The ancient Chinese tradition of erotic poetry has been largely ignored in the west. Now, a vast continent of sensual verse is opened to us with this glorious collection spanning nearly three thousand years and including many poems never before translated into English.
Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping have brought together poems about deep love and pure lust, enticement and seduction, ecstasy and disappointment. Here are poems that express need, hunger, grief, and longing—for husbands and wives and for concubines and lovers; poems by turns explicit or subtle, light-hearted or desperate, written from both men's and women's points of view. The editors have drawn on a wide range of sources from 600 BCE to the present, including highly literary poems, popular verse, and folk songs, as well as poems that appeared in ancient Daoist sex manuals, in classical novels of the Ming Dynasty, and in collections of erotic prints. The result is a dazzling array of voices that speak the universal language of desire.
For the first time, all the major works of this beloved writer are gathered together in one hardcover volume.

Foreword
The Book of Songs (c. 600 BCE)
In the Wilds is a Dead River-Deer
Portrait of a Bride
The Riverbank
Grasshoppers and Baby Locusts
Zhen and Wei Rivers
Stripping Off Clothes
White Moonrise
There are Tall Weeds in the Fields
Fruit Plummets from the Plum Tree
I Beg You, Zhongzi
Sima Xiangru (179–117 BCE)
The Prose-Poem of the Beautiful Person
Zhang Heng (78–139 CE)
From T’ung-sheng-ko
Anonymous
From Nineteen Ancient Poems (Han Dynasty)
Zi Ye (3rd–4th Centuries CE)
From 42 Songs: The Cheating Lover
From 42 Songs: Night is Forever
From 42 Songs: Her Shyness
From 42 Songs: The Untied Skirt
From 42 Songs: Undressing
From 42 Songs: Street Encounter
From 42 Songs: Tangled Hair
From 20 Spring Songs: Spring Wind
From 20 Summer Songs: Lotus Flower Girl
From 20 Summer Songs: After Lovemaking
From 20 Summer Songs: Flaming Love
From 20 Summer Songs: Melons and Plum
From 20 Summer Songs: Sleeping with One Pillow
From 18 Autumn Songs: The Lovers
From 17 Winter Songs: Lust for the Summer Lover
Late Autumn
Sleeves Lifted
A Charcoal Stove
Two Love Songs
Anonymous (Six Dynasties)
My Lover Will Soon be Here
This Morning Our Boat Left
Shen Yue (441–513)
From Six Reminiscences
To a Friend I Met Early One Morning While She Was in Her Carriage
For My Neighbor Who Was Waiting for Someone Who Didn’t Come
Emperor Wu of Liang (464–549)
The Morning Sun Shines

Emperor Jianwen of Liang (503–551)
A Beautiful Woman
Emperor Hou Zhu of Chen (553–604)
A Jade Tree Blossoms in the Back Garden
Zhang Wencheng (c. 657–730)
From The Dwelling of Playful Goddesses
—A Poem About His Knife
—A Poem About Her Sheath
—A Poem About a Broken Copper Flat-Iron
—A Poem About Writing Brushes and Inkstones 57
—Her Poem About a Bow
—His Reply About the Bow
Zhao Luanluan (8th Century)
Cloudlike Hair
Slender Fingers
Creamy Breasts
The Sandalwood Mouth
Xie Wen (Tang Dynasty)
To Lady Zheng
Wang Wei (701–761)
A Young Lady’s Spring Thoughts
For Someone Far Away
Li Bai (701–762)
Confessional
Sent Far Off
Singing by Green Water in Autumn
An Encounter in the Field
Si Kongshu (740–790?)
I Fall Ill and Have to Marry Off My Singing Girl

Meng Jiao (751–814)
Departure in Ancient Times
Xue Tao (768–831)
Spring Gazing
Bai Juyi (772–846)
From Song of Everlasting Sorrow
Song of Collecting Lotus Seeds
Bai Xingjian (776–826)
The Wedding Night (from the “Rhyme-Prose on the Supreme Joy of Sexual Union of Yin and Yang, Heaven and Earth”)
Yuan Zhen (779–831)
The Poem of Xuizhen
Late Autumn
White Dress
Reminiscences (5 Poems)
Missing Her After Separation (Poem Two)
Spring Dawn
Han Shan (c. Late 8th–Early 9th Centuries)
Behind Pearl Curtains
Full of Girls
Woman in Her Prime
A Flock of Beauties
Du Mu (803–852)
Given in Parting (Two Poems)
Sharing My Feelings
Xue Feng (c. 806–876)
In the Palace
Wen Tingyun (812–870)
To the Tune of “Beautiful Barbarian”

