Sex in the imperial garden: an unpublished Chinese pillow book, or manual of love-making, in the Kinsey Institute is a remarkable version of a celebrated album without any erotic content painted in 1738 for Emperor Qianlong by the court painter Chen Mei, as Efrat El-Hanany reveals.(Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction) From: Apollo | Date: March 1, 2005| Author: El-Hanany, Efrat | COPYRIGHT 2005 Apollo Magazine Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Princess Su'e, heroine of the erotic Ming novel The Unofficial History of the Bamboo Garden (Zhu lin ye shi), was notorious for her sexual adventures, one of which took place in a bamboo grove of the palace garden. (1) In traditional Chinese poetry, fiction, drama and painting, the garden was often seen as an appropriately intimate setting for love-making and erotic fantasy. (2) Its various components, such as flowers, trees, rocks and water, were often interpreted with an eye to t...