TY  - JOUR
SN  - 0004-4482
T1  - On Zhao Feiyan waizhuan, China’s Earliest Erotic Fiction
AU  - Olivia Milburn
Y1  - 2018
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018
T2  - Asia Major
JF  - Asia Major
JO  - Asia Major
JA  - Asia Major
VL  - 31
IS  - 1
SP  - 91
EP  - 117
KW  - Zhao Feiyan waizhuan, erotic fiction, emperor Cheng of Han, Zhao Feiyan, Zhao Hede, palace literature
Y2  - 2018
N2  - Zhao Feiyan waizhuan (Unorthodox Biography of Zhao Feiyan) is a landmark in traditional Chinese fiction, being the earliest surviving example of erotic fiction and the first known work of palace literature — a genre that focuses on the experiences of women within the Rear Palace. The narrative concerns three main characters based upon historical individuals: emperor Cheng of the Han dynasty (r. 33–7 bc), his second empress Zhao “Feiyan” or “Flying Swallow” (d. 1 bc), a former dancing girl, and her younger sister and fellow denizen of the emperor's harem, Zhao Hede (d. 7 bc). The work portrays imperial extravagance and lust, the manipulation of the emperor by his two favorites, and the tragic end of their triangle. It became influential for later writings about sexuality and gender. Zhao Feiyan waizhuan has been variously dated from the Western Han to the Northern Song dynasty, a range of over a thousand years. This paper demonstrates that Zhao Feiyan waizhuan is in fact a Tang-era text, probably produced not long before it began to circulate widely in the mid-ninth century ad.
ER  -