkezési formák mögött szikrázó pozícióharcokra, a tisztviselői korrupcióra, illetve a bürokráciát az európainál is jobban meghatározó uram-bátyám jellegre. (Ami azt illeti, ez a könyv – különösen a második kötet – meglepően sok releváns információval lát el minket az adott társadalmi berendezkedésről, pláne elődeivel összevetve kirívó a különbség.) Az, hogy időnként kapunk az arcunkba ilyen halhatatlan aranyigazságokat, mint például: „A szeretőt megtartó tudomány:/játssz, kicsi nő, a bíborfuvolán!” – hát Istenem, most mit csináljunk. A keleti irodalmi hagyományban a szexualitás nem akkora tabu, mint a korabeli keresztény világban, így a tény, hogy ízelítőt kapunk kínai szexmódszertanból, nem sokban különbözik Dumas eljárásától, amikor párbajokat told a szövegbe, hogy pörögjenek a dolgok. Meg aztán van itt normális gyilkosság is, kérem szépen, nincs miért aggódnunk.

Ez a könyv egyébként is lényegesen „európaibb” olvasmány, mint közvetlen előzményei, a Vízparti történet, vagy a Nyugati utazás. Van lineárisan rajzolható története, (viszonylag) behatárolható számú szereplőket mozgat, akik önálló karaktert kapnak** – bár a jellemábrázolásnak azért azt a fokát nem éri el, amit a nyugat-európai prózában megszokhattunk. Ezek az elemek meglepően jól olvasható, „haladós” szöveggé teszik a könyvet, ugyanakkor megmaradnak azok a kínai prózára jellemző ízek, amikért az ínyencek rajonganak: a szépség és a forma mélységes tisztelete. Élvezetes, tartalmas, tanulságos könyv, helyenként igazán átélhető atmoszférát teremt, jól szórakoztam rajta. Bár a kínai neveket továbbra sem tudom megkülönböztetni egymástól.

(Megjegyz.: Mátrai Tamás fordítása egy német szövegből készült, aminek nyilván megvannak a hátrányai. Például a buddhista szerzetesek leírásánál a katolikus terminológia kifejezései bukkannak fel, úgymint klastrom vagy novícius, ami minimum félrevezető. Érdekes lenne tudni, egy eredeti nyelvből történő, rigorózus magyarítás mennyiben változtatná meg a szöveg hangulatát… esetleg ez az „európaiság” csak illúzió, egy fordítói koncepció, nem pedig a szöveg eredeti jellemzője…)

*Amúgy a cselekmény hivatalosan a XIII. században játszódik, de ez meglehet, csak írói trükk – ismeretlen tollforgatónk talán szándékosan antedatálja a történetet, hogy bátrabban beszélhessen a jelen problémáiról.
**Ami értelmezésemben azt jelenti, hogy jóízűen lehet utálni őket. Itt van például ez az Aranylótusz. Tisztára Merteuil márkiné a Veszedelmes viszonyokból. Ronda dög.

Ally Yang

943 reviews15 followers

July 26, 2022

[2022.07.11_85]

田曉菲認為「《金瓶梅》是一部秋天的書:始於秋天,終於秋天,秋涼無時無刻不在威脅著盛夏的繁華。」(p.126) 小說確實在第一回就說了:「堆金積玉,是棺材內帶不去的瓦礫泥沙;貫朽粟紅,是皮囊內裝不盡的臭淤糞土。高堂廣廈,玉宇瓊樓,是墳山上起不得的享堂;錦衣繡襖,狐服貂裘,是骷髏上裹不了的敗絮。」金瓶梅寫極了奢縻繁華,也寫盡了頹毀淒涼,隨著所有人物成住壞空,愈發明白酒色權財永遠都會在眾生之間流轉,只是時代人物不同。

年初因為連續看到楊佳嫻《小火山群》及張曼娟《我輩中人》皆提到《金瓶梅》,又剛好在臉書看到推薦田曉菲的評論本,覺得冥冥中書神指路,是時候讀這部經典了。

常識只曉得避掉潔本,博客來及電書平台找過一輪,決定了讀墨的南港山文史工作室版本,讀了才曉得正是田曉菲論文中極力讚揚的繡像本,《金瓶梅》搭配《秋水堂論金瓶梅》逐回參照,雖不時被爆雷,但很多細節得以看到,獲益良多。

較之《紅樓夢》如同白話文,《金瓶梅》的年代更為久遠,經常出現不解其意的詞句,這時電子書的查詢功能就非常方便。這次選書、閱讀的過程一切順利,是一大幸事。

完整讀過一遍《金瓶梅》,彷彿走過一世,有種氣力盡空,被狠狠剝了一層皮的虛脫感。最後讀《沒有神的所在》緩緩回神。較之《金瓶梅》繡像本及《秋水堂論金瓶梅》,本書算是輕鬆小品,對於明朝社會背景的補充說明,提供閱讀《金瓶梅》時很大的幫助。關於人物的內心世界,尤其是文本中沒有明白說出來的那些推測,也有很多有趣且深入的見解。作者對於部分主角人物,有全面性完整篇幅的探討,是本書最大的優點。

但光就文本本身的分析、蘭陵笑笑生寫作的一慣的脈絡所給予的指示、甚至是作者這些分析所據的究竟是什麼版本,以及遺失的那五篇中的錯誤,這些全都沒有提及。作為入門是不錯的選擇。

----------------

第一次知道「五短身才」沒有貶義,李瓶兒第十三回出場,便是這個形容。(繡相本)

    2022 readmoo review

Martha

Author14 books28 followers

September 18, 2016

This great Chinese pornographic classic is a spin-off of a favorite passage and beloved character in Shui Hu Chuan, The Water Margin. Probably the word "pornographic" is informative enough, but the juicy bits in this translation are in Latin which is pretty funny. Beyond that, the family life described in this novel is fascinating and complex. The characters are complex and interesting and the ending of the novel is nothing if not redemptive.

JLo Tran

93 reviews5 followers

May 6, 2018

Kim Bình Mai được biết đến là một bộ tiểu thuyết đầu tiên mà cốt truyện hoàn toàn là hư cấu, sáng tạo cá nhân của văn học Trung Quốc. Tác phẩm này được đánh giá là một trong tứ đại kỳ thư viết về nhân tình thế thái.
Kim Bình Mai đến nay vẫn chưa xác định được tác giả chính xác của bộ tiểu thuyết này, ngoài cái tên làm bút hiệu là Tiếu Tiếu Sinh.

Theo cuốn Vạn Lịch dã hoạch biên, Thẩm Đức Phù chỉ nói tác giả là một “đại danh sĩ” thời Gia Tĩnh (niên hiệu vua Minh Thế Tông từ 1522 đến 1566). Ý kiến này có thể xác đáng, vì thời gian sáng tác và thời gian sống của tác giả là tương đối trùng hợp.

Tuy nhiên điều này cũng chỉ là phán đoán, qua tác phẩm người ta thấy tác giả dùng tiếng địa phương Sơn Đông rất thành thạo, nên người đời sau mới phỏng đoán rằng tác giả của Kim Bình Mai rất có thể là người Sơn Đông và có quãng thời gian sinh sống ở Bắc Kinh. Chính vì thế mà bối cảnh trong tác phẩm được xây dựng lên từ đó.

Nếu như ‘tứ đại danh tác‘ của Trung Hoa là Tam quốc diễn nghĩa, Thủy hử, Tây du ký, Hồng Lâu Mộng, thì ‘tứ đại kỳ thư’ lại thay thế Hồng Lâu Mộng bằng Kim Bình Mai.

Tại sao một tác phẩm nhiều chi tiết ‘có vấn đề’ như Kim Bình Mai lại được đánh giá là một trong tứ đại kì thư sau: Tam quốc diễn nghĩa, Thủy hử, Tây du ký? Phải chăng có thông điệp ẩn chứa bên trong?

Nội dung trong Kim Bình Mai, miêu tả về cuộc đời nhiều tội ác và trụy lạc của nhân vật Tây Môn Khánh, hiệu Tứ Truyền, là người Thanh Hà, vốn là chủ một hiệu thuốc nhưng không ưa đọc sách, chỉ giỏi chơi bời phóng đãng, lại kết bạn với một bọn du côn đàng điếm.

