Torn from her family. Destined to become the most desired courtesan in China. A seductive and evocative debut that opens the doors on life as a Chinese courtesan in the Peach Blossom Pavilion...

The story is set in the last days of the Ming Dynasty, when the Manchu invaders were already in close proximity to the capital. Instead of fighting the enemy, the great officials of state devoted themselves to intrigues, corruption and self-aggrandizement. A few concerned individuals, mostly members of the literati, spent time in endless debates and took no practical action. It fell to a courtesan, the Perfumed Lady, to show them the way. Her young lover, Hou Fangyu, however, chose to relinquish the world, in spite of his earlier professions of patriotism. Broken-hearted, she retired to a convent and became a nun. Much of what appears in the book is factual. The principle characters were real people; even the fan existed.

Focusing on two late-Ming or early-Qing plays central to the Chinese canon (Peony Pavilion and Peach Blossom Fan), this study explores crucial questions concerning personal identity.

The Peach Blossom Fan is a poetic drama about national cataclysm. More than 300 years ago, the last native Chinese imperial house fell before rebel onslaughts, made a short-lived attempt at restoration in the south, then yielded finally to the invading Manchus. Writing in the 1690s, Kng Shang-jen gathered the recollections of survivors. Out of these and a multitude of documentary accounts, he constructed a great historical play in the elegant Southern Chinese style. With compelling vividness he recreates confrontations between loyalists and those who would sell out to the newest master; nostalgic scenes of dalliance in riverside pavilions, with wine and poetry and beautiful girls; desperate stands on battlements of beleaguered cities; and more. Sir Harold Acton, who collaborated with the late S. H. Chen and Cyril Birch in making this translation, has captured in his lively English the spirit and nuances of the original. Prefatory materials and notes provide both historical and dramaturgical background for the reader full enjoyment of this masterpiece.

Fan Xiping (1709 - ?), titled guoshou and go saint, was one of the strongest players in the Qing dynasty. Together with Shi Xiangxia, their Ten-Game Match at Danghu is widely regarded as the pinnacle of go in ancient China. In the masterpiece Go Book of Peach Blossom Spring, Fan summarizes his unique findings from his lifelong research with an exposition of 20 basic positions in over 400 variations. Table of Contents: Foreword Preface Part I 9-5 Cap (44 variations) 3-6 Invasion (28 variations) Entering the Corner with the Very Large Knight's Move (12 variations) 3-6 Invasion After Diagonal Attachment (24 variations) 3-5 Invasion and Hane (40 variations) Attacking with Two-Space Extension and Keima (36 variations) Corner Seal (7 variations) Inappropriate Corner Seal (6 variations) Kosumi Seal (16 variations) Jump Seal After Diagonal Attachment (11 variations) Keima Seal After Diagonal Attachment (9 variations) 9-4 Press (4 variations) Part II 5-6 Keima Attack (44 variations) Double Kakari (56 variations) Three-Space Extension (16 variations) 3-5 Invasion (15 variations) 2-5 Invasion (21 variations) Clamp Invasion After Diagonal Attachment (6 variations) Clamp Invasion After Attachment and Jump (8 variations) Cross Cut (55 variations) 271 pages Sensei's Library: http://senseis.xmp.net/?PeachBlossom ==================== Translations by Ruoshi Sun: Three-Stone Games by Guo Bailing https://www.createspace.com/4590413 Four-Stone Games by Guo Bailing Part I https://www.createspace.com/4592900 Part II https://www.createspace.com/4633416 Games of Wonder by Wu Jun and Wu Jiong http://www.createspace.com/4733019 Go Book of Peach Blossom Spring by Fan Xiping http://www.createspace.com/4742860