（明朝）士大夫之爱（男风 春宫图 收藏于美国）

 The Way of the Academicians

士大夫之爱

from “Hua Ying Chin Chen”
(Variegated Positions of the Flower Battle)

一本书里面的插图

China, Ming dynasty
(1368–1644)

中国 明朝

Ink on paper.

白描

The text to the picture reads:

插图所配文字： 

Surrounded by a lingering fragrance, and so handsome as to make the ladies pelt him with fruit till his carriage is full, who is that gentleman of dignified mien? In order to explore the Charm of the Rose he has inveigled his partner into allowing him to try the Flower of the Hindgarden. The other is a little bashful and gently pushes him away, for this is quite a departure from the ordinary! Looking over his shoulder he calls out softly: “Hurry a bit! And please don’t say anything to the others!”*

四周蔓延着芬芳，小伙子很英俊，至于使少女们都会向他投掷果子，直到他的车厢都满上，谁会成为这个绅士的所爱呢？为了探索玫瑰的魅力，他诱骗他的伙伴以允许他尝试“后庭花”。 那个小伙子少许害臊，轻轻地推开他，因为这有点离经被道! 看着他的肩膀他轻声说到： “请快点了! 并且不要对其他人说起! ”*

*Note:    The translator of this text (R.H. Van Gulik, the well known sinologist and author of the Judge Dee mystery novels) strangely introduces feminine pronouns (corrected here) into the description, making the pair appear a male-female couple. That interpretation flies in the face of all the cues to the contrary:

该文的翻译者是著名的中国学家和小说家 R.H. Van Gulik，曾经指出蹊跷，这个故事的两个人似乎是一男一女，而配图却有很多相反的地方。
The title:  Male love was common, not to say universal, in the exclusively male world of the scholars.

标题：男男相悦之事很寻常，尤其在士大夫阶层。

The image:  In all Ming period erotic depictions of couples, the women are shown with bound feet, demurely hidden by tiny shoes. Thus the bare foot, dangling for all to see, is the conclusive signifier of the male partner.

图片：整个明朝描写夫妇的春宫图里，女人都有被绑缚过的小脚，仔细看会看到三寸金莲。途中露出的光脚却明显是个男人的。

The signature:  The South was traditionally known as the seat of male love in China.

It is impossible to believe that Van Gulik would have been so naive as not to realize this. The only question is whether he merely kowtowed to mid-twentieth century convention (his book on Ming erotic prints came out in 1951) or whether he chose to misrepresent the image due to personal bias. Or was he a secret sympathizer, carrying on in western style the venerable Chinese tradition of encoding?