Qua hình tượng Tây Môn Khánh, tác giả rất chân thực gây dựng lên một hình tượng mà biểu lộ phần con nhiều hơn phần người trong từ ‘‘con người’’. Hoàn toàn đam mê hưởng thụ, những thú vui khoái lạc lấn át đi cả phần lý trí.

Mặc dù Tây Môn Khánh đã có 1 vợ chính và thêm 3 người thiếp, nhưng cái thú trụy lạc trong ông ta chưa bao giờ thấy đủ. Chính vì phần ma tính dẫn lối mà khi thấy Phan Kim Liên vợ của Võ Đại (được nhắc tới trong Thủy Hử là Võ Đại Lang) có nhan sắc xinh đẹp tuyệt trần, liền lập mưu giết chồng đoạt vợ.

Lưới trời như còn quá thưa mà lọt mất Tây Môn Khánh, khi Võ Tòng em trai Võ Đại báo thù, thì giết lầm người khác nên Tây Môn Khánh lại ung dung trong lối sống trụy lạc.

Sau này nhờ thông đồng với quan lại, Tây Môn Khánh trở thành một cường hào. Sau lại luồn cúi mua chuộc và kết thân với Thái Kinh, một trọng thần của triều đình. Y nhận ông này là cha nuôi, thì Tây Môn Khánh được làm một chức quan trong việc xử án ở huyện. Quyền hành cùng với những thú tính mạnh mẽ, ông ta một tay che trời, uy hiếp dân lành, đổi trắng thay đen, ăn chơi hưởng lạc.

Sự phóng đãng trụy lạc khi có tiền, có địa vị khiến ông ta phải nhận một trái đắng là đau đớn thống khổ, bạo bệnh dày xéo thân xác cho tới chết.

Xưa vì thân xác kia mà cung phụng, vì hưởng lạc mà phạm tội, thì nay khi bệnh hoạn, cái thân kia chẳng thể cứu ông ta, tiền bạc địa vị không thể mua được nữa. Nằm đó mà nếm sự đau đớn tột cùng, sống không được, chết chẳng xong.

Đây là cái giá của những kẻ sống mà ham mê hưởng thụ trụy lạc, phóng túng đạo đức mà tội ác gây ra cao như núi. Lưới trời tuy thưa mà khó lọt, kẻ đồi trụy có thể không bị người đời báo oán ngay sinh thời, nhưng cũng chẳng thể ung dung mà nhởn nhơ với luật nhân quả. Nhân gieo đó có thể chưa cho quả ngay, quả có thể đến muộn, nhưng không có nghĩa là không đến. Quả là một bài học mang tính giáo huấn thông qua nhân vật Tây Môn Khánh này.

Những nhân vật nữ trong tác phẩm, những kẻ thuận theo sự trụy lạc của Tây Môn Khánh mà ô uế phẩm hạnh đạo đức của một nữ nhân, cũng chẳng kẻ nào thoát khỏi, kẻ bị giết, kẻ bị bán, kẻ cũng bị chết do chính những cái thú tính mà mình gây ra.

Đến đây người đời như chợt hiểu, nhân quả là một sợi dây định mệnh vô hình mà uy lực vô cùng mạnh mẽ. Nhân quả không chỉ đến với những kẻ chủ chốt gieo rắc tội ác, mà còn đến với những kẻ bị lôi kéo, những vai phụ trong vở diễn độc ác kia cũng chẳng ngoại trừ.

Có một tầng ý nghĩa nữa trong Kim Bình Mai. Đó là mặc dù Tây Môn Khánh và những kẻ thông gian với hắn trốn thoát được báo oán của người đời, nhưng tới gần cuối chuyện, thì người đọc lại thấy sự loạn lạc của thế thời.

Nhiều nhà bình luận văn học cho rằng, đó chính là thuận theo thiên ý. Bởi con người khi không còn xứng đáng là một con người, người không trị được ắt có trời trị. Điều này khiến ta một lần suy ngẫm, vậy bài học nhân sinh sâu sắc của Kim Bình Mai chính là lời nhắc nhở về giữ gìn đạo lý, lối sống đó mới là cuộc sống của con người. Nuông chiều cung phụng bản thân, đi theo tiếng gọi thú tính, đồi trụy trong hành vi và tư tưởng sẽ chẳng có chỗ mà dung thân.

Tới đây thì ta cũng gần như sáng tỏ được lối hành văn trong Kim Bình Mai và thủ pháp nghệ thuật của tác giả. Nếu như thời đó người ta dựa vào những nhân vật lịch sử, sự kiện lịch sử mà gây dựng tác phẩm, thì ở Kim Bình Mai lại là sự phản ánh trần trụi một cách chân thật.

Mượn cái mà khó chấp nhận nhưng âm thầm tồn tại để nhắc nhở thế nhân. Đây được gọi là thủ pháp ngược. Chính vì vậy mà Kim Bình Mai mang nét đặc sắc riêng biệt phía sau cái nổi bề mặt đáng phê phán là một tảng băng chìm với triết lý và bài học thâm sâu.

Con người khi có đạo đức thì được Thần Phật phù hộ, khi đã không còn câu thúc của đạo đức và trở nên bại hoại thì sẽ gặp nhân quả báo ứng. (Ảnh: Pinterest.com)
Quay đầu là bờ, con người từ nay bước trên con đường tu hành chịu khổ chính là tự mình trả nợ nghiệp thế gian

Có một tình tiết đáng chú ý là gặp cảnh thế thời loạn lạc, Nguyệt Nương dắt đứa con trai độc nhất của họ Tây Môn là Hiếu Ca trốn chạy. Trên đường thì gặp một nhà sư, vị tăng này đã cho biết Hiếu Ca chính là kiếp sau của Tây Môn Khánh, phải xuất gia quy y Phật mới khỏi nạn. Nghe lời, Nguyệt Nương bèn gửi con vào cửa Phật, sau trở thành nhà sư Minh Ngộ.

Tới đây người đọc có phần vỡ ra một lẽ, trong luân hồi tạo nghiệp, cái món nợ nghiệp đó sẽ phải trả từ kiếp này tới kiếp khác, chưa hết được thì vẫn cứ phải trong luân hồi mà chịu khổ đau để hoàn nghiệp.

Lối giải thoát của con người chính là quy y Phật Pháp, bước trên con đường tu hành, chịu khổ, chịu nạn mà cam tâm nguyện ý chịu đựng. Một lòng không oán thán bởi những tội lỗi mà mình gây ra.

Ở đây thông điệp của tác phẩm rất rõ ràng, con người lựa chọn tiếp tục cho luân hồi hay tìm con đường giải thoát?

Giải thoát không có nghĩa là chạy trốn khỏi món nợ trần gian mà thành Phật. Mà chính là chấp nhận chịu cái khổ trong muôn vàn cái khổ để hoàn trả nợ nghiệp, rũ bỏ bụi trần. Từ giáo lý nhà Phật mà minh bạch ra nhân quả cuộc đời, biết buông đi và biết hành theo lời Phật. Để từ đó giải thoát chính mình khỏi chính những món nợ nghiệp mà mình đã từng tạo.

Biết buông đi và biết hành theo lời Phật để từ đó giải thoát chính mình khỏi chính những món nợ nghiệp mà mình đã từng tạo. (Ảnh: Khaimo.com)
Có những ẩn ý rất sâu sắc trong Kim Bình Mai. Khi người đời nhìn vào những gì nổi trội bề mặt rồi vội vàng phê phán, thậm chí bài xích. Nhưng ẩn chứa bên trong hay tảng băng chìm của tác phẩm lại nằm ở những tình tiết khiến người đời như ngỡ ngàng bởi sự thâm sâu của nó. Có lẽ đó chính là lý do mà Kim Bình Mai được bình chọn là một trong tứ đại kì thư của văn học Trung Quốc.

    fantasy story

Đào Kiên

218 reviews33 followers

April 20, 2024

Cày nguyên đêm :v. Khúc đầu khoảng 200 trang hay nhất, drama dày đặc, thú vị. Nhưng về sau từ lúc Kim Liên nhập thiếp thì bắt đầu lan man, tình tiết xào lại liên tục, ... nói chung k còn hấp dẫn nữa.

