Erotic Colour Prints of Ming Period: With an Essay on Chinese Sex Life from the Han to the Ching Dynasty, B.C. 206-A.D. 1644 (Sinica Leidensia) [Hardcover]

Robert Hans Van Gulik (Author), James Cahill (Introduction), Wilt L. Idema (Introduction), Sören Edgren (Introduction)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 9004131604 | ISBN-13: 978-9004131606 | Publication Date: January 2004 | Edition: 1st Revised & enlarged

In 1949, the sinologist Robert van Gulik purchased in a Tokyo curio-shop a set of printing blocks of a Ming erotic album. Two years later the album, with an extensive treatise, was published by van Gulik himself in a 50-copy print run and sent to a small group of sinological libraries, as "the erotic prints and other data ought not to fall into the hands of unqualified readers". It was to be the author's first work on the subject, preceding his groundbreaking "Sexual Life in Ancient China". Unqualified readers have now at last become qualified with this official edition. James Cahill, Wilt Idema and Soeren Edgren provide readers with introductions to its art historical, literary, biographical and book technical content.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

R.H. van Gulik, (1910-1967) took his doctor's degree with honours on a thesis dealing with the horse cult in India, Tibet, and the Far East in 1935. Having entered the Netherlands Foreign Service in that same year, he held posts in Tokyo, Chunking (Nanking), Washington, New Delhi, Beirut, and Kuala Lumpur. His last posting was as Netherlands ambassador in Japan. Dr. van Gulik, who, after his thesis, continued to make valuable contributions to Sanskrit and Far Eastern studies, is also well-known as the author of the series of detective stories about Judge Dee.

James Cahill is Professor Emeritus, History of Art, at the University of California, Berkeley. After receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in 1958, he was for eight years Curator of Chinese Art at the Freer Gallery of Art. He has published numerous books, articles, and catalogs on Chinese and Japanese painting.

Wilt L. Idema, Ph.D. (1974) Leiden University, currently teaches Chinese literature at Harvard University. His main area of research is traditional Chinese vernacular literature.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 638 pages
• Publisher: Brill Academic Pub; 1st Revised & enlarged edition (January 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9004131604
• ISBN-13: 978-9004131606
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,567,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars where's the erotic color prints ?, August 18, 2006

By 

D. Sundman "china update" (wild west) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Erotic Colour Prints of Ming Period: With an Essay on Chinese Sex Life from the Han to the Ching Dynasty, B.C. 206-A.D. 1644 (Sinica Leidensia) (Hardcover)

Expecting a collection as the title, of color prints, however much disappointed, only a few color prints in the two book volume, and a few non-color prints, hundreds of pages of worded narrative, but almost no color prints, and for this price the reader wants dozens of color prints.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Try some other books to see the COLOUR prints, May 1, 2007

By 

bkworm - See all my reviews

This review is from: Erotic Colour Prints of Ming Period: With an Essay on Chinese Sex Life from the Han to the Ching Dynasty, B.C. 206-A.D. 1644 (Sinica Leidensia) (Hardcover)

There are pretty much no COLOUR prints in this book.
Try some other books and save a lots of money