Du Qiuniang (Early 9th Century)
The Coat of Gold Brocade
Li Shangyin (813–858)
Secret of the Inner Chamber
From The Jade City Sequence
Untitled
Han Wo (844–923)
Meeting Her by Accident
Wei Zhuang (c. 836–910)
To the Tune of “Silk-Washing Brook”
To the Tune of “The River City”
To the Tune of “A Lotus Leaf Cup”
Yu Xuanji (c. 843–868)
A Farewell
Selling Ruined Peonies
Playing Polo
Autumn Complaints
Sent to a Neighboring Woman
Letter to a Friend
Ouyang Jiong (896–971)
To the Tune of “Washing Gauze in a Stream”
Li Yu (936–978)
To the Tune of “A Bushel of Pearls”
To the Tune of “Bodhisattva Barbarian”
To the Tune of “Bodhisattva Barbarian”
To the Tune of “Bodhisattva Barbarian”

Anonymous Female Poet (Song Dynasty)
Drunk Man
Sun Daoxuan (Song Dynasty)
To the Tune of “As in a Dream”
Liu Yong (987–1053)
To the Tune of “New Chrysanthemum Flowers”
To the Tune of “Poluomen Song”
Mei Yaochen (1002–1060)
At Night I Hear My Neighbor Singing
Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072)
To the Tune of “Spring in the Tower of Jade”
Painting Eyebrows, to the Tune of “Pouring Out Deep Emotions”
The Sound of Beating Oars Wafts in Among the Flowers
You Cannot Hold It . . .
Green Jade Plum Trees in Spring
When the Moon is in the River of Heaven

Qin Guan (1049–1100)
To the Tune of “Magpie Bridge Immortal”
To a Courtesan
Madam Wei (fl.1050)
To the Tune of “Attached to Her Skirt”
Zhou Bangyan (1056–1121)
To the Tune of “Rambling Young Man”
To the Tune of “Butterflies Adore Flowers”
Zhu Shuzhen (1063–1106)
To the Tune of “Washing Creek Sands”
Spring Joy
Spring Night, to the Tune of “Panning Gold” 124
Li Qingzhao (1084–c.1151)
To the Tune of “Dream Song”
To the Tune of “Intoxicated in the Shade of Flowers”
To the Tune of “The Blossoming Sprig of Plum”
To the Tune of “Spring at Wu Ling”
To the Tune of “Silk Washing Brook”
Yan Rui ( fl.c. 1160)
To the Tune of “Song of Divination”
Wu Wenying (c.1200–c.1260)
To the Tune of “Washing Creek Sands”
To the Tune of “Prelude to Oriole Song”
Guan Hanjing (c.1240–c.1320)
To the Tune of “Half and Half,” Two Poems

Zheng Yunniang
The Song of Shoes (To Zhang Sheng)
To the Tune of “West River Moon” (To Zhang Sheng)
Guan Daosheng (1262–1319)
Love Poem
Anonymous (Yuan Dynasty?)
To the Tune of “Washing Gauze in a Stream”
To the Tune of “Half and Half”
Chen Keming (c.1300–after 1375)
To the Tune of “Half and Half ”

