Author ｜
Jianhua Chen
Abstract ｜
In the tradition of Chinese lyricism, the “erotic lyrics” represented by New Songs of Jade Terrace, an anthology during the Six Dynasties, and the style of “fragrant boudoir” created by Han Wo in late Tang were condemned by orthodox Confucians for their representations of amoral love and sensational feelings. The late Ming poet Wang Cihui mixed the two styles, from which appeared the term “fragrant-erotic” in early twentieth-century China, implying historical discovery and reconstruction of Chinese lyricism. This paper gives a survey of A Collection of fragrant-erotic Literature published in 1909, which included 355 works of poetry, prose, and fiction; all of them were officially repressed in the past. It also focuses on a series of fragrant-erotic magazines edited by literati of Southern Society in early Republican Shanghai, exploring behind them the new ideas of historical progress, the national essence, and the equal rights between men and women. By revealing their cultural politics of antiautocracy and aesthetics of sophisticated expression of human nature, it helps enrich our understanding of Chinese literary modernities.
keywords ｜
national essence, fragrant-erotic literature, Southern Society, tradition of lyricism, Early Republican era