Human and lower beings devote prolonged study to beauti-fication and sexual amusement. Our country, with the most ancient culture of all, has made especially varied and unique contributions in the fields of food and sex. The search for progress is a tenet of philosophy, as is the search for beauty. Artificial means were devised to make up for sexual deficiencies in natural beauty and enhance the pleasures of the pillow; the footbinding which was practiced for a millennium was but one example.
The third volume of The Record of Gathering Radishes (Ts’ai-fei-lu) explained in detail the connections of the lotus with sex. To the refined gentleman of antiquity, these were synonymous terms. The relation of sex to lotus was like that of mouth to taste. Lovers of the lotus penetrated the profoundest mysteries, mysteries which can be recaptured not in words but only through experience. It was the psychological and not the visual effect which really mattered. Oh, Lotus, Lotus! With a three-inch tininess and a bowed hook, you have the seductive power to lead souls astray. You aid stimulation and nocturnal pleasure, representing the acme of mystery and delight. Nothing beyond the lotus can embellish the arts of love, and only one who has tasted of it can describe its flavor. I was born rather late, when the fate of the lotus was on the wane. But my liking for it had already become a craving; looking back, I feel that something was gained from my lifetime of amusement with it. I moved to another area to avoid chaos, living alone and at leisure. There I conjured up the past, recorded what I could remember, and now present it systematically in the form of eighteen explanations. I have written honestly, not preoccupied with literary elegance, and have revealed innermost secrets. My descriptions are unavoidably vivid, and perhaps verge on the indecent. But my thought in compilation was only of the considerable number of lotus-loving gentlemen who still exist. Our comrade in the Lotus Club, planning to edit the fourth volume, requested a manuscript of me, and I had to oblige with whatever I could for the amusement of fellow lotus lovers.
While the lotus is lovable, it heavily injures the limbs and goes counter to humanity. It should vanish. Since that which is rare is precious, I have taken this opportunity in a period of transition to appreciate the vanishing lotus. Perhaps lotus-loving gentlemen will enjoy my narration, which is intended for them and not for outsiders.
I. Wild Duck Alighting on Both Shoulders
Husband and wife find coolness in the garden, in midsummer. The moon shines above the willows; there is silence everywhere, for it is deep night. A refreshing breeze brings cooling relief to the couple. The man takes out a long piece of cloth, and ties its two ends to the branch of a tree, so that it looks like a semi-circle. He has her sit in the center of this contrived swing, her jade arms holding to either side. She swings back and forth, supported by his hands on her thighs, with her “wild ducks” on his shoulders. She wears bowed shoes embroidered and red, slender, pointed, and graceful, causing him to become mentally intoxicated and spiritually lost.
II. Slender and Pointed Bowed Sole
The bedroom furnishings are elegant and refined. On a couch under the window the man lies on his back, head on a pillow, and the woman lies on top of him. She supports herself on her knees, raising her feet so high in the air that he can clearly see the soles of her shoes. Her shoes are slender, pointed, and well curved, like a pair of red water chestnuts. He holds them in his palms appreciatively, and his heart and eyes rejoice.
III. Grasping Twin Bowed Shoes Behind His Back
On a cool day in autumn, desires are intensified. There is a fashionable round table in the room. She sits on the table, while he stands facing her. She encircles his waist with her legs, crossing her ankles together. He grasps her two feet behind him. Clasping her arms around his neck, she raises her head and bites his tongue. Her tiny and lovely red shoes are a mere handful, and her heels rhythmically move back and forth.
IV. Lotus-Petaled Buddhist Devotee
They drink in the bedroom; the wine is green, the lantern red. She becomes slightly intoxicated and enters a state of meditation. The man sits upright, with trousers slightly loosened, while she removes her silken sash. She sits on his lap, cross-legged like a Buddhist devotee, with her lotus petals curled upwards. He grasps them with both hands. She is intoxicated, tottering like a jade hill about to fall. Her hands are clasped together as in prayer, her eyes are closed, and muttering sounds come forth as he grasps her tiny pointed ones. The depth of the man’s emotion goes straight towards her. I dare not speculate whether its flavor is in the realm of fairy immortals or of the Buddha.
V. Lifting the Left One, Holding the Right One
A bed in an orchid boudoir is covered with embroidery. Awakened from a noon nap, she sits up in bed, binding her feet. The man pushes aside the drapes at the entrance, delighted by the sight. He goes to grasp her twin lotuses and, with desire swiftly aroused, has her sit on the edge of the bed. She leans backwards, supported by her hands behind her, and spreads her legs upwards and apart. He stands facing her, puts her right foot on his left shoulder, and grasps her left foot in his right palm. She wears soft-soled embroidered shoes; one foot feels as soft as cotton in his hand, while the other on his shoulder is as tiny as a water chestnut.
VI. Twin Peaks Fixed at the Waist
Having taken a perfumed bath, she washes her feet by the bed. Her jade bamboo shoots are delicate and fine, charming and lovable. He turns around and, delighted, leans on a pillow and enjoys the view. She finishes washing, binds tightly, and changes into silk stockings and new shoes, achieving a wondrous and elegant effect. Moved by her beauty, he urgently embraces her before the bed, and they engage in intercourse by a mirror. In a semi-reclining position on the bed, she spreads her legs and positions her feet at his waist, while he stands and bends forward slightly towards her. He keeps her feet in place by pressing them in with his arms, held close by his sides. The narrow and painted red hooks look like twin peaks fixed at the waist. He turns his head to look at the mirror and times the frequency and vigor of his movements with the upward and downward movements of the lotuses. The pleasure is indescribable.
VII. Delicate and Graceful Silk Stockings
It is a hot summer’s night; he quietly gets up and lies down on a long bench under the window. She awakes and urges him to return to bed. Her body is semi-nude, while she is wearing tiny phoenix-head shoes. Desire is suddenly aroused, and he orders her to sit, straddling his stomach. He supports himself with his hands, elevates his stomach so that it is inclined slightly upwards, and forcibly raises his thighs. This causes her twin lotuses to be suspended in mid-air; he holds one in each hand. Her delicate and graceful silk stockings, in his palms, reveal their charm. Bowed and wave-like, tiny, and resembling a full moon, the twin-petaled autumn lotus is as light as a falling leaf and lovely as it moves to and fro in mid-air. How can this view and the feelings aroused fail to cause a man to lose his soul?
VIII. A Penetrating Grasp With Left and Right
In the quiet of the boudoir depths, they lie pillowed together. She lies on her left side, with her left arm and foot stretched outward and her left lotus behind his back. He lies facing her, with his head resting on her arm and his body pressing on her left thigh. They kiss and bite each other’s tongue. She draws up her right leg so that he can hold her lotus with his right hand (from behind his back). He also grasps her left lotus with his left hand, extending it behind the back. Her tiny feet under the coverlets are tightly bound and suitable for holding. There is limitless delight as he penetratingly grasps with left and right. They are mouth to mouth with limbs entangled, electric charges flowing freely between them. With such bodily comfort, how can anyone fail to be thoroughly satisfied?