    2-read-foreign-fictions read-in-2024

Barack Liu

540 reviews18 followers

March 2, 2024


509-Jin Ping Mei-Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng-Novel-1617

Barack
2024/03/03

"Jin Ping Mei" was first published in the 45th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1617). It is a long vernacular novel about world affairs in China during the Ming Dynasty. It is generally considered to be the first chapter-style novel independently created by a literati in China. The title of the book is a combination of one character from the names of the three heroines Pan Jinlian, Li Ping'er, and Pang Chunmei. The theme of the novel evolved from the scene of Wu Song's murder of his sister-in-law in "Water Margin". It reproduces the appearance of social life at that time through the description of Ximen Qing, a representative of the philistine forces who has three identities: bureaucrat, bully, and wealthy businessman, and his family's sinful life. , depicts a ghostly world that ranges from the imperial master who wields power and dictatorship, to local bureaucrats and bullies, and even local ruffians, hooligans, and gangsters. It exposes the darkness and corruption of society in the mid-Ming Dynasty and has profound cognitive value. "Jin Ping Mei" is listed as the first of the "Four Wonderful Books" of the Ming Dynasty ("Jin Ping Mei", "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin" and "Journey to the West").

"Jin Ping Mei" has three Chinese version systems. Zhang commented on this system. Zhang's commentary is "Jin Ping Mei", the most extraordinary book criticized by Zhang Zhupo. In the early Qing Dynasty, Zhang Zhupo commented on the Chongzhen version. After that, the Commentary version became very popular, and the Chongzhen version was replaced by Zhang's Commentary version. Chongzhen system. It is a version printed during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty. This book has 200 woodcut illustrations. Its full name is "New Embroidered Portraits Criticizing the Plum in the Jin Ping", so it is also called the Embroidered Portraits. It was later polished and processed by the literati. The text is more standardized and more literary, but in the early stage The simple style was affected, and there was some color of scholar-official preaching. Word script system. Also known as the Wanli version, it is the version of "Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua" engraved during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. It is an early version, with folk rap colors, and the language and narrative are relatively simple and original.

Lan Ling smiled. The man's true identity has become a historical mystery. "Landing" is the county commander, and "Xiaoxiaosheng" is the author. Lanling Town, Lanling County, Shandong Province, and Wujin County, Jiangsu Province were both named "Lanling" in ancient times. However, judging from the extensive use of the Shandong dialect in the book, the author should be from Shandong, not Wujin County, Jiangsu Province. "Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng" is just a pen name, who is it? The preface to Xinxinzi in this volume is followed by a postscript to "Jin Ping Mei" written by Neng Gong. The first sentence of Nin Gong's postscript says, ""Jin Ping Mei Zhuan" is a masterpiece of the Shimiao Dynasty." Ming Shen Defu's "Wanli Yehuo Bian" states: It is said to be "written by a great celebrity during the Jiajing period." That is to say, "Xiaoxiaosheng" was a "big master" and a "great celebrity" during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. Whether he is a "great master" or a "big celebrity", he still has no real name. This leaves ample room for future generations to study the author of "Jin Ping Mei". The author of "Jin Ping Mei" has become the "Goldbach Conjecture" in the study of "Jin Ping Mei", and as many as 60 people have proposed it so far. The most influential ones are Wang Shizhen's theory, Ding Chun, Ding Weining and his son's theory, Jia Sanjin's theory, etc.

Wang Shizhen was born in Taicang Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, South Zhili Province (now Taicang City, Jiangsu Province) in 1526 and died in 1590. Writer and historian of the Ming Dynasty. In the 26th year of Jiajing's reign (1547), he was a Jinshi. He successively served as the Zuo Temple of Dali Temple, a member of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs, a foreign minister and a doctor, a deputy envoy to the Qingzhou Bingbei Envoy to Shandong, a political counselor to the left in Zhejiang, and an envoy to Shanxi. During the Wanli period, he served as the envoy to Huguang and the Right Envoy to Guangxi. Chief envoy and governor of Yunyang, he was dismissed and returned to his hometown for his evil deeds against Zhang Juzheng. After Zhang Juzheng's death, Wang Shizhen returned to Yingtian Prefecture Yin and Nanjing Ministry of War Minister. Wang Shizhen, Li Panlong, Xu Zhongxing, Liang Youyu, Zongchen, Xie Zhen, and Wu Guolun are collectively known as the "Later Seven Sons". After Li Panlong's death, Wang Shizhen dominated the literary world for twenty years. He is the author of "Four Manuscripts of Yanzhou Mountain Man", "Four Collections of Yanshan Hall", "The First Assistant Biography since Jiajing", "Yiyuan Yan Yan", "Gu Bu Gu Lu", etc.

Table of Contents (Jin Ping Mei, the first wonder book criticized by Zhang Zhupo - Qilu Publishing House - 1987)
The first time Ximen Qingre and his tenth brother Wu Erlang met his brother and sister-in-law coldly
The second episode of Qiao Panniang seducing the old lady in the teahouse and talking about her skills
In the third episode, the king's mother-in-law will be wiped out for accepting bribes and setting up traps for the prodigal son to pick him up privately.
The fourth trip to Wushan Pan's Youxiu Tea House and Brother Yun's Indignation
Chapter 5: Brother Yun plans to catch the adulterer and drink poisonous medicine, causing great disaster to Wu.
Chapter 6: Jiu accepted bribes and concealed the truth from the king's mother-in-law.
Chapter 95: Da'an'er steals jade and gets married, Wu Dian'en is heartbroken and humiliated
Ninety-sixth Rejuvenation Sister Mei visited her old home in Chiguan and Yang Guangyan faced the jackal
Chapter 97: The fake brother and sister secretly continue Luan Jiao and the real couple live happily together
Chapter 98 Chen Jingji meets old acquaintance Han Aijie meets her lover in Cuiguan in the Qing Dynasty
Chapter 99 Liu Er drunkenly scolded Wang Liuer and Zhang Sheng eavesdropped on Zhang Jingji
Chapter 100: Sister Han Ai encounters two troublemakers on the road, Master Pu Jing, and visits Brother Xiao

Table of Contents(Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua-Hong Kong Meng Mei Pavilion-1993)
Chapter 1: Wu Song fights a tiger in Jingyanggang and Pan Jinlian suspects her husband of being a philanderer
The second time Ximen Qing met Jin Lian Wang Po under the curtain, taking bribes and flirting
Chapter 3: Wang Po ordered ten pieces of tricks to expose Ximen Qing's teahouse drama, Jin Lian
Chapter 98: Chen Jingji opens a big shop in Linqing, Han Aijie meets her lover in Cuiguan
Chapter 99 Liu Er drunkenly scolded Wang Liuer and Zhang Sheng killed Chen Jingji in anger.
Chapter 100: Han Aijie Lake seeks out her parents, Master Pujing recommends her, and resolves the grievances

Table of Contents(Jin Ping Mei Ci words and annotations-Yuelu Publishing House-1995)
Chapter 1: Wu Song fights a tiger in Jingyanggang and Pan Jinlian suspects her husband of being a philanderer
The second time Ximen Qing met Jin Lian Wang Po under the curtain, taking bribes and flirting
Chapter 3: Wang Po ordered ten pieces of tricks to expose Ximen Qing's teahouse drama, Jin Lian
Chapter 98: Chen Jingji opens a big shop in Linqing, Han Aijie meets her lover in Cuiguan
Chapter 99 Liu Er drunkenly scolded Wang Liuer and Zhang Sheng killed Chen Jingji in anger.
Chapter 100: Han Aijie Lake seeks out her parents, Master Pujing recommends her, and resolves the grievances

I had heard about the book "Jin Ping Mei" at least 10 years ago, but I had never actually read it in the past 10 years. The main reason was probably that I thought it contained too much erotica and was worried that reading it would do more harm than good. Generally speaking, when I choose a book to add to my reading list, I consider several factors: first, whether I can discuss the content of the book in public without fear; second, whether I am willing to place the book in A prominent place in the study; again, if I had children in the future, would I want them to read this book as pre-teens. If the answer to any of these three questions is no, then I probably won’t add it to my reading list. As I've gotten older, my views on the topic of sex have changed. In essence, "sex" is a part of biological instinct and daily life, just like food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and is similar to appetite. Avoiding discussing "sex" is like avoiding discussing disease and death. Maybe only by facing it can we truly understand it and deal with the various desires caused by "sex" peacefully.

