The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei, Volume One: The Gathering

(Paperback)

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Description

In the first volume of a five-volume set, the author provides a complete and annotated translation of the "Chin P'ing Mei", an anonymous 16th-century Chinese novel 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. This work, 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 also in a world-historical context.

Reviews

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1994 "Roy has made a major contribution to our overall understanding of the novel."--Jonathan Spence, The New York Review of Books "David Tod Roy enters with zest into the spirit and the letter of the original, quite surpassing ... other earlier versions."--Paul St. John Mackintosh, Literary Review "Reading Roy's translation is a remarkable experience."--Robert Chatain, Chicago Tribune Review of Books "What Roy has already accomplished [in this volume] is enough to establish his translation as definitive... A tremendous achievement."--Charles Horner, Commentary

Author Bio

David Tod Roy (19332016) 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.