Tang Yin (1470–1523)
From The Happiness of Monks
Inscription for a Portrait
Huang E (1498–1569)
To the Tune of “The Fall of a Little Wild Goose”
To the Tune of “Soaring Clouds”
To the Tune of “Red Embroidered Shoes”
To the Tune of “A Floating Cloud Crosses Enchanted Mountain”
A Farewell to a Southern Melody
Tang Xianzu (1550–1616)
From The Peony Pavilion
—Her Erotic Dream
—Jade Limbs
Xie Zhaozhe (1567–1624)
Spring Complaints
Yuan Hongdao (1568–1610)
At Hengtang Ferry
Anonymous (Ming Dynasty)
From Flower Encampment and Battle Formations
—To the Tune of “Like a Dream”
—To the Tune of “Boating at Night”
—To the Tune of “Watching the Sea Tide”
—To the Tune of “The Forest of Writing Brushes Academy”
—To the Tune of “Magpie on the Branch”
—To the Tune of “Gold Man Holding a Plate for Collecting Dew”
—To the Tune of “Spring in the Phoenix Tower”
—To the Tune of “One Sprig of Plum”
—To the Tune of “Visiting Spring”
—To the Tune of “Unhooking Entangled Rings”
—To the Tune of “Sand Washed by Waves”
Poetry Collected by Feng Menglong (1574–1646)
Untitled
A Dragging Cotton Skirt
Clever
Lantern
Shooting Star
The Bento Box
The Boat
A Boat Trip
We’e Only Happy About Tonight
A Nun in Her Orchid Chamber Solitude Feels Lust Like a Monster
Steal a Peep
Impatience
Squeeze
A Good Day
Tryst
Flirting
Flirting
Flirting
Cursing Dukang
Misidentification
Footsteps
A Gift of Watermelon Seed Kernels
Asking About a Bite Mark
A Drunk Returns
Fire in the Eyes
Again
Conversation Between Heart and Mouth
Hooked
Idiot Thoughts
Idiot Thoughts
Account Book
Sobbing and Thinking
The Dream
The Dream
Lovesickness
Receiving a Letter
Divination
Departure
Night Struggle
Revealing Words
The Fear
To Keep Him
Rooster
Imaginary
Moonrise
Midnight
The Girl
The Girl
Too Many
Wind
Ling Mengchu (1580–1644)
Bed Time
Between the Sheets
Wang Wei (c.1600–c.1647)
To the Tune of “Drunk in the Spring Wind”
Retired Scholar “Ailing Crane” of Tung-Hai (c.1606)
Rousing the Dreaming Lover
Awakening from a Spring Slumber
Wu Weiye (1609–1672)
On Meeting an Old Flame, to the Tune of “Immortal by the River”
Anonymous (c.1618)
From The Plum in the Golden Vase
—On Infidelity
—The Six Inch Thing
—The Lotus Thing
—A Night of Many Positions
—To the Tune of “West River Moon”
—To the Tune of “West River Moon”
—To the Tune of “Walking on Grass”
—A Body Like Snow-White Jade
—Water Sex
—The Two-Edged Sword
—Green Jade and Red Rouge
—Butterfly and Flower
Wu Zao (1799–1863)
To the Tune of “Beautiful Lady Yu”
Fan Zengxiang (1846–1931)
Noonday

Wang Guowei (1877–1927)
To the Tune of “Butterfly Loving Flowers”: Visiting My Parents After My Wedding Night
Su Manshu (The Half-Monk) (1884–1918)
From 10 Narrative Poems
To the Zither Player
Anonymous
On a Brothel Wall
Yu Qingzeng (Late 19th Century)
To the Tune of “Intoxicated with Shadows of Flowers”
Liu Dabai (1880–1932)
Kiss by Mail
Xu Zhimo (1895–1931)
You Deserve It
J. S. Ling (1901–?)
A Morning Shower
Mang Ke (1951–)
Darling
Zhang Zhen (1961–)
The Cat at My Friend’s House
A Desire

Chen Dongdong (1961–)
Snow-Covered Sun
Tang Yaping (1962–)
Black Cave
Black Midnight
Black Rock
Cyril Wong (1977–)
I Didn’t Expect to Write About Sex
Biographical Notes
Acknowledgments

TONY BARNSTONE is Professor of English at Whittier College and the recipient of the Pushcart Prize in Poetry as well as fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council. His books include Sad Jazz: Sonnets; Impure: Poems by Tony Barnstone; The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry; Out of the Howling Storm: The New Chinese Poetry; Laughing Lost in the Mountains: Poems of Wang Wei; The Art of Writing: Teachings of the Chinese Masters; and the textbooks Literatures of Asia, Africa and Latin America, Literatures of Asia, and Literatures of the Middle East.

CHOU PING took his doctorate in Asian literature from Stanford University and his MFA in creative writing from Indiana University and has taught at Reed College, Oberlin College and Washington University, among other places. His books include The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry and The Art of Writing: Teachings of the Chinese Masters. He lives in Portland, Oregon.