| The Ming Dynasty prints Hua ying chin chen are a set of twenty-four prints of sex,based on the five-color line overprinting technique,of unknown authorship and unknown time of creation.The earliest study of this set of prints is the book Erotic colour prints of the Ming period :with an essay on Chinese sex life from the Han to the Ch’ing dynasty.B.C.206-A.D.1644,in which the author Robert Hans van Gulik reprinted the monochrome version.Since the original version of Hua ying chin chen is not available,the subject of this paper is the remade version by Robert van Gulik.Faced with this special set of prints,the central question of this paper is What kind of historical framework of "sex" in ancient China was prompted by Hua ying chin chen,and how the framework “remake” this set of prints.The paper is divided into three parts.Firstly,this paper introduces the context of Robert Hans van Gulik and his秘戏图考,and then explores how Robert van Gulik constructed his understanding of the Hua ying chin chen.The second part provides an overview of the reprinted version,discussing the printmaking techniques adopted,the possible creators and timing of the creation,and style issues in the original version of Hua ying chin chen,based on秘戏图考and the reprinted the monochrome version.The third part dissects the design of Hua ying chin chen.The parts of Hua ying chin chen that Robert van Gulik remade according to his own understanding are not supported by the other parts of this set of prints.The attitude of the people in Ming Dynasty towards love desire provides a clue to the real interest of this set of prints.The interest of the literati is reflected not only in the appreciation activities,but also in the picture of Hua ying chin chen.At the same time,the appreciation activity also bridges the barriers between different literary forms and brings this paper to the human emotion desire and ethical issues common to some literati of the Ming Dynasty. |
