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{{family name hatnote|[[Li (surname 李)|Li]]|lang=Chinese}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Li (surname 李)|Li]]|lang=Chinese}}
[[File:Portrait_of_Li_Yu.png|thumb|A portrait of Li Yu]]
[[File:Portrait_of_Li_Yu.png|thumb|A portrait of Li Yu]]
'''Li Yu''' ({{lang-zh|c=李漁|p=Lǐ Yú}}, given name: 仙侣 Xiānlǚ; [[courtesy name]]: 笠翁  Lìwēng; 1611–1680 AD), also known as '''Li Liweng''', was a Chinese playwright, novelist and publisher.
'''Li Yu''' ({{lang-zh|c=李漁|p=Lǐ Yú}}, given name: 仙侣 Xiānlǚ; [[courtesy name]]: 笠翁  Lìwēng; 1611–1680 AD), also known as '''Li Liweng''', was a Chinese playwright, novelist and publisher.


==Life and writings==
== Life ==
Born in [[Rugao]], in present-day [[Jiangsu]] province, he lived in the late [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] and early [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]] dynasties. Although he passed the first stage of the [[imperial examination]], he failed to pass higher levels before the political turmoil of the new dynasty, but instead turned to writing for the market. Li was an actor, producer, and director as well as a playwright, who traveled with his own troupe. His play ''Errors caused by the Kite'' ({{Lang-zh|t=風箏誤|hp=Fēngzhēng wù}}) is performed in the Chinese [[Kun opera]] stage.<ref>Chun-shu Chang Shelley Hsueh-lun Chang, ''[[Crisis and Transformation in Seventeenth-Century China: Society, Culture, and Modernity in Li Yü's World]]'' (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,  1992), 48, 60–71, 161.</ref>
Born in 1611 in [[Rugao]], in today's [[Jiangsu]] province, Li came from a literati family and grew up during the final decades of the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] dynasty. Following his father's death in 1629, he moved to his ancestral home in [[Lanxi, Zhejiang]], where he continued preparing for the civil service examinations. He passed the county-level of the [[imperial examination]], but he couldn't advance to the provincial level before the political turmoil caused by the transition to the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]]. In 1644, Li fled to the mountains to avoid the war associated with the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. After the conflict passed, he returned to Lanxi in 1646 and then relocated to [[Hangzhou]] in 1652, an urban center known for its commercial theater and publishing industries, where he pursued a career as an author, producer, and playwright. <ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hanan |first=Patrick |title=The invention of Li Yu |date=1988 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-46425-4 |location=Cambridge, Mass |pages=146-168}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Kile |first=S. E. |title=Towers in the void: Li Yu and early modern Chinese media |date=2023 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-21004-1 |location=New York |pages=121-140}}</ref>


Li is the presumed author of ''[[The Carnal Prayer Mat]]'', a comedy of Chinese [[Erotic literature#Asian erotic fiction|erotic literature]].<ref>Chang and Chang, ''[[Crisis and Transformation in Seventeenth-Century China]]: Society, Culture, and Modernity in Li Yü's World''. 16, 232–38, doubt Li's authorship.</ref> He also wrote a book of short stories called ''Twelve Towers'' ({{Lang-zh|t=十二樓|hp=Shí'èr lóu|labels=no}}). He addresses the topic of [[homosexuality|same-sex love]] in the tale "House of Gathered Refinements" ({{Lang-zh|t=萃雅樓|hp=Cuìyǎ lóu|labels=no}}). This is a theme he revisits in the collection ''Silent Operas'' (i.e. "novels"; {{Lang-zh|t=無聲戲|hp=Wúshēng Xì|labels=no}}) and his play ''[[The Fragrant Companion]]''. Li prefaced and published the painting manual ''[[Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden]]'' in [[Nanjing|Jinling]].
==Writings==
Within about a decade of living in Hangzhou, Li achieved commercial success as a writer in [[erotic literature]], establishing himself as a distinctive figure in early Qing literature. The collections he published during this time period, including some of his well known short stories like ''Silent Operas'' (''Wusheng xi'', 1656), ''Priceless Gems'' (''Liancheng bi'', 1658), and ''Twelve Towers'' (''Shi'er lou'', 1658), explored the topics of love and gender roles. He also wrote plays such as ''Errors Caused by the Kite'' (''Fengzheng wu'') and ''[[The Fragrant Companion]]'' (Lian Xiang Ban''',''' 1651), which were performed by his troupe on the Chinese [[Kunqu|Kun opera]] stage. In his fiction and drama, he frequently used irony and narrative inversion to examine social convention, as seen in stories like in ''House of Gathered Refinements'' (''Cuiya lou, 1658''), which is about same-sex love, and in ''[[The Carnal Prayer Mat]]'' (''Rou putuan'', 1657), which uses irony and eroticism to critique hypocrisy in Confucian ideals. <ref name=":0" />