I compared the differences between the three different versions. The version of Hong Kong Mengmei Museum is relatively similar to the version of Yuelu Bookstore, even the title of the chapter is the same. The difference between these two versions and the version of Qilu Publishing House is obvious, and the names of many chapters are slightly different. The contents of the former and the latter are generally similar. Although they are both in Ming Dynasty vernacular, the language of the former is obviously more literary. In a few episodes, such as the first episode, the gap between the former and the latter is huge. The Hong Kong Mengmei Pavilion version and the Yuelu Bookstore version did not have Ximen Qing appear in the first episode, but started with the story of Wu Song, which is basically in the same vein as "Water Margin". Qilu Publishing House's version begins with Ximen Qing. Regarding the character Pan Jinlian, as I grow older, I can understand more and more that she is just an ordinary person, and her behavioral choices are also common in real life. They are just ordinary people's inability to betray their partners. She is just far away. She is naturally beautiful. If she marries a wealthy family, whether she can have enough food and clothing at home and no one dares to harass her externally, Pan Jinlian may still be able to accept her fate. However, she was naturally unwilling to be forced to marry the poor, short, and ugly Wu Dalang. When she saw the majestic and strong Wu Song, she felt passionate in her heart and took the initiative to show her kindness. Isn't this a natural reaction of human nature? I still believe that the starting point of love is sexual attraction based on biological instinct. Without this foundation, what difference would there be between love and friendship? The so-called love generally begins with lust. As time goes by, the emotions generated by sharing joys and sorrows gradually surpass sex itself. Only the product that is a mixture of lust, friendship, and family affection is qualified to be called love.

In the world of love, whether it is free love or exposure, both parties need to work together and go in both directions. One-sided emotions are not enough. Wu Song has no lustful thoughts about Pan Jinlian, so even if there is a great opportunity for exposure between the two, they will not be able to get there in the end. Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing, two people who are incompatible with each other, are driven by their mutual passion, so they are able to overcome obstacles and overcome obstacles even if there are no conditions. The five requirements that Mrs. Wang put forward to Ximen Qing are similar to the rigid conditions employers impose on job seekers during the job search process. These conditions are like minimum standards that job seekers must meet. If they are not met, they will not even pass the preliminary screening. However, simply meeting these hard requirements does not guarantee a job opportunity. In the same way, although Ximen Qing has superior conditions in many aspects - Pan Lu and Deng Xiaoxian, these do not guarantee that he will definitely win Pan Jinlian's heart and body. Grandma Wang made it clear at the beginning that to get the job done, every link must be impeccable and every step must be closely linked. Just like the job search process, there must be no mistakes in every round of interviews.

As I get older, I grow increasingly tired of the idea that good will triumph over evil. This shift stems both from increased personal experience and from exposure to more information that is completely different from what we hear and read in childhood. Wu Song is upright and loyal. Whether it is his love for his brothers or the relationship between men and women, he is upright and aboveboard. However, in the end, not only did he fail to avenge his brother, but he almost died. On the other hand, Ximen Qing's life is one of indulgence, but he can get away with it and no one dares to offend him. In this sense, I now feel that "Jin Ping Mei" is more like real life than "Water Margin". In fact, what is the difference between family and court? Ximen Qing at home and the emperor at court, aren't they strikingly similar? They are both absolute centers of power. Whether it is Ximen Qing's wives concubines or officials of the imperial court, their first task is to please this core of power. Once they fall out of favor, they may face serious consequences. Pan Jinlian first served as Wu Dalang's wife, and then as Ximen Qing's concubine. Although she herself did not change drastically, her behavior and attitude towards her husband were completely different. Wu Dalang regarded her as his heartthrob and obeyed his orders, but she bossed Wu Dalang around and even instigated his mistress to kick her husband. But at Ximen Qing's house, she had an affair with a young boy. She was very cautious and tried her best to please Ximen Qing. A person is regarded as a god or goddess in the eyes of some people but as a plaything in the eyes of others. Isn't this reality? Don't people know this truth? Even though we know this truth, we are still driven by "sex" and are willing to play the role of a pleaser. Is it happy?

Wine, sex, wealth, endless misery. Although it is beneficial to the reproduction of the population and the survival of the fittest, it is really not interesting for individuals. For the poor, the hardship of life makes dignity seem insignificant, and they are grateful to God if they have enough to eat and drink. What is the difference between a woman who sells her skin and a man who sells his strength? Even the market often offers a higher price for the former. Isn't it also animal nature for a wealthy family to hold wealth and power, indulge in sensual pleasures, and be extravagant and lustful? Those who are criticizing this today will live in another place in the future. Can they guarantee that they will not indulge in it? The reason why Ximen Qing is able to move among women, friends, and even officials with ease is ultimately because he has money and is willing to spend it. After Hua Zixu's wife Li Ping'er turned her heart to Ximen Qing, she did not hesitate to give her property to Ximen Qing and even his wives and concubines, but she was unwilling to spend money on a doctor when her husband fell ill. In a relationship between a man and a woman, winning the other person's heart is the most important thing. If you can win the other person's heart, it means you have obtained stable support; on the contrary, if you cannot win their heart, it will cause trouble and the harm will be far greater than the loneliness of living alone. The same is true at the national level. If a leader cannot make his subordinates agree with him, the disasters from within will be far greater than the disasters from the outside. Looking at it this way, observing words and expressions, being able to find sources from both sides, and being versatile are actually truly valuable talents.

Jelena Pavic Martinovic

103 reviews7 followers

July 26, 2023

Postoje tako likovi u romanima sa kojima se saživimo, ali postoje i likovi kojima prodremo u svaku misao i postanu sastavni deo naše svakodnevnice tokom čitanja. Stvore nam osećaj stvarnosti, pa smo puni utisaka iz poznanstаva.
Takvi likovi su Simen, Zlatni Lotos, Prolećna Šljiva, gospođa Mesečina, Struk od Žada, mladi gospodin Čen...​I mogla bih tako nabrajati dok ne nabrojim apsolutno sve likove iz romana Šljivin cvet u vazi od zlata, jer baš svakog sam ovde upoznala i znam mu i lik i dušu bez obzira da li je njihova uloga sporedna ili se radi o glavnim likovima.
Toliko plastičnu i duboku karakterizaciju likova je napravio naš nepoznati autor u ovom delu da mu i velikani književnosti mogu pozavideti.

Kad kažem naš, taj izraz koristim jer je napisao delo koje se u mom čitalačkom svetu vinulo do najvišeg ranga. Kao strastveni čitalac sklona sam da prigrabim sebi sve što je lepo.
Nepoznat, jer jeste nepoznat i verujte mi bez obzira na pokušaje da se njegovo ime otkrije i nije toliko bitno jer ni trunku subjektivnosti nije ugradio u ovaj roman.
Ovo je najotvorenija slika ljudskog posrnuća, ali i vrednosti.
Iako je možda imao za cilj da ovim pisanjem osveti oca sigurna sam da je to uspeo jer ne verujem da je iko mogao da odoli svakoj napisanoj reči u romanu. Čini mi se da je nemoguće odoleti čitanju bez obzira na otrov koji su možda stranice originala sadržale.
Dokazao je da je lukaviji od svih prepredenih likova ovde, pa i od onih koji su na stranicama knjige čekali osvetu.

"Svaka se zloća šeta po svetu u večnom strahu da ne sretne još veću."

"Ljudski um smera, a nebo na kraju odlučuje."

Kako smo navikli na realizam i bogate opise društva kojeg su mnogi pisci ismevali i kritikovali pišući razne romane, ovde ćemo naići na jedan skroz surov realizam, veran istorijskoj epohi. Živimo ga bez obzira na barijeru godina i vekova.
Zato i likove koji su dekadentni, skloni spletkama začas zamrzimo, ali začas i stanemo na stranu tog zlog bića pa se sažalimo u novoj nesreći izazvanoj nekog jačeg, moćnijeg...​Jer sve je baš tako i u realnom svetu.
Ovde imamo i razvratnika, bludnicu, ubicu i tiranina, doušnike i podstrekače, ali i one koji u društvenom talogu ostaju puni vrlina, isti.
U njihovom društvu čak i religija kojoj pripadaju, taoizam ili daoizam je obožavanje predaka, u čije sećanje stalno vrše rituale paljenja papirnih novčanica kako bi se desila materijalizacija i na onom svetu, tj kako bi te novčanice iz pepela prešle u njihov zagrobni život i tamo im bile na raspolaganju...
Materijalizam je upravo ono protiv čega se bori svaka umetnost.

