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Lü Tiancheng
Lü Tiancheng (; 15801618) was a Chinese playwright and poet active during the late Ming dynasty. Career Lü is widely believed to be the author of the erotic novel '' Xiuta yeshi'' () or ''The Embroidered Couch'', which he reportedly wrote as a teenager. According to his friend and a contemporary drama critic, Wang Jide (), Lü also wrote another romantic novel titled ''Xianqing biezhuan'' () "for fun". Having adapted several dramas including '' Romance of the Western Chamber'' and ''Story of a White Rabbit'', Lü himself was also a drama critic. His seminal 1613 work '' Qu Pin'' () or ''Opera Studies'' comprises some ninety biographies of playwrights, alongside commentaries on notable plays from the Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ... to the Ming dynas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lü (surname)
Lü () is the pinyin (Lǚ with the tone diacritic) and Wade–Giles romanisation of the Chinese surname written in simplified character and in traditional character. It is the 47th most common surname in China, shared by 5.6 million people, or 0.47% of the Chinese population as of 2002. It is especially common in Shandong and Henan provinces. The surname originated from the ancient State of Lü. Lü Shang ( fl. 11th century BC), the founder of the State of Qi, was the first person known to have the surname. It is 22nd on the ''Hundred Family Surnames'', contained in the verse 何呂施張 (He Lü Shi Zhang). Romanization Lü is the standard pinyin spelling of the Chinese character 吕/呂. However, when input of the umlaut is not possible, the surname is commonly romanized as Lu or Lv (v being the pinyin input shorthand for ü). On 31 October 2011, the National Standardization Committee of China issued ''The Chinese phonetic alphabet spelling rules for Chinese names'', whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han Chinese, Han people, the majority ethnic group in China. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the short-lived Shun dynasty), numerous rump state, rump regimes ruled by remnants of the House of Zhu, Ming imperial family—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662. The Ming dynasty's founder, the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368–1398), attempted to create a society of self-sufficient rural communities ordered in a rigid, immobile system that would guarantee and support a permanent class of soldiers for his dynasty: the empire's standing army exceeded one million troops and the naval history of China, navy's dockyards in Nanjin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Embroidered Couch
''Xiuta yeshi'', translated into English as ''The Embroidered Couch'', is a Chinese erotic novel composed during the late Ming dynasty by playwright Lü Tiancheng () under various pseudonyms. Believed to be one of the oldest Chinese erotic novels, ''Xiuta yeshi'' was first published at around the same time as ''Jin Ping Mei'' (''The Golden Lotus''). It has been constantly banned or censored since then, especially during the Qing dynasty. Literary critics have drawn attention to its obscenity and vivid descriptions of sex. A complete English translation by Lenny Hu was published in 2001. Plot The male protagonist of ''Xiuta yeshi'', which begins in the year 1594, is thirty-year-old ''xiucai'' Yao Tongxin (), also known as Dongmen sheng (; Scholar of the Eastern Gate), presumably a reference to his birthplace (a part of Yangzhou known as "East Gate"). Having led a debauched lifestyle in his younger days, he now has a relatively poor stamina, and is hence unable to sexually satisfy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romance Of The Western Chamber
''Romance of the Western Chamber'' (), also translated as ''The Story of the Western Wing'', ''The West Chamber'', ''Romance of the Western Bower'' and similar titles, is one of the most famous Chinese dramatic works. It was written by the Yuan dynasty playwright Wang Shifu (王實甫), and set during the Tang dynasty. Known as "China's most popular love comedy," it is the story of a young couple consummating their love without parental approval, and has been seen both as a "lover's bible" and "potentially lethal," as readers were in danger of pining away under its influence. Contents of the Play ] Play I, Burning Incense and Worshiping the Moon Play II, Icy Strings Spell Out Grief Play III,Feelings Transmitted by Lines of Poetry Play IV, A Clandestine Meeting of Rain and Clouds Play V, A Reunion Ordained by Heaven Plot The play has twenty-one acts in five parts. It tells the story of a secret love affair between Zhang Sheng (张生), a young scholar, and Cui Yingying, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth khagan-emperor of the Mongol Empire from the Borjigin clan, and lasted from 1271 to 1368. In orthodox Chinese historiography, the Yuan dynasty followed the Song dynasty and preceded the Ming dynasty. Although Genghis Khan had been enthroned with the Han-style title of Emperor in 1206 and the Mongol Empire had ruled territories including modern-day northern China for decades, it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially proclaimed the dynasty in the traditional Han style, and the conquest was not complete until 1279 when the Southern Song dynasty was defeated in the Battle of Yamen. His realm was, by this point, isolated from the other Mongol-led khanates and controlled most of modern-day China and its surrounding areas, including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1580 Births
Year 158 ( CLVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tertullus and Sacerdos (or, less frequently, year 911 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 158 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * The earliest dated use of Sol Invictus, in a dedication from Rome. * A revolt against Roman rule in Dacia is crushed. China * Change of era name from ''Yongshou'' to ''Yangxi'' of the Chinese Han Dynasty. Births *Gaius Caesonius Macer Rufinianus, Roman politician (d. 237) Deaths * Wang Yi, Chinese librarian and poet (d. AD 89 AD 89 (LXXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fulvus and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1618 Deaths
Events January–June * February 26 – Osman II deposes his uncle Mustafa I as Ottoman sultan (until 1622). * March 8 – Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion (after some initial calculations, he soon rejects the idea, but on May 15 confirms the discovery). * April 21 – Spanish-born Jesuit missionary Pedro Páez becomes (probably) the first European to see and describe the source of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. * May 23 – The Second Defenestration of Prague – Protestant noblemen hold a mock trial, and throw two direct representatives of Ferdinand II of Germany (Imperial Governors) and their scribe out of a window into a pile of manure, exacerbating a low-key rebellion into the Bohemian Revolt (1618–1621), precipitating the Thirty Years' War into armed conflict, and further polarizing Europe on religious grounds. * June 14 – Joris Veseler prints the first Dutch newspaper '' Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
16th-century Chinese Poets
The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th century is regarded by historians as the century which saw the rise of Western civilization and the Islamic gunpowder empires. The Renaissance in Italy and Europe saw the emergence of important artists, authors and scientists, and led to the foundation of important subjects which include accounting and political science. Copernicus proposed the heliocentric universe, which was met with strong resistance, and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of celestial spheres through observational measurement of the 1572 appearance of a Milky Way supernova. These events directly challenged the long-held notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle, and led to major revolutions in astronomy and science. Galileo Galilei became a champion of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
16th-century Chinese Male Writers
The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th century is regarded by historians as the century which saw the rise of Western civilization and the Islamic gunpowder empires. The Renaissance in Italy and Europe saw the emergence of important artists, authors and scientists, and led to the foundation of important subjects which include accounting and political science. Copernicus proposed the heliocentric universe, which was met with strong resistance, and Tycho Brahe refuted the theory of celestial spheres through observational measurement of the 1572 appearance of a Milky Way supernova. These events directly challenged the long-held notion of an immutable universe supported by Ptolemy and Aristotle, and led to major revolutions in astronomy and science. Galileo Galilei became a champion of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
