Li Yu (writer)
Li Yu ( Chinese 李漁 , Pinyin Lǐ Yú , majority name 笠 翁 , Lìwēng ; * 1610 ; † 1680 ) was a Chinese showman and writer . He led a traveling theater company , was widely read by his contemporaries and noted for his literary innovations.
Life
Li Yu is one of the classic Chinese authors of erotic literature . His book Devotional Mats Made of Meat ( 肉 蒲團 , Ròu pútuán , English The Carnal Prayer Mat ) is a moral story with comic elements, but which also contains explicitly sexual representations. His short stories, which appeared in book form as Twelve Towers ( 十二樓 , Shí-èr Lóu ), are also known. Li Yu addresses the issue of homosexuality several times ( 萃 雅 樓 , Cuìyǎ Lóu and 無聲 戲 , Wúshēng Xì Xiǎoshuō ). His work gives an insight into the attitude towards homosexuality that existed in Fujian in southern China.
Translations
- The perfect woman. The Chinese ideal of beauty. The scales, Zurich 1963.
- Tower for the Summer Heat. Translation, foreword and notes by Patrick Hanan. Columbia University Press, 1998, ISBN 0-231-11384-6 ( 夏 宜 樓 , English A Tower for the Summer Heat ; 歸正 樓 , English Return-to-Right Hall ; 萃 雅 樓 , English House of Gathered Refinements ; 拂雲樓 , English The Cloud-Scraper ; 鶴 歸 樓 , English Homing Crane Lodge ; 生 我 樓 , English Nativity Room )
- Twelve Towers: Short Stories. Translator, Nathan K. Mao. Hong Kong Chinese University Press, 1979, ISBN 962-201-170-5 .
- Franz Kuhn : Li Yü: Jou pu tuan. An erotic novel from the Ming period. Fischer, 1986, ISBN 3-596-22451-9 .
- The Carnal Prayer Mat. Translated by Patrick Hanan. University of Hawaii Press, 1996, ISBN 0-8248-1798-2 .
- Li-Yu: Jeou-P'ou-T'ouan, la chair comme tapis de prière. Translated by Pierre Klossowski. 1979.
literature
- Eric Henry: Chinese Amusement - The Lively Plays of Li Yü. Archon Books, Hamden CT 1980.
- Chun-Shu Chang and Shelley Hsueh-Lun Chang. Crisis and Transformation in Seventeenth-Century China : Society, Culture, and Modernity in Li Yü's World . Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992.
- Patrick Hanan: The Invention of Li Yu. 1988, ISBN 0-674-46425-7 .
- Pascale Frey: Li Yu: À mari jaloux, femme fidèle. 1998.
- Philippe Picquier: Les carnets secrets de Li Yu, un art du bonheur en Chine. 2004, ISBN 2-87730-664-X .
- Andrea Stocken: The Art of Perception - The Aesthetic Concept of Li Yu (1610–1680) in Xianqing ouji in the context of life and work. 2005, ISBN 3-447-05120-5 .
- Д. Н. Воскресенский: Ли Юй. Полуночник Вэйян или подстилка из плоти. Translation from Chinese. Гудьял-Пресс, М.
- Д. Н. Воскресенский: Ли Юй. Двенадцать башен (повести XVII в.). Translation from Chinese. Гудьял-Пресс, М.
Web links
- Literature by and about Li Yu in the catalog of the German National Library
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Li Yu |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Chinese showman and writer |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1610 |
DATE OF DEATH | 1680 |