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The Way of the Academicians (翰林風)

from “Hua Ying Chin Chen” (Variegated Positions of the Flower Battle, Chinese name:花營錦陣),

China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

The text to the picture reads:

Surrounded by a lingering fragrance, and so handsome as to make the ladies pelt him with fruit till his carriage is full, who is that gentleman of dignified mien? In order to explore the Charm of the Rose he has inveigled his partner into allowing him to try the Flower of the Hindgarden. The other is a little bashful and gently pushes him away, for this is quite a departure from the ordinary! Looking over his shoulder he calls out softly: “Hurry a bit! And please don’t say anything to the others!”* (座上香盈果滿車，誰家年少潤無瑕。為探薔薇顏色媚，賺來試折後庭花。半似含羞半推脫，不比尋常浪風月。回頭低喚快些兒，叮嚀休與他人說。)

Signed: The Candidate from the South (南國學士)

• Note: The translator of this text (R.H. Van Gulik, the well known sinologist and author of the Judge Dee mystery novels) strangely introduces feminine pronouns (corrected here) into the description, making the pair appear a male-female couple. That interpretation flies in the face of all the cues to the contrary:

The title: Male love was common, not to say universal, in the exclusively male world of the scholars.

The image: In all Ming period erotic depictions of couples, the women are shown with bound feet, demurely hidden by tiny shoes. Thus the bare foot, dangling for all to see, is the conclusive signifier of the male partner.

The signature: The South was traditionally known as the seat of male love in China.

It is impossible to believe that Van Gulik would have been so naive as not to realize this. The only question is whether he merely kow-towed to mid-twentieth century convention (his book on Ming erotic prints came out in 1951) or whether he chose to misrepresent the image due to personal bias. Or was he a secret sympathizer, carrying on in western style the venerable Chinese tradition of encoding?