Remarkable liaisons among the well-to-do

Abstract

My 'find', a pornographic novel bearing the title Fugi qiyuan ('Remarkable liaisons among the well-to-do'), does not appear in any of the major catalogues of traditional Chinese fiction. It is clear from the poor quality of the litho-graphic printing, the cheap grade of the paper, the many errors and the two roughly worked illustrations in the front pages that this small book belongs among the many similar works printed for popular consumption in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.