JOU PU TUAN, transl. by Franz Kuhn into German and by Richard Martin
from German into English. Grove Press, N.Y., 1966, 1963, original 1634.

The reader of this review is advised that it contains significant 
spoilers, being, to a large extent a summary of the plot.

This is a mostly delightful erotic novel, whose theme is how the hero,
Before midnight Scholar, comes to the spiritual life by taking the long
road through, "The Prayer Mat of Flesh." Chapter One recounts his meeting
with the great hermit, Lonely Summit. The hermit is tremendously impressed
by his visitor:

   Since I have been living the life of a hermit, I have been overrun by
   all sorts of visitors, who have implored me to receive them as my
   helpers...doctors, scholars, men of learning, even officials...And yet,
   though some of these applicants had seriously concerned themselves with
   the study of the Buddhist doctrine, I found no sign of maturity, of
   enlightenment in any of them.

   And then--who would have thought it?--you, my esteemed young lay
   brother, come along, displaying so much illumination and understanding.
   All you need is a few years immersion in the teachings of Buddha, and
   you will have risen to samadhi, to the sublime state of perfection, the
   earthly Nirvanna. pp 9-10.

Before Midnight Scholar replies that first he'd like to become the tenth
master of prose writing and something else. He is surprised when Lonely
Summit guesses this something else is winning the fairest in the land.
Lonely Summit quotes a couplet about Heaven hearing secret plans as loud
as thunder. They discourse a bit, and Lonely Summit says that the hero
will come, later, if not sooner, to the realization of the folly of
seducing other men's wives.

The hero promptly sets about getting himself a wife, the beautiful maiden,
Noble Scent, whose father is the conservative miser, Iron Door. The hero
then has to instruct Noble Scent in the finer points of "the wind and
moon" game, and when she balks show her well drawn illustrations.

   Since the world was created, there has been nothing more natural and
   reasonable than the activities described in this book. That is why a
   master of the word joined forces with a master of color to fashion the
   material into a true work of art; that is why the publisher spared no
   costs and as you see brought the book out in a de luxe edition on
   expensive silk, and that is why the plates are preserved along with
   other literary treasures in the archives of the Han-lin Academy, in
   the Forest of Brush and Ink, so that future generations may draw
   knowledge and profit from it. p. 31

Noble Scent accepts and becomes quite accomplished in bed. However, her
father is so unbearable this drives our hero away. Before Midnight Scholar
does not inform Iron Door of his intent to seduce beautiful women, instead
providing the quite admirable reason of seeking out learned professors and
preparing for the examinations.

Although at first he doesn't notice any really extra-ordinary beauties, he
does encounter at an inn the famous burglar, Kun-lun's Rival, who tells
him, of course, such beauties are kept out of the sight of strange men.
The name Kun-lun's Rival is a reference to the T'ang story by Pei Xing
(Second half of Ninth Century) "The Kunlun Slave". See pp. 82-86 of THE
DRAGON KING'S DAUGHTER. Page 82 has a note stating that Kunlun refers to
the South Seas, whereas this translation of JOU PO TUAN uses the word
"Moor."

Kun-lun's Rival has had a great opportunity to observe beautiful women.
However, he is a very honourable thief whose principles include never
taking something again from a place he has already robbed. He does promise
to keep his eyes open in future for his new sworn friend.

The hero then moves into an appartment at the Temple of the Love God,
Chang Hsien, where he can observe the many women coming to pray to the
god. He carefully notes down all the particulars of every attractive
women. Finally, he encounters three really outstanding beauties. That day
he had awakened late and missed his chance to take his usual hiding place,
where he could catch the priest's reading of the name and address of the
supplicants. He sees these three beauties about to depart, rushes out and
kows tows to them madly. They cast him appreciative glances and continue
on their way. Lacking their addresses, Before Midnight Scholar goes to
find his friend, Kun-lun's Rival.

The honourable burglar informs our hero that he also has seen three very
beautiful women, though the hero would be greedy to want more than one. As
two belong to a wealthy family, difficult to approach, he'd be better off
setting his sights on the wife of a silk merchant.

At this point in the story, Kun-lun's Rival seeks assurances the hero's
instrument will satisfy the woman. This turns out not to be the case, in
his estimation. Never has the robber, observing thousands of such items,
during his night time excursions, seen so tiny a specimen. The hero then
encounters a remarkable physician who grafts on some extra material taken
from a dog interrupted in its pleasure. Now, Before Midnight Scholar has,
to go with his good looks, the means to satisfy more than inexperienced
maidens such as Noble Scent.