Li was also known for his informal essays, or ''xiaopin'' ({{lang|zh|小品}}), and for his [[gastronomy]] and gastronomical writings. [[Lin Yutang]] translated a number of these essays. Li's "On Having a Stomach" proposes that the mouth and the stomach "cause all the worry and trouble of mankind throughout the ages." He continues that the "plants can live without a mouth and a stomach, and the rocks and the soil have their being without any nourishment. Why, then, must we be given a mouth and a stomach and endowed with these two extra organs?"<ref>Yutang Lin, ''The Importance of Living'' (New York: John Day: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1937), 43.</ref> Lin also translated Li's  "How to be Happy Though Rich" and "How to be Happy Though Poor", and "The Arts of Sleeping, Walking, Sitting and Standing", which illustrate his satirical approach to serious topics.<ref>Yutang Lin, ''The Importance of Understanding: Translations from the Chinese'' (Cleveland: World, 1960).</ref>
In 1662, Li moved to [[Nanjing]], which was a commercial center known for its book trade and printing. This was around the same time he began expanding his themes beyond fictional narrative to include art, history, and everyday life. He published essays like ''A Brief History of the Old and New'' (''Gujin Shilüe'', 1659''), New Aid for Governance'' (''Zizhi xinshu chuji'', 1663), and ''Discussions of the Past'' (''Lungu'', 1664). His essays during this time period spanned topics from [[gastronomy]], governance, leisure, and architecture. For example in one of his most influential collections, ''Leisure Notes'' (''Xiangqing ouji'', 1671), he expressed his belief that having new, aesthetic enjoyment in everyday life is essential to personal cultivation. Scholars have noted that throughout his wide range of themes, Li maintained a consistent style, using humor to observe human behavior and the conditions of everyday living.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />


Li was critical of [[Gambling in China|gambling]], describing dice as innocent objects transformed into devils in the hands of gamblers.<ref name="Chen2">{{Cite book |last=Chen |first=Jiayi |title=Games & Play in Chinese & Sinophone Cultures |date=2024 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=9780295752402 |editor-last=Guo |editor-first=Li |location=Seattle, WA |pages=138 |chapter=Ghostly Dicing: Gambling Games and Deception in Ming-Qing Short Stories |editor-last2=Eyman |editor-first2=Douglas |editor-last3=Sun |editor-first3=Hongmei}}</ref>
Li was critical of [[Gambling in China|gambling]], describing dice as innocent objects transformed into devils in the hands of gamblers.<ref name="Chen2">{{Cite book |last=Chen |first=Jiayi |title=Games & Play in Chinese & Sinophone Cultures |date=2024 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=9780295752402 |editor-last=Guo |editor-first=Li |location=Seattle, WA |pages=138 |chapter=Ghostly Dicing: Gambling Games and Deception in Ming-Qing Short Stories |editor-last2=Eyman |editor-first2=Douglas |editor-last3=Sun |editor-first3=Hongmei}}</ref>

Latest revision as of 15:20, 22 December 2025

Template:Short description Template:Family name hatnote

File:Portrait of Li Yu.png
A portrait of Li Yu

Li Yu (Template:Lang-zh, given name: 仙侣 Xiānlǚ; courtesy name: 笠翁 Lìwēng; 1611–1680 AD), also known as Li Liweng, was a Chinese playwright, novelist and publisher.

