Title: Rou pu tuan
First published: 1705
Description: In the three hundred years since its initial publication, Li Yu's The Carnal Prayer Mat has been widely read in China, where it is recognized as a benchmark of erotic literature and currently enjoys the distinction of being a banned-in-Beijing classic. The story centers on Scholar Vesperus, a handsome orphan and student of Zen. Before taking his monastic vows, Vesperus embarks on a career of licentiousness.

His adventures as "hero of the boudoir, a champion of sex" take both comic and calamitous turns, until eventually he attains "enlightenment on the carnal prayer mat."
Subjects: China, Fiction, Sex customs, Sexual behavior, Social life and customs, Young men, Near and far eastern fiction (fictional works by one author), Chinese fiction, Translations into English, History, LITERARY CRITICISM, Asian, General, Ming dynasty, Manners and customs, Languages & Literatures, East Asian Languages & Literatures, Erotic stories, Historical fiction, Fiction, general, Chinese Erotic literature, Chinese Erotic stories, Sex in literature, Chinese literature
Places: China
Time periods: 960-1644, Qing dynasty, 1644-1912