The Plum in the Vase or, Chin P ing Mei, Volume 1: The Gathering

Roy, David Tod (translator)

ISBN 10: 0691069328 / ISBN 13: 9780691069326

Published by Princeton University Press, 1993

About this Item

Princeton. 1993. Princeton University Press. 1st American Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0691069328. Translated from the Chinese by David Tod Roy. 610 pages. hardcover. Jacket illustration: Hsi-men Ch ing Decides to Deflower Li Kuei-chieh. Signed by the Translator. keywords: Asia China Literature Translated World Literature. DESCRIPTION - This first of five planned volumes begins David Roy's long-awaited complete and annotated translation of an anonymous sixteenth-century Chinese novel, the famous Chin P'ing Mei. A work known primarily for its erotic realism, the Chin P'ing Mei is also a landmark in the development of narrative art not only from a specifically Chinese perspective but in a world-historical context. Since all previous European language translations are either abridged or based on an inferior version of the text, Roy's faithful and lively translation is the first to do full justice to this rich and complex work of literature, which focuses on the domestic life of Hsi-men Ch'ing, a corrupt, upwardly mobile merchant in a provincial town, who maintains a harem of six wives and concubines and eventually exhausts himself in conspicuous consumption in the economic, political, and sexual spheres. Although the novel is set in the years 1112 through 1127, the final decades of the Northern Sung dynasty, the conditions described are those of the sixteenth century, a period of burgeoning economic growth and volatile social change that threatened the traditional values of Chinese society. The story of the corrupt rise and ignominious fall of Hsi-men Ch'ing's household is both a reflection and a critique of these conditions, and can be read as a microcosm of the moral disintegration of the Chinese body politic, culminating in the collapse of the ruling dynasty. The first volume can stand on its own, as it tells a fascinating story that begins with Hsi-men Ch'ing's conquest of the notorious P'an Chin-lien and his conniving in the poisoning of her husband and continues through the protagonist's intrigue with Li P'ing-erh, the wife of his next-door neighbor and his sworn brother, to the death of the betrayed husband and Li P'ing-erh's rough initiation as a member of Hsi-men Ch'ing's household. In this translation, the Chin P'ing Mei can be understood and appreciated at a variety of levels by audiences ranging from specialists in Chinese literature, through students of the novel in a comparative perspective, to general readers looking for a compelling narrative replete with convincing portrayals of the darker side of human nature. As for this story,' as the anonymous preface to the Chin P'ing Mei has it, although it may be couched in the everyday language of the marketplace or the idle chatter of the boudoir, even a three-foot-tall lad can derive as much pleasure from it as though he were enabled to suck the nectar of Heaven.' inventory #16985. Seller Inventory # z16985

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Plum in the Vase or, Chin P ing Mei, ...

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Publication Date: 1993

Binding: hardcover

Condition: Very Good in Dustjacket

Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Signed: Signed by the Translator

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

The first volume of a celebrated translation of the classic Chinese novel

This is the first volume in David Roy's celebrated translation of one of the most famous and important novels in Chinese literature. The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P’ing Mei is an anonymous sixteenth-century work that focuses on the domestic life of Hsi-men Ch’ing, a corrupt, upwardly mobile merchant in a provincial town, who maintains a harem of six wives and concubines. The novel, known primarily for its erotic realism, is also a landmark in the development of the narrative art form―not only from a specifically Chinese perspective but in a world-historical context.

With the possible exception of The Tale of Genji (1010) and Don Quixote (1615), there is no earlier work of prose fiction of equal sophistication in world literature. Although its importance in the history of Chinese narrative has long been recognized, the technical virtuosity of the author, which is more reminiscent of the Dickens of Bleak House, the Joyce of Ulysses, or the Nabokov of Lolita than anything in the earlier Chinese fiction tradition, has not yet received adequate recognition. This is partly because all of the existing European translations are either abridged or based on an inferior recension of the text. This translation and its annotation aim to faithfully represent and elucidate all the rhetorical features of the original in its most authentic form and thereby enable the Western reader to appreciate this Chinese masterpiece at its true worth.

About the Author:

David Tod Roy (1933–2016) was professor emeritus of Chinese literature at the University of Chicago. His monumental five-volume translation of the Chin P'ing Mei was completed in 2013.