"Moćni raskalašnik osuđen je na preranu smrt, a besramni i lukavi varalica upleo se u svoje konce."

I da vam kažem još nešto o tom zlu, ništa se nismo promenili, korupcija, moć, želja za materijalnim prestižnim stvarima su nam izgleda duboko zapisani u genima.
Mislili smo da razvrat je svojstven uglavnom francuskim kurtizanama ili po engleskim zamkovima iza zatvorenih vrata, ali verujte da ni Zola nije imao tu snagu da tako precizno i otvoreno rasvetli psihološke i socijalne probleme, a jedan je od najboljih u ogoljevanju ljudskog taloga.
Ni jednom nije naš nepoznati autor skliznuo u banalnost ili bilo kakvo preterivanje iako neki odlomci deluju zastrašujuće .
I baš ta jasna slika društva me je i navela kao čitaoca da za neke negativne likove u nekom momentu se zgrozim njihovih postupaka, a već u drugom su mi tragični. Što je dokaz da niko nije zao, već to postaje iz nesreće. A društvo u kom su živeli jeste suviše tragično. Pa tako Zlatni Lotos iako je možda i jedan od najnegativnijih likova ovde nisam mogla da zaboravim kakvi porodični kodeksi su je oblikovali u to što je postala. Njeno obrazovanje i sklonost poeziji je izgrađeno za zadovoljenje muškaraca, a negovala je njena majka... Ili suprug Šeste Vang koji se raduje ženinim ljubavničkim veštinama sa bogatim Simenom kako bi i oni iskoristili blagodati elite.
Vlast stvara elitu, a grade je oni koji uspevaju da se uzdignu na društvenoj lestvici.
Sklonost tom društvenom sloju je očigledna. Seksualnost koju većina ovde izražava nije sa podsmehom i nije eksplicitnost, već epitet kineskog čoveka tog perioda.
Osuda feudalnog društva i svih koji mu teže je poruka ovog romana, ali uz mnogobrojne pouke.

"Kad se tigar i zmaj svađaju, uvek nastrada mladi jelen."

I to je ono što ovaj roman čini vanvremenskim, jer feudalno društvo se začas preobrazi u kapitalističko ili bilo koje drugo u kom bogati donose zakone, korupcija postoji i danas kako i tad, ali postoje i vrline.

" Ponekad i obično gvožđe sine lažnim sjajem, dok pravo zlato, sakriveno, ne može da sija!"

Tako dolazimo do pouka, jer autor nam priču nastavlja sve dok i poslednji lik u romanu ne dobije svoje zasluge za način kako je živeo.

"Protekla je brzo ova naša priča, a smisao je samo jedan, vidi, svaki je događaj čudan odjek nekog drugog."

I možda bih za kraj dodala delove romana koji su pisani u formi poezije, neki stihovi su ljubavnog karaktera, a neki poput umotvorina te pružaju one najkonkretnije životne lekcije u par reči.
Uglavnom su to delovi budističkog učenja koji prikazuju da se zlo uvek vraća.
To je uočljivo i kroz razvojni put ovih likova, tako Li Ping kad postaje Simenova šesta žena i počinje da uživa u blagostanju najdraže supruge doživljava smrt deteta, pa i svoju, što je dokaz njihove karme. Čitalac zapaža na koji način žive i čine greške, te kako završavaju. Što bi u našoj sredini značilo grehove koji se ispaštaju.

"Vino, žene, novac, tri su stvari uvek, zbog kojih će čovek izgubiti pamet."

"I najlepša gozba mora jednog dana da se svrši."

Odlično je autor uklopio stihove uz prozu dajući još veću dinamiku romanu. Tako se i može na dvojak način čitati, u jednom čitanju iako je u to teško poverovati s obzirom na obimnost, ili sa prekidima, polagano kako bismo čitanjem zaista bili u drugoj dimenziji.
Kako god da rešite da čitate ovu knjigu čitajte je, ali obavezno!!!

    2022

Philippe Malzieu

Author2 books130 followers

February 27, 2014

It was the third Chinese novel of "The pléiade" collection.
I believe that there is nothing more difficult than to write an erotic novel. It is necessary to cause the desire without being vulgar nor ridiculous.
Such a Chinese novel of the XVII° wakes up in us interest. That evokes a torrid erotism refined with a little perversion. At the beginning, I finded enough that been successful. Well quickly that becomes repetitive and slightly tedious. As much more, there are of them 2 volumes of more than 1000 each one pages.
I did not exceed a few hundreds of pages because boredom quickly gained. I do not think to read it again one day.

Dijana Čop Nešić

306 reviews6 followers

July 3, 2023


💮Šljivin cvet u vazi od zlata-Autor nije nepoznat, ali piše pod pseudonimom Langling Sijaosijao Šeng

💮Zbog čega pisanje pod okriljem imena čije je značenje varijacija na reči-ironijom odabran učenik iz Langlinga, ostaje da se time pozabavi filozofski deo kritike kineske književnosti, ali istorijski definicija je svedena na to da pisac koristi satiru u svom predstavljanju čovečanstva i njegovih niskih strasti. Spreman na to da će knjiga izazvati buru i biti zabranjena, ostavljeno je mesta da se sumnja svede na pet mogućih ''krivaca'' za pisanje ovog dela od 800 stranica.
Negde se nagađalo da pisac mora biti aristokrata a negde da je to neko baš iz dinastije Ming. Bilo kako bilo, autor je ostavio jedno neizbežno i bogato svedočanstvo izuzetno uspešne i napredne dinastije Sung , koja je , za Kinu, poput renesanse za Evropu, otvorila vrata procvatu filozofije, nauke, matematike. U toj dinastiji prvi put u svetskoj istoriji počeo je da se koristi papirni novac.

💮Paradoksalno, ljudski duh nije stizao visine vremena u kom je obitavao, i upravo o posrtanju mnogih ljudskih duša, bez krivice i griže savesti, postojali su izuzetno kompleksni ali i vrlo priprosti akteri ovog dela.
Simen Ćing je arhetip bogatog moćnika koji je umnogome popularan, lep, tražen ali ujedno i potpuno duhom isprazan, nezasit i nezreo.
💮Stigao je na svet da mu oduzme blagodeti nevinih žena i otuđi njihovu mladost, da se ni sa jednom nikada ne zadovolji u toj meri da za nju kaže da je za njega poslednja. Njemu je empatija, moral, vernost i poštenje sasvim strana reč. Odgajan od majke koja je potpuno bludna, priprosta i ljude ceni koliko i novac kojim mogu platiti njeno telo ili telo nekoga koga bi im ona dovela, nije mogla ni bolje da mu ponudi.
💮Simen će ostaviti traga u knjizi dovoljno da možemo u njemu pronaći i čoveka današnjice.
Iako je ovo delo ugledalo svetlost dana 1595. godine, nećemo naći mnogo razlike od doba u kome smo sada. Imamo sitničare, nemoraliste, cinkaroše, lopove, pijanice, tipičnu ljudsku patnju i razočarenje, a možda i ono najopasnije od svega-krvnu osvetu.

💮Književni kritičar Feng Menglung je tvorac ideje da je ono zbog čega je knjiga bila zabranjivana paravan koji skriva ono što je filozof stare kine Sjun Ci zagovarao a to je da je čovekova priroda iskonski zla.

💮Sjun Ci je živeo 312. godine , a njegova mudrost se podudara sa Makijavelijem ček u doba renesanse, i ne prestaje da postavlja pitanje ni danas, da li smo pogrešili ili bili u pravu u vezi ljudske prirode ?

💮Kroz ispričane priče svakog aktera ovog dela, kroz poeme koje dolčaravaju utisak o življenju, igrama ljubavi, perverzija i razočarenja, dotaći ćemo se Simenovih drugova razvratnika, sličnih njemu, svih Simenovih žena pa i njegovog najvećeg gubitka.
Kako to obično, kroz karmički točak bude provučeno-čovek ne zadrži onu koju najviše voli, jer nije umeo da voli više od sebe. Tako gubi i nju, sva blaga koja mu je podarila (blaga u metafizičkom, fizičkom ali i filozofskom smislu), i od njega ostane ljuštura.