Kun-lun's Rival takes Midnight Scholar to meet the beauty in the silk
shop. The woman's neighbour, wife of another silk dealer, notices him and
rushes to ask Aroma about him. Aroma actually is near sighted and hadn't
paid much attention to him. She's more observant when he returns. She
decides to keep her neighbour quiet and to assess the performance of
Before Midnight Scholar by giving her neighbour the first course of the
meal. So, when their husbands are off on a trip looking for silk, the
neighbour entertains him in Aroma's bed in the dark. Aroma is suitably
impressed by his performance with the neighbour and takes her turn.

It takes time for Aroma's husband to discover his wife's infidelity and
when he does he thinks Kun-lun's Rival is her lover. He offers to sell her
to Kun-lun's Rival and that honourable robber passes her on to Before
Midnight Scholar, even going so far as to find a place for the couple to
live. Soon Aroma becomes pregnant and Before Midnight Scholar bores a hole
in the wall to get at an attractive woman living on the other side. She
introduces him to her two cousins, two of the three outstanding beauties
the hero had seen at the temple of the God of Love. As the husbands are
away on an extended trip, our hero has a very pleasant time in bed with
the three cousins and later their widowed aunt, who is the third
outstanding beauty and very adept at the wind and moon game.

Meanwhile, Aroma's ex-husband has learned that before Midnight Scholar is
really the man for whom she left him. He decides on revenge and tracks
down Noble Scent. He impresses the conservative, thrifty Iron Door and has
no problem with responding to the advances of the sex-starved Noble Scent.

The final chapters of the book state that this spicy romance (There is
some pretty explicit stuff in between these covers) has been a snare to
acquaint the reader with the ultimate futility of playing the wind and
moon game with other people's spouses. Confessing that a straightforward
moral tract would end up used for purposes unrelated to reading, the
author concludes with scenes and words of Buddhist retribution, repentence
and salvation.

Personally, I object to the blame heaped onto Aroma's twins. After taking
his ten monastic vows, Before Midnight Scholar (now known by the religious
name of Stupid Pebble), offers to go and kill his daughters. The very holy
Lonely Summit dissuades him with the admonition to leave this to Heaven.
Heaven obliges and the daughters' nurses, after a dream about the family's
account being balanced, awake to find the little girls dead.

   "Now do you understand? Thanks to their early death, my babes have been
   redeemed from the curse with which they were born by my fault. There is
   no need to mourn. These are joyful tidings." p. 337

It also strikes me as unfair that the author kills off Aroma and Noble
Scent ("Honest" Ch'uan, with whom the latter elopes, sells her to a brothel
and she commits suicide when Before Midnight Scholar goes to check out the
celebrated prostitute), but has their husband-seducers "saved", though it
should be mentioned that Stupid Pebble achieves his true separation from
lusty inclinations through self-castration. (pp. 327-328)

So, if one is so spiritually inclined, one can read the final three
chapters again and again, as a gloss advises. And, if one is out for
unconcealed sex with some good humour, one can savour much in the first
seventeen chapters.

This edition also includes some twenty pages by Dr. Franz Kuhn, whose
German translation provided the means by which the English reader accesses
this book. Dr. Kuhn mentions the two texts ("An old Japanese edition of
autumn, 1705"...and "A Chinese reprint edition of 1943." He thanks R.H.
van Gulik, then Dutch Ambassador to Lebanon, and much better known as the
author of the exquisite Judge Dee mysteries, for the loan of this second
one. This second edition also contains the calculation of 1634 as the year
the first edition was published.

There follows reference to the attribution of authorship to Li Yu (1611-
1680) who helped edit CHIEH TZU YUAN HUA CHUAN (MUSTARD SEED GARDEN MANUAL
OF PAINTING). While this is not impossible, personally, I have great
doubts that he did. I think someone else wrote it.

Dr. Kuhn next mentions how he first learned of the existence of this book
in 1943 and its comparison with CHIN P'ING MEI.

   A striking stylistic difference between the two works is that the
   Chin-P'ing-Mei abounds in detailed descriptions of clothing,
   head-dress, ornaments, buildings, house furnishings, landscapes, etc.,
   whereas the author of the Jou Pu Tuan merely suggests these external
   features with a few swift strokes... p. 367

This allows him this author do more with characterization, providing
sympathetic portrayals of characters changing, in contrast to the more
static and stereotypical characters of CHIN P'ING MEI.

Dr. Kuhn proceeds to a discussion of literary clubs and their role in
publication. He also provides this interesting piece of information.

   A catalog of Ming novels drawn up by an eighteenth-century Japanese
   sinologist numbers 164 titles. p. 374

This exquisitely scintillating and/or morally elevated work would not be
at the bottom of such a list.


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