Life

Born in 1611 in Rugao, in today's Jiangsu province, Li came from a literati family and grew up during the final decades of the Ming dynasty. Following his father's death in 1629, he moved to his ancestral home in Lanxi, Zhejiang, where he continued preparing for the civil service examinations. He passed the county-level of the imperial examination, but he couldn't advance to the provincial level before the political turmoil caused by the transition to the Qing. In 1644, Li fled to the mountains to avoid the war associated with the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. After the conflict passed, he returned to Lanxi in 1646 and then relocated to Hangzhou in 1652, an urban center known for its commercial theater and publishing industries, where he pursued a career as an author, producer, and playwright. [1][2]

Writings

Within about a decade of living in Hangzhou, Li achieved commercial success as a writer in erotic literature, establishing himself as a distinctive figure in early Qing literature. The collections he published during this time period, including some of his well known short stories like Silent Operas (Wusheng xi, 1656), Priceless Gems (Liancheng bi, 1658), and Twelve Towers (Shi'er lou, 1658), explored the topics of love and gender roles. He also wrote plays such as Errors Caused by the Kite (Fengzheng wu) and The Fragrant Companion (Lian Xiang Ban, 1651), which were performed by his troupe on the Chinese Kun opera stage. In his fiction and drama, he frequently used irony and narrative inversion to examine social convention, as seen in stories like in House of Gathered Refinements (Cuiya lou, 1658), which is about same-sex love, and in The Carnal Prayer Mat (Rou putuan, 1657), which uses irony and eroticism to critique hypocrisy in Confucian ideals. [1]

In 1662, Li moved to Nanjing, which was a commercial center known for its book trade and printing. This was around the same time he began expanding his themes beyond fictional narrative to include art, history, and everyday life. He published essays like A Brief History of the Old and New (Gujin Shilüe, 1659), New Aid for Governance (Zizhi xinshu chuji, 1663), and Discussions of the Past (Lungu, 1664). His essays during this time period spanned topics from gastronomy, governance, leisure, and architecture. For example in one of his most influential collections, Leisure Notes (Xiangqing ouji, 1671), he expressed his belief that having new, aesthetic enjoyment in everyday life is essential to personal cultivation. Scholars have noted that throughout his wide range of themes, Li maintained a consistent style, using humor to observe human behavior and the conditions of everyday living.[1][2]

Li was critical of gambling, describing dice as innocent objects transformed into devils in the hands of gamblers.[3]

Translations

  • Patrick Hanan et al. (1990). "Silent Operas (Wusheng Xi)". Hong Kong: Research Centre for Translation, Chinese University of Hong Kong. Template:ISBN
  • Patrick Hanan (1996). The Carnal Prayer Mat. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press. Template:ISBN.
  • Patrick Hanan (1998). Tower for the Summer Heat. New York : Columbia University Press. Template:ISBN.
  • Nathan K Mao (1979). Twelve towers : short stories. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press. Template:ISBN.
  • Jacques Dars (2003). Au gré d'humeurs oisives : Les carnets secrets de Li Yu : un art du bonheur en Chine. Arles : Éditions Philippe Picquier. Template:ISBN
  • Jou-pu-tuan : Andachtsmatten aus Fleisch; e. erot. Roman aus d. Ming-Zeit. Frankfurt am Main : Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag. Template:ISBN. 1986.
  • LI‑YU Jeou-P'ou-T'ouan, la chair comme tapis de prière, translated by Pierre Klossowski; Éditions Jean-Jacques Pauvert, Paris, 1979
  • Li Yu: À mari jaloux, femme fidèle, by Pascale Frey 1998

References

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Sources and further reading

  • Chen, Duo, "Li Yu". Encyclopedia of China, 1st ed.
  • Chun-Shu Chang and Shelley Hsueh-Lun Chang. Crisis and Transformation in Seventeenth-Century China: Society, Culture, and Modernity in Li Yü's World. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992. x, 452p. Template:ISBN.
  • Owen, Stephen, "Li, Yu, Silent Operas (Wu-sheng xi)," in Stephen Owen, ed. An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911. New York: W. W. Norton, 1997. p. 915-941. (. (Archive).
  • Patrick Hanan (1988). The Invention of Li Yu. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press. Template:ISBN. Comprehensive overview of Li Yu's life and works, containing many substantial excerpts from Li Yu's essays, plays, short stories and novel.
  • Andrea Stocken: Das Ästhetikkonzept des Li Yu (1610–1680) im Xianqing ouji im Zusammenhang von Leben und Werk. 2005 Template:ISBN
  • HENRY, Eric: Chinese Amusement - The Lively Plays of Li Yü.Archon Books Hamden, CT 1980
  • Воскресенский Д.Н. Ли Юй. Полуночник Вэйян или подстилка из плоти. (пер. с кит., предисл., коммент.) М., Гудьял-Пресс
  • Воскресенский Д.Н. Ли Юй. Двенадцать башен (повести XVII в.). (пер. с кит., предисл., коммент.) М., Гудьял-Пресс
  • Template:Cite ECCP

External links

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