'💮'Žeđ za životom punim smisla jeste traganje ,ne za ispunjenjem želja koliko za ostvarenjem ljubavi ,sapripadnosti, mešaja jina i janga''

💮Prosta definicija u čijoj se izmaglici ipak dešavaju neoprostive stvari dok ne dođemo do karmičkog svođena računa.

💮''Uvraženi čitaoče, pun mesec ne ostaje uvek takav, privlačne boje oblaka ne traju dugo..'', i dok čitam ove reči kroz glavu mi prolazi melodija jednog kompleksnog metal benda Cradle of Filth-a, koji ima tekstove od kojih se prelazi iz jednog univerzuma u drugi, i baš na ove reči, misli mi pevaju melodiju njihove pesme Apsint sa Faustom (Absinthe with Faust), ''Mi smo dodirnuli zvezde, koje se sada smeju nama, prokletima'' i momenat tišine za deo ''Hteli smo sve i za to smo izgubili naše duše''.

💮Ono što je meni ostavilo najjači utisak je upravo ta istančanost koja bogatstvo likova, radnji, mešavinu filozofije, večna pitanja života i smrti, ali i ljudsku prizemnost, lične borbe sa sopstvenim mrakom stavlja pod lupu . Daje nam saznanje o nepromenjivosti našeg bića ma koliko da se svet menja. Sa izuzecima, naravno, moramo naći izuzetke dobrote iz ličnog iskustva, jer knjiga obiluje, kao i sam život-sa prosečnim bitangama i vucibatinama, koje su ,poput mrava, svuda oko nas, te prave najezdu svojim prostaklukom..

💮Neću se mnogo baviti drugim likovima jer vidim da je puno osvrta koji su u talasu ovaj mesec, pa se bave pomenom istih. Moj fokus je na filozofiji koju ovaj klasik sadrži.
Junaci imaju vanvremensku crtu.
A isto tako i ova knjiga.

💮Krizna vremena su odvajkada merila težinu dobrog i zlog srca, pa i onog koje vaga kom taboru da prisegne.

💮Tek za kraj ostavljam fascinantnu primenu imena Šljivin cvet u vazi od zlata i izuzetnu spretnost da se on tumači kao govor o zvanično trima aspektima (ali verujem da može i o mnogo više) :Neumornu želju za novcem (zlato), pićem (vaza) i seksom (šljivin cvet).
💮A to je samo baza jer i prezimena junaka romana Đin (Zlatić), Ping (Vazić) Mei (Šljivić), ili deo imena njihovih ljubavi.
💮Autor se poigrao svetilištem od reči, promarširao je kroz neobične ali i poučne živote naših junaka i antijunaka, pa nam, kao pravi budista ponudio da sami okrenemo stranu života kojoj ćemo se prikloniti, sa tom malom razlikom da sada imamo, na koncu savesti i svesti, mnogo izrečenih mudrosti kineskih filozofa i učitelja, kojima kao ljudski rod ne možemo doći ni do kolena, ali sa razmišljanjem o padu ljudskosti, pravimo korak ka tome i ka životu koji je u miru sa univerzumom.
💮Nekome je zlato sve što sija, a nekome nemerljivo zlatnicima.

Dijana Čop Nešić

Kat

174 reviews69 followers

December 31, 2007

I had to read this book for a class in college and thought it was absolutely fascinating - I remember thinking about this book when I read Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose as it was truly (supposedly) a poisoned book. When the reader got to the particularly "juicy" parts, the pages were designed to be sticky and the reader would unwittingly lick the finger to turn the naughty page. By the end of the adventure, there was a new adventure -- the reader died from slow poisoning. That little byline was just too delicious as I read this book.

Arthur

2 reviews

Want to read

August 29, 2020

One of the best Chinese literary classics for readers who are governed by their aesthetic rather than libidinal self. I read it when I was 29 and I felt both aesthetic beauties and libidinal restlessness during the reading. Now a decade passed, only the former left and took deep roots in my mind. I shall read it again.

Robert Sheppard

Author2 books91 followers

August 21, 2013

WHAT EVERY EDUCATED CITIZEN OF THE WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW IN THE 21ST CENTURY: THE GREAT CLASSICAL NOVELS OF CHINA----"THE DREAM OF RED MANSIONS" BY CAO XUEQIN, "THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST" BY WU CHENGEN, "THE ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS" by LUO GUANZHONG, "THE WATER MARGIN or ALL MEN ARE BROTHERS" by SHI NAI'AN, "THE SCHOLARS" BY WU JINGZI, AND THE EROTIC CLASSIC "THE JIN PING MEI" OR "GOLDEN LOTUS"---FROM THE WORLD LITERATURE FORUM RECOMMENDED CLASSICS AND MASTERPIECES SERIES VIA GOODREADS—-ROBERT SHEPPARD, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Chinese culture is renown for its addiction to compiling "Lists of the Greats," from the Four Great Inventions of China (Paper, the Comnpass, Printing and Gunpowder) to the Four Great Beautiful Women (Yang Guifei, Xi Shi, Yang Jiaojun and Diaochan) to the Three Great Tang Dynasty Poets (Li Bai (Li Po), Du Fu and Wang Wei) to the Four Great Novels of Chinese Literature. Thus every educated Chinese person was expected to have read, or at least to have thouroughly read about, The Four Great Novels: The Qing Dynasty Classic the Hong Lou Meng, or "The Dream of Red Mansions" by Cao Xueqin, the Xi You Ji, or "Journey to the West" by Wu Chengen featuring the fabulous Monkey-King Sun Wukong, the great historical epic "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by Luo Guanzhong, and the classic "Robin Hood" tale of gallant outlaws "Shui Hu Zhuan," or "The Water Margin" by Shi Nai'an.

Chinese scholars generally added two additional novels as an "Apocrypha" to this "Canonic Prose Bible" of The Four Great Novels, which officially you shouldn't have read (like the Marquis de Sade or Lady Chatterly's Lover in the West), but which if you were a real intellectual you definitely should have: The erotic classic the Jin Ping Mei, or "The Golden Lotus" which was excluded from inclusion in the canon because of its sexual, immoral and pornographic content, despite its admitted literary excellence, and the "Ru Lin Wai Shi," or "The Scholars," by Wu Jingzi, also downgraded from classical status due to its bohemian counter-cultural satire on and rejection of traditional Confucian scholars and examination-passing officials as mindless conformists and intellectual ciphers.

In the not so remote past, education centered on learning the cultural tradition of one's own nation was assumed to be an adequate foundation for functional adulthood and citizenship. Thus Chinese scholars concentrated on the Confucian heritage and with little effort given to understanding other civilizations and traditions, Christians were content with the Bible and their own national classics and Islamic nations were happy if one could recite the Koran by heart. In today's cosmopolitan globalized world of transnational business and the Internet familiarity with one's own national history, national culture and literature is no longer an adequate preparation for adult life in the globalized real world.

Thus each educated person in the modern world must have a basic familiarity with World Literature in addition to his own national or regional literature, accompanied of course with a basic knowledge of World History, World Religions, World Philosophy and universal science. With the increasing importance of a "Rising China" in world affairs and culture it is thus incumbent on every educated person in the world to have some basic familiarity with these six classics of Chinese Literature. Thus World Literature Forum in this "Recommended Classics and Masterpieces of World Literature Series" provides the following very basic introduction to these works, perhaps in a globalized version of E.D. Hirsch's "What Every American Should Know" reformulated as: "What Every Citizen of the World Should Know in the 21st Century."

THE IMMORTAL SAGA OF FAMILY DECLINE AND SPIRITUAL FATE, "HONG LOU MENG," OR "A DREAM OF RED MANSIONS"

The theme and saga of family decline is a universal mofif in World Literature, embracing such classics as Thomas Mann's "Buddenbrooks," the English "Forsyth Saga" of Gallsworthy, "Brideshead Revisited" by Evelyn Waigh, and "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez. The Dream of Red Mansions is one of the great exemplars of this genre, movingly telling the tale of the decline of the Jia family, laced with Buddhist spiritual fore-fated melancholy, from success and influence in the Qing Dynasty Imperial Court, through demise, weakening of character, disaster and their fall into relative obscurity.

