This book pays tribute to the tenacity and sailing skills of four young New Zealanders who sailed an epic voyage in their Chinese junk Golden Lotus in 1962. On their 8,500 mile journey from Hong Kong to New Zealand they confronted violent storms in the South China Sea, Indian Ocean and Tasman Sea. They challenged poisonous and powerful Komodo dragons on an uninhabited Indonesian island; encountered mid-ocean sharks of mean proportions; overcame the many navigational hazards of the Barrier Reef Coast of Australia. Brian Clifford, master Navigator at age 23, orchestrated every aspect of this classic adventure. Skillful celestial navigation, adventurous spirits and the raw energy of a youthful crew combined with total self reliance to win the day.

The Plum in the Golden Vase (also known as The Golden Lotus) was published in the early seventeenth century and may be the first long work of Chinese fiction written by a single (though anonymous) author. Featuring both complex structural elements and psychological and emotional realism, the novel centers on the rich merchant Ximen Qing and his household and describes the physical surroundings and material objects of a Ming Dynasty city. In part a social, political, and moral critique, the novel reflects on hierarchical power relations of family and state and the materialism of life at the time. The essays in this volume provide ideas for teaching the novel using a variety of approaches, from questions of genre, intertextuality, and the novel's reception to material culture, family and social dynamics, and power structures in sexual relations. Insights into the novel's representation of Buddhism, Chinese folk religion, legal culture, class, slavery, and obscenity are offered throughout the volume.