Scholars and popular readers have agreed that the "Dream of the Red Chamber" (also variously entitled A Dream of Red Chambers or The Story of the Stone) is the greatest Chinese novel, though differences of opinion have developed as to the exact nature of its greatness since its publication. Indeed, in China there is a whole virtual branch of knowledge or cottage industry which is known as "Red-ology" in the interpretation of the work, about which a similar amount of criticism has been written as comparable with that of Shakespeare criticism in England of Goethe criticism in Germany.

The Dream of the Red Mansion also serves as a veritable encyclopedia of imperial Chinese society and culture in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) introducing over four hundred characters hailing from all walks of life and social classes with intricate subplots and detailed descriptions of buildings, gardens, furniture, cuisine, medicines, clothing, poetry, etiquette, games performances and pastimes of the aristocracy and others. The novel has simi-autobiographical features as the author Cao Xueqin (1715-1763)also came from a declining family, successful in the early Qing Dynasty, but reduced in fortune and circumstances until the author died in relative poverty and obscurity whille completing his immortal epic in Beijing.

Reduced to its most central characters, the story focuses on a young man of the Jia family, Jia Baoyu, coming of age surrounded by female cousins and slightly effeminate and romantic in his temperament, who falls in love with but cannot marry Lin Daiyu, a "poor relation" cousin who has a spiritual beauty that accompanies her declining health. His "Golden Days" are spent cavorting with these cousins and friends in aristocratic pleasures and cultivated pastimes such as writing poetry couplets to each other, watching Chinese Opera performances, and frolicing in the Pleasure Garden of the family estate. As the years go by, Jia Baoyu, protected and spoiled by his doting grandmother, interminably procrastinates in pursuing the twin adult responsibilities urged on him by his parents: His stern Confucian father urges on him the duty of studying hard, passing the Imperial Examination, becoming a court bureaucrat and restoring the family's declining material fortunes; His mother urges that he find an appropriate match as a wife from a successful aristocratic family that can extend and enhance the waning power and wealth of the extended family. Instead, Baoyu dallies in adolescent games and pleasures, sexual experimentation and petty intrigues, holding on to the "splendor in the grass" of the family Pleasure Garden, and feels that his love-bond with his poor cousin, the ailing Lin Daiyu is spiritually fated, which it proves to be to the unhealthy detriment of all.

The immense novel also operates powerfully on a symbolic spiritual level with the opening chapter, from which the alternative title "The Story of the Stone" derives, literally containing the entire novel condensed into symbolic form. Following ancient Chinese Taoist and Buddhist myth, a stone rejected by a goddess who was repairing the sky is picked up by a Buddhist monk and a Daoist priest and taken to the world of the mortals, to be found eons later by another Daoist with the story of its worldly forefated experience inscribed upon it. Unfit for the pure unadulterated life and condition of heaven, the stone is forefated to suffer birth and death in mortal life below, yet also tragically retains alloyed within itself the divine substance of heaven. Before the stone enters upon mortal life and destiny, however, it, like the "Little Prince" of Exuperay, tenderly waters with sweet dew a lovely flower not of this world, who in turn incurs a karmic debt towards the stone, which must be repaid in the mortal world of human life. The story of the stone is thus the inscribed fate of the stone written on itself, suspended somehow ever-insecurely, as of all human endeavor, somewhere between heaven and earth, but also becomeing in reiteration or reincarnation the story and destiny of Jia Baoyu as an individual human mortal, who like the Biblical "sheep gone astray" of Isiah's Suffering Servant passage, or the miscast ploughman's seed, finds another more existential and singular destiny, fatedly unhappy in this world's material context. Thus we learn in the novel that Jai Baoyu was born with a jade stone in his mouth, trailing as it were Wordsworthian "clouds of glory" in his birth, and from thence relives the story of the stone in his ill-fated mortal life, while his beloved Lin Daiyu, a reincarnation of the beautiful other-worldly flower loved and watered by the stone in heaven, pays her karmic debt to the stone in her undying yet ill-fated love and devotion for Jia Baoyu in this world. Meanwhile, as each of the characters works out their spiritual destinies, the Jia family declines further and further in its worldly fortunes.

THE "JOURNEY TO THE WEST," OR "XI YOU JI" AND THE MONKEY-KING

Perhaps the most beloved novel by all Chinese people, from children to adults, is the immortal "Journey to the West" of Wu Chengen, which tells the story of the pilgrimage of the Buddhist Monk Xuanzong to India to obtain and translate Holy Buddhist Scriptures, aided by the magical Monkey-King, Sun Wu Kong, a lovable "Pigsy" or Zhu Bajie character endowed with gargantuan physical strength and appetites, and a down-to-earth and practical monk "Sandy" or Sha Hesheng. In the long narrative of their adventures they repeatedly are assaulted en route by demons and evil forces plotting to defeat the Tang Monk's spiritual mission, but which are always defeated by the combination of talents and forces of the pilgrim brotherhood, led by the rebellious and precocious genius and magical powers of the Monkey King, a figure derived from the earlier character Hanuman in the Indian Ramayana. As both the Journey to the West and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms have already been treated in greater depth in other blog entries in this series I will not go into great depth in their description.

THE "ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS" OF LUO GUANZHONG

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms tells the historically true story of the wars and struggles between the three kingdoms, Wei, Shu and Wu, which arose between 169 AD and 280 AD when the Han Dynasty Empire, comparable in scope and population to the contemporaneous Roman Empire, broke apart before again acheiving reunification. As a novel loosly based on real history but treated with artistic license, like Duma's "Three Musketeers" saga it tells the story of the "Iron Brotherhood" of devoted friends and heroes Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who swear their "one for all and all for one" oath of allegiance to restore the Han Dynasty in the famous Oath of the Peach Garden, also vowing to protect the oppressed. They are opposed by the arch-Machiavellian dictator Cao Cao, whom they must defeat, but are aided by the genius general Zhuge Liang. The story of their struggle, ultimately successful but not before their deaths, has become as familiar to all Chinese, Japanese and Korean persons as the stories of Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony and Cleopatra are in the West.

"THE WATER MARGIN" OR "ALL MEN ARE BROTHERS" CLASSIC OF OUTLAW GALLANTRY AND ADVENTURE----SONG JIANG THE "CHINESE ROBIN HOOD"

The 14th Century classic "The Water Margin" (Shui Hu Zhuan), also known as "Outlaws of the Marsh" as translated by American epatriate Sydney Shapiro, and "All Men Are Brothers" as translated by the first female American Nobel Prize Winner Pearl Buck, is written in vernacular Chinese and attributed to the writer Shi Nai'an. The "Robin Hood-esque" story, set in the Song Dynasty, tells of how a group of 108 outlaws gathers at Mount Liang (or Liangshan Marsh) to form a sizable army of adventurous outlaws before they are eventually granted amnesty by the government and sent on campaigns to resist foreign invaders and suppress other rebel forces. As such it depicts many of the contradictions in feudal Chinese society, based on repression and exploitation of the mass peasantry by a corrupt and oppressive landed aristocracy and imperial bureaucracy, which generated, repressed and often co-opted its opponents. The novel focuses on the exploits of the outlaw Song Jiang and his thirty-six sworn brothers and their heroic adventures, reminiscent of the tales of "Robin Hood" of Sherwood Forest in the West.

THE CHINESE EROTIC CLASSIC "JIN PING MEI" OR "THE GOLDEN LOTUS"

The "Jin Ping Mei" or "The Golden Lotus," is a Chinese naturalistic novel composed in vernacular Chinese during the late Ming Dynasty by an unknown anonymous author taking the pseudonym "Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng," or "The Scoffing Scholar of Lanling." circulated first in surreptitious handwritten copies then printed for the first time in 1610.

Its graphically explicit depiction of sexuality has garnered the novel a level of notoriety in the Chinese world akin to "Fanny Hill," "Lady Chatterley's Lover" or the Marquis de Sade in Western literature, but critics nonetheless generally find a firm moral structure which exacts moralistic retribution for the sexual libertinism of the central characters.

The Jin Ping Mei takes its name from the three central female characters — Pan Jinlian (Golden Lotus), Li Ping'er (Little Vase), a concubine of Ximen Qing, and Pang Chunmei (Spring plum), a young maid who rises to power within the family of the decadent libertine Ximen Qing. Princeton University Press in describing the Roy translation calls the novel "a landmark in the development of the narrative art form----not only from a specifically Chinese perspective but in a world-historical context......noted for its surprisingly modern technique" and "with the possible exception of The Tale of Genji (1010) and Don Quixote (1605, 1615), there is no earlier work of prose fiction of equal sophistication in world literature."

The Jin Ping Mei is framed as a spin off from the classical novel "The Water Margin." The beginning chapter is based on an episode in which "Tiger Slayer" Wu Song avenges the murder of his older brother by brutally killing his brother's former wife and murderer, Pan Jinlian. The story, ostensibly set during the years 1111–27 during the Northern Song Dynasty, centers on Ximen Qing, a corrupt social climber, libertine and lustful merchant who is wealthy enough to marry a consort of six wives and concubines. After secretly murdering Pan Jinlian's husband, Ximen Qing takes her as one of his wives. The story follows the domestic sexual struggles of the women within his household as they clamor for prestige and influence amidst the gradual decline of the Ximen clan. In the Jin Ping Mei, anti-hero Ximen Qing in the end dies from an overdose of aphrodisiacs administered by Jinlian to which he has become addicted and dependent in order to keep up his sexual potency. In the course of the novel, Ximen has 19 sexual partners, including his 6 wives and mistresses, with 72 intimately described sexual episodes, a level of erotic repetition reminiscent of the works of the Marquis de Sade and Henry Miller, in "Nexus," "Sexus" and "Plexus." Needless to say, the Jin Ping Mei through most of history was severely repressed by the puritanical Confucian authorities as criminal pornography, though its libertine anti-hero Ximen Qing receives full poetical justice and punishment for his crimes. Even today mention of its name, like de Sade in the West, will bring a blush of enbarassed shame to most Chinese cheeks, young and old.

THE SCHOLARS, OR "RU LIN WAI SHI" BY WU JINGZI

"The Scholars" written in 1750 by Wu Jingzi during the Qing Dynasty describes and often satirizes Chinese scholars in a vernacular Chinese idiom. The first and last chapters portray intellectual recluses, but most of the loosely-connected stories that form the bulk of the novel are didactic and satiric stories, on the one hand admiring idealistic Confucian behavior, but on the other ridiculing over-ambitious scholars and criticizing the civil service examination system, describing the officials and orthodox scholars who succeed in the system as mindless conformists and intellectual ciphers whose knowledge rarely exceeds the "Cliff Notes" and cram course exam fakery of the times, exemplified by the rote mechanical guidebooks to the "Eight-Legged Essay" for the Imperial Examination.

Instead, the novel honors the somewhat bohemian and counter-cultural intellectual circles on the fringe of official society frequented by actors, poets, artists, bibliophiles and the true scholars of the heart who despise the official poseurs and consequently lead insecure lives and suffer financial decline. Promoting naturalistic attitudes over belief in the supernatural, the author rejects the popular belief in retribution: his bad characters suffer no punishment. The characters in these stories are intellectuals, perhaps based on the author's friends and contemporaries. Wu also portrays women sympathetically: the chief character Du treats his wife as a companion and soulmate instead of as an inferior. Although it is a satiric and counter-cultural novel, a major incident in the novel is Du's attempt to renovate his family's ancestral temple, suggesting the author shared with Du a belief in the importance of a true and authentic Confucianism as opposed to the poseur Confucianism of the ruling bureaucratic class.

SPIRITUS MUNDI AND THE CHINESE NOVEL

My own work, Spiritus Mundi, the contemporary epic of social idealists struggling to save the world and avert WWIII with a revolutionary new United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, also draws on Chinese tradition. Over a third of the novel takes place in China and the novel was written entirely in Beijing. One of the main characters of the mythic portion of the novel is the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, who along with Goethe guides the protagonists on a Quest to the center of the earth and to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy to save the world from a conspiracy to bring about WWIII. In China I knew Sydney Shapiro, the translator of "The Outlaws of the Marsh" and also worked with the daughter of Gladys Yang, the translator of the "Dream of the Red Mansion."

World Literature Forum invites you to check out the great Chinese novelists of World Literature, and also the contemporary epic novel Spiritus Mundi, by Robert Sheppard. For a fuller discussion of the concept of World Literature you are invited to look into the extended discussion in the new book Spiritus Mundi, by Robert Sheppard, one of the principal themes of which is the emergence and evolution of World Literature:

For Discussions on World Literature and n Literary Criticism in Spiritus Mundi: http://worldliteratureandliterarycrit...

Robert Sheppard

Editor-in-Chief
World Literature Forum
Author, Spiritus Mundi Novel
Author’s Blog: http://robertalexandersheppard.wordpr...
Spiritus Mundi on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...
Spiritus Mundi on Amazon, Book I: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CIGJFGO
Spiritus Mundi, Book II: The Romance http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGM8BZG

Copyright Robert Sheppard 2013 All Rights Reserved

    romance-of-the-three-kingdoms the-three-musketeers theory-of-the-novel

Jade Nguyen

9 reviews17 followers

November 26, 2021

I'm halfway through reading this masterpiece for the 2nd time, as I decided to spend the rest of this year on female-led novels.

it's one of the few Chinese classics that impressed me ever since a young age. unlike others, it started from the life of an ordinary citizen to describe the deteriorated society at the time. it wasn't about epic fights or feudal royalty, which were covered in many other novels. it wasn't a fairytale, as the innocent ones were always accused wrongly and the culprit got away with all his crimes. through that, it reflected how unfair and terrible society was at the time.

I highly recommend this one for another reason. in other Chinese classics, women played a minor role, or at least they only existed to embrace the male's character. it was always about a man, or men's epic intention or their conquering dream or whatever. this novel isn't about that, as the women and the men share a fair role in the play.

a must-read if one is interested in Chinese classics.

Juan Rivera

1,526 reviews5 followers

October 6, 2018

Imagine a time when wealth allowed you:

-To be married to all the women you could support.
-What if you liked a married woman, with total impunity, you could kill her husband and marry her.
-What if you liked one not in love with you, you could take it as your property.
-To have an aphrodisiac such that you could satisfy all your wives and also lovers of turn without problem.

All this happens in Lang Ling Xiaoxiaosheng's wonderful novel "The Golden Lotus". A book little known in the West, and really a pornographic book for its detailed descriptions.

The story of the evil of Ximen Qing, until his death and the total destruction of all the riches he hoarded and the separation and death of his wives.

The longest book I have read in the year, more than 1,300 pages, but if you want to know what life really was like in the late 1500s in China, you should read it.

    lecturas-2018

Y Diên Vĩ

180 reviews3 followers

January 16, 2021

Hay cho trí tưởng tượng phong phú không tả xiết, mà rất chặt chẽ
Dù xem phim hay đọc truyện thì nhiệm vụ của người đọc và xem là có quan điểm, chính kiến cho chính mình về tốt, xấu, hay , dở của mỗi hành động nhân vật, cũng là cuộc đời (nếu có) của con người ngoài đời thật, giống như tư tưởng của tác giả khi mở đầu truyện vậy : để cho người đời nhìn rõ thiện, ác, phải trái qua từng truyện tác giả kể

Trời không nói gì mà trời vẫn cao, đất không nói gì mà đất vẫn dày, ngươi không thấy hay sao?

    2021

Maria Bache

Author4 books1 follower

July 16, 2017

Bogen er omtalt på sin bagside som Kinas svar på Decameron. Det er en del ved siden af, da der er tale om et sammenhængende værk og ikke 100 historier.

Når det er sagt, er den et indblik i en kultur, der på en del områder er anderledes end mine omgivelser. Samtidig er der masser, der er direkte genkendeligt, hvilket viser noget om, hvor ens mennesker er og altid har været - drevet af de samme ønsker og hæmmet af hensyn, der er parallelle.

Jeg skal helt klart i gang med næste bind.

Daniel Covo

8 reviews1 follower

July 22, 2018

Livre addictif, tant l'histoire que l'écriture, merci au traducteur. Remarquable description de la civilisation et de la société chinoise du début du 12è siècle.
L'esprit humain n'a pas beaucoup évolué depuis ...

Jin Ping Mei/ The Golden Lotus (2024)
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Introduction: My name is Patricia Veum II, I am a vast, combative, smiling, famous, inexpensive, zealous, sparkling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.